Page 60 of Heavenly Bodies

A trail of shadows ran from her fingers into the stone, and she waited with bated breath, staring into the jewel.

At first, nothing happened. But then, shadows began to gush out of the obsidian—darker and heavier than Elara’s. She had felt them before—knew instantly who they belonged to.

And finally those shadows morphed into a figure.

‘Lara?’ the voice came distorted.

‘Sofia?’ Elara rasped.

Enzo watched wide-eyed from where he stood.

‘Lara? Where are you? Did Astra find you? Did she show you—’

‘The dagger, yes. You genius!’ Elara gave a watery smile.

‘I don’t have much time,’ Sofia said, her shadow flickering and reforming. ‘Lara, are you safe?’

Elara had never heard Sofia panicked before. She was the level-headed one of the two of them. Her high, strained voice was enough to make Elara rise to her feet.

‘I am. But tell me where you are.’

‘In the palace. Ariete, he— he’s killed so many people.’ Her voice broke as a cold, hard lump formed in Elara’s chest. ‘Louis, Gabriel, Jeanne, the entire King’s Guard—gone.’

Elara shook. She had grown up around these people. Had been protected by them.

‘And what about you, Sof?’ she rasped.

There was a pause.

‘Has he hurt you?’ Elara demanded.

‘Yes,’ came a quiet reply.

‘And Lukas? Where’s Lukas?’

There was a pause. ‘Lukas is—’

The shadows blipped. ‘He’s coming. Lara, we need you. The ball, you have to—’

The shadow disappeared.

Elara stared dumbfoundedly at the dagger, as Enzo shifted. ‘El, are you—’

‘I’m going back to Asteria.’

She stood, hastily wiping away her tears.

‘Are you mad?’

Elara whirled. ‘My best friend, as close to me as asister, is being held there by Ariete—being tortured, just for knowing me.’

‘And what would you do when you get there? You can’t even bring substance to your shadows yet.’

‘Then I’ll use my other magick,’ she shot back, pulling out a satchel from the wardrobe.

‘You’ll be walking right into a trap. Why do you think Ariete hasn’t killed Sofia yet? He’s using her as bait.’

‘Then I’ll walk into a trap! He can take me instead. But I cannot justsithere, pampered in Helios, running around with princes while Sof is there. Hurt. Imprisoned.’

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