Page 74 of Stars Above the Never Sea (The Last Faeyte #1)

Chapter forty-seven

Callan

I barely register the hands that drag us from the stage.

I can’t fucking breathe. I can’t look.

If I don’t look, then it did not happen.

He didn’t—

He is not gone.

My legs crumple beneath me, but they don’t stop, dragging my knees over the ground with ruthless efficiency.

The metal burns as I twist my head, searching for Selene. Her eyes are blank as she’s pushed along behind me, a guard gripping each arm and that burning metal pushed into her mouth. Our eyes meet, and then both of us are shoved back into the cart, the still silent crowd vanishing behind the canvas.

I can’t even touch her. Not with my hands burning beneath metal restraints.

She slumps against me as the cart rolls forward. I try to breathe. My cheek presses to her head, the only comfort I can offer and yet it’s no comfort at all.

Merrick.

My tears fall freely, and I make no attempt to stem the flow. Not when they have no end.

The compound is silent, just as Selene had said. The only noise comes from the guards directing the cart as they shout up beyond the canvas.

There is a single dragging noise, as the gates creak open.

And another, as they close behind us. Sealing us away from the temple, the town, and in with them .

When rough hands drag us both down from the cart, I sweep my eyes over our surroundings. Searching for any possibility, anything that might help us, help her , even as my own maegis remains dull and lifeless.

The scent of metal is heavy in the air. Iron, rust, and salt. So thick that I can almost taste it.

This is no place for the living.

Craning my head, I look behind us to the guard tower, the only sign of any true life at all in the vast expanse around us. There are no creatures to be seen, no guards aside from those staring down at us from their watching positions.

My eyes move on. To the dozens—maybe more—of huge tents that stand in perfect rows, leading away from us. Too many to count, and each tall enough to fit the height of two men, linen stretched over wooden frames. They could easily hold a hundred men to a tent.

Gods.

The enormity of what he has done—of what my brother has hidden from me all this time while I was distracted by the Never—presses down on me, making it hard to breathe.

Thousands have been conscripted over our years here. Separated from their families, hauled off to this hell behind the wall and—

My heart turns over. Perhaps it’s not all. Only a few, maybe, some twisted experiment undoubtedly led by the Metallurgist.

It cannot be all of them.

The Boreasan crest flies from the flagpole attached to the tent they lead us toward; a six-pointed ochre sun containing a central a six-star constellation against deep navy cloth. Caelum’s symbol.

But there are no gods here as they drag us into the tent, guards holding the flaps open.

I start to struggle again at the sight of the wooden tables.

Two of them, each the length of a bench, close to each other and stained with something dark.

Twisting, my bound hands reach for Selene.

But they push us down against the cool wood, leather straps pinning us in place as they secure our ankles, our wrists.

Even our necks, the strap almost too tight to breathe.

The chains are removed, leaving those strange cuffs in place around our wrists, the gags still in our mouths. I fight to turn my head, and our eyes meet.

Endless darkness fills her eyes, as deep as the void beyond the border.

I’m sorry.

I brought her here. I should have turned Volatus around. Should have taken her out sooner, but I was too caught up in her and the possibility of fixing the Never. I should have gotten them all out when I could.

Should have, would have, could have.

Her tears fall silently, soaking the bench beneath her.

Petyr strolls in a few minutes later. Matthias follows, and my eyes close at the cuff that wraps around his neck, his wrists, his wheat-colored skin already reddened. The Metallurgist follows them both, creeping into a corner.

And then a creature. It walks with jerking movements, a whirring sound as it strides past us, taking up a position between the benches at our heads. Blades hover too fucking close to Selene’s neck.

I can still see the four in her cheek. But the other side is shiny, as if patches of metal have been placed over her skin.

She wears the familiar resting uniform of the Boresean military, a dark blue tunic and trousers that are crumpled and ragged at the ends.

As if it has been worn many times before.

I don’t recognize her.

But she belongs to someone on this island, and now she is here. Bile rises in my throat at her sightless, shining eye. One is a deep, shining purple, the same shade as Esme’s. But what looks like the inner workings of a clock stare out from the other.

I was so gods-damned blind. So wrapped up in what I was doing that I didn’t bother to look any closer. Assumed Petyr was wrapped up in himself, rather than planning this.

