Page 54 of Heavenly Bodies

‘Now just imagine this is Ariete’s starlight,’ he said, and launched another ray of light at her.

At the last moment, she pulled her dagger from her thigh and channelled her shadows through it, swallowing his light.

‘Good. But that’s becoming a crutch. You rely on it too heavily. You need to wield your shadows on their own.’

‘I do not,’ she retorted. ‘My technique works perfectly well. Or do you forget how I had you on your back and between my legs not so long ago?’

‘Trust me, El. I’ve not forgotten. Although the next time you have me on my back and between your legs, I’m hoping there will be fewer clothes involved.’

‘Brute!’ She threw a shadow at him, her cheeks flushing as he dispersed it idly with a quick flick of his fingers. She ignored the curl of heat in her stomach at his words, focusing on the shadows playing at her fingertips.

‘I don’t remember saying you could call me El,’ she mused.

His smile deepened. ‘Precisely why I began calling you that.’

She shrugged her shoulders in exasperation. ‘Must this torture never end? I prefer Leo’s drills to this.’

With a broad laugh, he sat on the hard stone of the pavilion, the taut muscles of his bared stomach rippling.

‘Idon’t remember,’ he said, fire dancing between his hands, ‘you ever explaining the fact that you have a dagger. Or how you wield itnearlyas well as I wield a sword.’

She gave a mock bow.

‘Now where would an Asterian princess learn to use a knife like that? Not that I’m complaining,’ he added. ‘It’s one of the few things that makes you more tolerable.’

She refrained from throwing another shadow his way in a very vulgar shape, instead collapsing next to him with a sigh, feeling the soft rays of mid-afternoon beating down on her back. She wrestled with herself, before nodding with resolve.

‘A secret for a secret?’

He looked at her uncertainly then finally nodded. ‘Go on.’

‘Sofia,’ she began. ‘Her mother, Juliette, was the captain of my father’s guard. It’s why we grew up together.’ Sadness passed over Elara’s face. ‘She was found dead a few years ago.’

‘What happened?’ Enzo frowned.

Elara shrugged. ‘We never found out. There were no wounds, so the healers put it down to an ailment of the heart. But I saw her before she was buried…’ Elara shook her head against the image. ‘She looked like she had died of fright. One of the most formidable warriors in Asteria, who had never shown an inch of fear. Petrified. I’ll never forget the look in her eyes. It was as though she had seen pure evil.’

Elara shook her head, clearing it. ‘By then, Juliette had taught me and Sofia everything she knew. We would train every day. My parents willed it so, after the…incident with the lightwielder. They already knew the prophecy, and without my shadows, I see now they wanted me to be able to defend myself however I could.’

She held the dagger between them. ‘Sofia gifted me this one on my sixteenth birthday. See those obsidians? She said her shadows would always be with me, so long as I had the dagger.’ Elara smiled. ‘The silverstone, she said it reminded her of my eyes.’ She stroked the hilt, and the dragun carved into it.

‘So that’s why the princess has a dagger and knows how to use it,’ she finished. ‘To defend myself when my gifts couldn’t.’

She took a gulp of water, hands shaky.

‘What?’ she asked, taking in his stare.

‘Have you ever used your gifts?’ he asked quietly. ‘I mean…to harm?’

She nodded. ‘A couple of times, yes. The most recent one was here in Helios.’

Enzo slowly sat up. ‘When?’

Elara froze, suddenly feeling like she shouldn’t have answered. His piercing, bronze-flecked gaze burned right into her very soul.

‘It was when I first arrived.’ She saw Enzo’s jaw clench. ‘The moment we got into Sol, I tried to escape your guards. Some…found me.’

Enzo shifted imperceptibly, his eyes still on her. ‘Who?’ he asked coolly. Light, hard and frigid, caught her eye as it moved between his fingers, itching to shine.

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