Page 38 of Stars Above the Never Sea (The Last Faeyte #1)

Chapter twenty-six

Callan

M y hands slide off a slick section of the netting that criss-crosses the entire lower half of Volatus and I swear, grabbing for the one below it as my body rocks and slams against the side of the ship. Blood collects at the back of my throat.

There is nothing. No sign. Not a single glimpse of them, even as I tug on the maegis, dragging more of the threads than I should as Volatus hovers, not moving.

It’s been hours.

It’s dangerous to linger this long, not when my energy drains away with every second I spend out here. I’ll need to give everything to get us moving again. But I refuse to entertain the thought of moving on.

I will not leave them behind in this endless pit of darkness.

I press my forehead into the back of my hand, my breath gasping.

I thought I had lost her once before. Would have thought it impossible that she had survived. Gods, it should have been impossible. Selene fell back into those churning waves, and the Asterian sea swallowed her up before it flipped and we lost every single person who remained on it.

I didn’t even know her name .

But she came back to— she came back. And that has to mean something. The gods-damned hole that’s been ripped open in my chest has to mean something.

I refuse to stop looking, not until the maegis forces me to move on or lose them all. If she is here, somehow holding on, then I will find her. And I pray that she has somehow found Leo, even as my throat threatens to close at the impossibility.

I glance down at the open, endless night sky below my feet. Searching for any hint of hair crafted by moonlight; of a small head filled with tight, dark curls.

At first, I convince myself that it’s my imagination. Wishful thinking, and nothing more. Because Merrick was right. It would be impossible—

A thin, choked cry sounds.

My body locks into stillness. “ Leo !”

My hands almost slip from the netting, slick with salt and sweat as I climb sideways as fast I can toward the bow of Volatus , shouting his name and listening. My heartbeat is an echo in my ears, drowning everything out but the sound of him calling.

When I finally find them, I stop.

“Callan.” Leo turns a tear-stained face to me. “She stopped talking to me.”

I take it in. Take in the arms, wrapped carefully around him and wound into the rope so deeply that it cuts into her already injured wrists. The boots, twisted almost unnaturally and wedged into gaps too small for her feet.

Selene doesn’t move as I reach them. Her head lolls.

But she does not let go of the rope, cradling Leo where he rests, his legs wrapped around her waist and his arms around her neck.

“You found us.” Leo’s lips look almost as blue as hers in the faint light of the seven moons above us. Almost. “It’s…c-cold out here. Did you know Selene can fly?”

My eyes close. And my voice, when it comes, is choked. “I knew she would. I need to get you both back to the ship.”

Selene stirs, and my heart beats faster. Her mumble is almost silent. “Take him.”

The refusal is immediate. “I’m not leaving you here.”

She’s almost spent, if not long past it. And the moment she lets go of Leo, she’s going to fall.

This time, she won’t have the strength to fly back up.

Carefully, I push her hair back. “You seem to have a habit of almost dying on me, Selene.”

Her lips barely lift, but her eyes don’t open.

“Callan,” Leo whispers. He leans back, so I can see the jagged slash across her chest. Blood still oozes from it.

The wraith had sliced, and she had stumbled back on the deck. And still— still —she did this.

I can’t stop myself. My lips press to her sweat-soaked forehead, breathing her in. “You’re a miracle, Selene Amaris. But you’re not done yet.”

Her eyes crack open, the faintest glimmer of dark as her words slur. “It’s cold.”

Yet sweat runs down her face, her shirt—my shirt—plastered against her skin. Leo bites down on his lip. “What do we do?”

Another thread beckons, although there are few left to cast. I reach for it, tug it free.

There’s more resistance this time. But energy burns through my body, chasing away any trace of exhaustion as I carefully climb over them and brace my boots against the ship.

Tugging on the rope that holds me, I test it. “I’m taking you both with me.”

“No.” Selene almost sighs. Her body is tense against mine, her wings crushed between us as she refuses to let go. “You need to take Leo, Callan.”

“You’re bringing him back. Leo, hold onto her.”

Leo presses himself into Selene, gripping her tightly before I wrap my arms around both of them, pulling them into me. “Let go, Selene. I won’t let you fall.”

“I can’t.” The words crack. Carefully, I reach forward.

