Page 1 of When the Stars Rise

PROLOGUE

Noah

Six YearsBefore

The acrid scent of smoke and burning rubber clings to my clothes and her hair, and I start coughing every time I try to take a deep breath.

A quick glance over my shoulder confirms my fears. The fire is spreading fast, blazing a trail through the dry grass and trees, and there’s enough of a breeze to fan the flames.

I push forward, digging the toe of my dress shoe into the packed dirt and dry leaves so I won’t lose my footing and tumble down the steep hill. The leather soles are slippery, and I wish I was wearing shoes with better traction, but that’s the least of my problems right now.

Hayley moans, her head lolling off my shoulder, and her body goes slack in my arms.

“Hayley.” I brace myself with one foot forward in a lunge and hike her up. My arms are shaking, and my skin is slick withsweat, so I have to keep stopping to adjust my position. “I need you to hang on to me.”Help me.

She’s been slipping in and out of consciousness since I dragged her out of the car. She was trapped, her leg wedged between the crumpled door and the back of the driver’s seat. I kept tugging and tugging until she finally broke free, and we tumbled into a ditch.

She moans again, and her eyes flutter open. Dirt and blood streak her face, and her hair is matted down with blood from the gash on her head. There’s so much blood. It’s splattered down the front of her silky lilac dress, the skirt ripped and torn. She’s only wearing one shoe—a strappy sandal with six-inch heels. She loved those shoes.

I don’t know how bad the head injury is, but I’m almost certain her leg is broken.

Her fingers clutch my button-down, and coughs wrack her body. “Noah?” Her voice sounds scratchy and hoarse.

“Yeah, it’s me, Hales.” I force a smile I don’t feel—nothing about this night is smile-worthy—but I’m trying to stay calm and reassure her. “You’re going to be okay. Everything is going to be okay.”

“Where are my mom and dad?” Confusion furrows her brow, and she twists in my arms trying to look over my shoulder, but I hold her tight against my chest so she can’t see what’s happening at the bottom of the ravine. “Where are we going?”

“We’re just climbing this hill,” I tell her, panting from the exertion. “And then I’m going to call for help, okay?” We’re in a dead zone, but I’m hoping I’ll have a signal when we get up to the road.

“You should have left me behind,” she whispers.

Her eyes close, and she goes limp in my arms again, saving me from having to respond.

But she should know better than to think I’d ever leave her behind.

I willneverleave her behind.

Our progress is agonizingly slow, but what feels like hours later, we finally reach the top. Adrenaline courses through my veins, making my whole body shake and my leg muscles cramp like I’ve just run a marathon. As soon as I step onto level ground, I stagger and fall to my knees on the shoulder, still holding Hayley in my arms.

My chest feels like an iron band is wrapped around it in a vise grip, and I’m struggling to get air into my lungs.

My shoulders bow under the weight of it all, and I fall back on my ass, hanging on to Hayley like we’re on a sinking ship and she’s my lifeline.

I suddenly feel so much older than sixteen.

I bury my face in her hair and think of two things simultaneously:

I’m sorry. So fucking sorry.

I will always choose you. Always.

Relief washes over me when I hear sirens in the distance.

I tip my head to the sky and search for the stars, but the night is dark and starless. As it should be.

A rustling noise has me turning my head. A doe and her fawn are standing at the guardrail only a few feet away. Beautiful, graceful,destructive.So ballsy to return to the scene of the crime.

When Hayley and I were kids, we watched a shit-ton of Disney movies.