Page 36 of Stars Above the Never Sea (The Last Faeyte #1)

Chapter twenty-four

Callan

T o watch Merrick break is unbearable.

I have seen it only once. The man who raised us, taught us, made us, all of us—he drops, a puppet with his strings cut as he collapses to the deck. His body shakes with the force of the sobs that tear through him.

Gods, of all of us—any of us would have gone over, would have chosen that rather than face this. To have Leo face this, falling, alone in an endless void.

I roar my anger out, my fury a wordless scream. Up to Ellas, where they watch us as if we exist solely for their entertainment.

This is not justice. He did not deserve this.

Will the punishment never end?

Movement shifts in the corner of my eye. My head turns as Selene opens her wings. They spread wide. Glorious darkness, as if she belongs to the void instead of merely passing through it.

“Selene.” I croak her name.

She doesn’t hear me. She takes another step, as my heart swoops and dives.

“ Selene !” Her name bursts from my lips on a roar louder than any noise that has ever left my mouth as she takes off.

I have been here before. Have chased her before. And I already know how this will end, even as I give chase.

I stood by as she leaped once before. And it’s happening again in front of my gods-damned eyes, and I can’t stop her. I can’t catch her.

Selene Amaris has maegis in her feet for the speed at which she flies up those stairs.

And as she throws herself from the edge after him, my heart rips out through my ribcage. As if she holds it with her as she falls, her hair streaming behind her before she disappears.

“ No !” I throw myself after her, my hands gripping the railings. “ Selene !”

The breeze captures her name, throws it back at me as if taunting.

Both of them.

“No.” Merrick is beside me. He leans on the railing as if it’s the only thing holding him upright. “It wasn’t… this is not right .”

His hand lifts. Smashes into the railing. Again, and again.

My stomach roils as I drop to one knee, pulling at the knot that holds one of the coiled ropes we use for towing Volatus into the dock when we reach Asteria. Undoing it with a rough tug, I start unwinding it.

“They’re gone.” Merrick’s voice cracks. “They would have gone straight past the netting. It is impossible, Callan.”

I drop my head, focusing on the rope. It unravels in loops at my feet. “I’m going down there.”

Grabbing the end, I begin winding it around my waist. Hands slap at my shaking fingers, and Sol takes over. His brow creased, he loops it, over and around, until he’s created a harness.

And then he turns, striding toward the second rope we keep for emergencies, if the mooring rope breaks. His mouth is pressed into a grim line as he starts to unwind it. Once his own harness is in place, he looks up at me. His fingers shift, pointing.

With a nod, I climb up onto the railing, slinging my leg over.

My hands begin to burn, but I ignore them.

And I climb.