“I didn’t want it to be like this, you know.” My brother frowns as he leans over me, and my eyes slide to him. He rubs a hand over his face. “Not so soon, at least. But you pushed me into it, Callan.”

The anger gathers in my throat, forcing its way out around the gag.

Petyr points. “Take those gags off.”

I breathe a little easier as the gag is pulled away. Selene’s gasps fill the air.

Petyr sits on the edge of the bench I’m strapped to, looking between us. “Really and truly, this is your own fault. Both of you.”

I fight for breath. “Whatever you’re doing here is unnatural, Petyr. Those creatures—what are they?”

He scratches at his neck. “We cannot stay here, Cal. Asteria is dying.”

“Well aware.” My voice croaks. “If you want Selene to fix it, you might be disappointed after this.”

Beside me, she laughs. But there’s no amusement in the cracked sound.

He clicks his tongue. “But I don’t care about fixing the Never, you see. This place can rot as far as I’m concerned. I only care about crossing it.”

At our silence, he sighs. “Father had great ambitions, you know. We discussed it often, he and I, while you were busy with your little friends. First, it would be Asteria. Then Terrosa. Further afield, even. We don’t even know what’s beyond that.

The possibilities are endless. There is so much to discover, Cal, and we would have been the ones to do it, you and I. ”

“There is nothing beyond that,” Selene coughs. “This is what was given to us, you fool. Was the Shift not enough of a message for you?”

“Silence,” he snaps. “Or I’ll gag you again.

Father died, and we ended up trapped on this gods-forsaken island.

Our people would have starved. They are starving.

The Caelumnai were fragile, Cal. Fragile, and weak, so I came up with a solution.

An army stronger than any seen before. An army to rival any whims of the gods. ”

He waves at the creature that used to be a Caelumnai female.

“They require no food. No water. No rest, even. They just keep going. And there’s none of that messy emotion left inside them to care about anything beyond following orders.

More metal than anything else. They are the Metallurgist’s life work, and mine. I call them the unda .”

Selene’s lips move. Murmuring, pleading to gods that I’m certain can’t hear us here.

I have never noticed how manic his grin could be before.

Fervor glitters in my brother’s hazel gaze.

“ This is what we needed, Callan. Human armies are messy, easily broken, but the unda are perfect. So we started building an army. Piece by piece. Unfortunately, we had a few problems we couldn’t quite resolve. ”

He studies his hands. “The alloy the Metallurgist created to bond with the Caelumnai doesn’t seem to settle within higher-tiered maegis.

Causes issues in anyone above a tier five.

Death, mainly. Very inconvenient. And particularly unfortunate, since I need you to transport my army across that void.

All of them. A wave that will sweep over the lands of Terrosa and build something new. ”

I stiffen. “You know that will never happen. I couldn’t, even if I wanted to.”

The pretium would kill me long before I could manage it. And all I feel at that thought is relief.

“Ah, but you can .” He claps his hands. I stare at him. “I knew you would never agree, and we could never force it on you. Not without killing you, and I wasn’t foolish enough to cut off our only access to Terrosa before we could work out how to turn you into what we needed.”

His smile turns my lungs to ice. “We just needed the perfect set of circumstances. It took us several years of work, but we found a solution in the end. Did you know that the faeytes kept their own records? Very detailed. Impressive, really. And incredibly useful. Led us straight to what we needed.”

“You took them,” Selene says quietly. “From the Sanctum.”

“That drab little room? Whatever it’s called.” He shrugs, dismissive. “But yes. And in them we found an answer to our issue. Untested, of course. But all things must be tested at some point.”

“And what is this answer?”

“ Selene ,” he says softly. “We needed a faeyte. brother. And—far more challenging—we needed a faeyte who would be fool enough to fall in love with you. We actually had a few on hand —the Metallurgist was eager to learn as much as he could, of course—but far too broken to be of any use.”

Selene’s sisters.

He shifts, leaning over Selene. She stares straight past him, up at the linen ceiling, and I strain against the leather holding me in place. “Get away from her. You know Hala stripped them of that ability, Petyr. This plan will not work.”

He studies her face, so close their noses brush as my heart beats faster. She turns away, her eyes on me. “I ’m not so sure. I’ve kept an eye on you both. Very closely, in fact. And I wonder if we might actually have the perfect set of circumstances. You could almost call it fate.”