Her hands are tangled, and it takes more than a few moments to free her from the knots she created to hold her in place.

When I tug her boots free, a pained cry slips from her as she slumps into me.

My face presses into the silk of her wings as I adjust my hold.

“I have you.” Mouth dry, I grip them both. “Going up.”

Keep the ship steady . I focus on the rope and let the maegis free.

The three of us jerk upward. The air whistles past, the toes of my boots scuffing against the side of the boat as the rope pulls us up.

“Grab them!”

Sol’s hands are there, wrapping around Leo and pulling him over the railing.

Distantly, I hear Leo reuniting with everyone else, but I can barely focus on keeping my hold on Selene, lifting her over the railing. She slumps against me.

“I’ll take her.” Sol’s voice sounds choked. “Give her to me before you fall. Your ears are bleeding.”

And my nose. I shake my head, pulling her up into my arms. My head buzzes. “I stay with her.”

“Use our cabin.” Sol follows, supporting me as I stumble toward the door. “Rio is already there. Easier to watch them both.”

I practically tumble down the stairs, shoving the door to their cabin open with my boot and turning to get through with Selene. Esme startles, and I vaguely notice Rio sleeping on one bed.

After crossing the small space in a few stumbling steps, I place Selene down in the other. Sol shoulders in next to me, lifts her head gently and adjusts the pillow as I scrub my hands over my face. “I found her half dead on the side of the ship, but she was still holding onto Leo.”

The blood on her shirt—my shirt—stares up at me. We’re not done yet.

Kneeling beside her, I grab the top of my shirt and tear it. The cut is long, and deep, an almost perfect line that stretches from shoulder to shoulder above the binding that covers her breasts. “This will need stitching. Matthias would be best.”

“She’s lost a lot of blood. Too much to wait for him. He’d be the first to say it.” Sol presses his fingers below her neck. “I’ll do it.”

I wait impatiently as he counts, his lips moving. His lips shift into a thin line. “Her heartbeat is too slow. We need to stop the bleeding.”

Esme tosses a healing pack at Sol from her place beside Rio, worrying at her lip as her eyes flicker between him and Selene.

He rips it open, scattering the contents beside Selene’s unconscious form as he grabs a linen bandage and unwraps it before pressing it to her skin.

“I’ll mix up a bark poultice to try and ward off infection.

Es, can you get me some honey from the stores? ”

I can’t take my eyes off her face. “What do you want me to do?”

“Sit,” Sol says curtly. “Before you fall. I’ll take care of your faeyte.”

The words are sharp, but his hands are gentle as he continues working. “She didn’t even hesitate.”

I shake my head. It’s all too easy to allow my legs to give out as I drop down to the floor beside the bed, pulling up my knees and lifting her hand, winding our fingers together. Her hand is a block of ice, and I rub at them gently, trying to work some warmth into them.

A cloth lands in my lap. “To clean up.”

It comes away stained with crimson. Knowledge settles like a rock, heavy in my chest. “We can’t do the drop. We have to get back as soon as possible.”

Sol’s eyes don’t move as he leans over Selene. “Then that’s what we have to do. Take a minute, Cal. And then take us home.”

The bleeding doesn’t stop this time. It slows, but it does not stop. “Tell her—”

“Tell her yourself,” he snaps. “In Asteria.”

My breathing sounds wet, I realize. A bubbling noise ripples in my lungs with every inhale. “I have to go.”

He pauses. My best friend’s hands waver.

But he doesn’t move to follow, as he always has before.

He looks away, digging through the pack for a thin wooden needle. His voice is rough. “Don’t die before Matthias can get to you. It’ll be irritating if you ruin our homecoming plans.”

One more push, to get them back. To get Selene home.

But I’m not going to be there.

My cheek burns, twisting to the side. “Come on, Cal. You have to stay awake.”

I search out the maegis. There is so little left. The thousands of threads are dark and curled now, almost used up. The pretium hovers, stealing my breath and replacing it with fluid that fills my lungs.

I find a handful of final threads hidden beneath the rest. Unused. Once these are gone, I will be burned out, and the pretium will sweep in and take the rest.

Regret is bitter on my tongue. Perhaps this was my role in her fate. To get her back to Asteria, to the home that we stole from underneath her feet.

Maybe she’ll be able to save them, when I could not.