Page 87 of Heavenly Bodies

‘Lukas,’ she said quietly.

Enzo gritted his teeth as he hauled the usurper, whimpering, on to the pebbles and damp sand next to the dock. Lukas’s clothes were singed, smoke billowing off him.

‘Ariete’s indisposed at the moment,’ Enzo said lightly, stretching his arms out.

‘What did you do?’ Merissa breathed.

Enzo didn’t respond, only went to Elara, checking her over.

‘You can let go of your illusions now, El,’ he said gently. ‘The Opera House will be ash soon. Everyone will assume your body went up in the flames.’

Elara sighed in relief and let her magick go. She felt the illusion vanish, the exhausting strain in her mind finally easing down, and turned her gaze to Lukas. He was wailing quietly but still had the pride to muster up a weak sneer on to his face. She rose, walking slowly towards him, pure wrathovertaking her exhaustion and grief just for a few moments. He had started this. He had called upon a Star.

‘You,’ she snarled, crouching over him. ‘You are the reason she’s dead.’

‘What are you talking about?’ he rasped. ‘I had nothing to do with this.’

‘Liar,’ Enzo spat.

‘I hated Sofia, but I didn’t know what Ariete had planned. Lara, I promise I never wanted to hurt you.’

‘What did I say about uttering her name again,’ Enzo growled.

‘Call off your dog,’ Lukas hissed, spitting blood on to the ground.

Enzo cracked his neck, a hollow laugh escaping him. ‘It’s “Lion”, actually.’

Fear, real fear, flashed across Lukas’s face—the first spark of it that Elara had seen. ‘Prince Lorenzo.’

‘So you’ve heard the stories,’ Enzo replied.

Lukas scrambled back, but Elara lunged, tightly gripping his shirt.

‘You began this, Lukas. You called upon Ariete at the birthday ball.’

‘I didn’t fucking call upon him,’ he snapped.

Elara blinked, and nightmares grew around her. His eyes bulged in horror as she watched impassively.

‘L-Lara, please,’ he stammered. He tried once more to crawl away, but this time Enzo held him firm.

‘I’m done with your lies,’ she said. ‘The last time I had the chance to kill you, I spared you. I won’t make that mistake again.’

Her gaze flicked to Enzo, and flames ignited in his eyes.

‘Elara, please, no. Remember what we had. This isn’t you.’

‘No, it’s not. The girl I was died in that theatre. You won’t find mercy here.’

Enzo pounced, light beaming from his hands as Lukas screamed. Elara turned around, sitting back upon the boat as his screams and pleading filled the air. She smelled burned flesh, and closed her eyes.

When his screams had quietened to sobs, Elara turned. Enzo was dragging Lukas by his hair to the water’s edge. And she caught a flash of what Enzo had done to him.

‘LIGHTWHORE’ was branded in stark letters across his chest, and Enzo turned to her.

She nodded once, and he dumped the gasping Lukas into the deeper waters, before hauling himself to the boat.

‘Fast and strong,’ was all he ordered, settling next to Elara as he and Leo took up oars, paddling furiously across the murky mirror of the lake, leaving Lukas’s prone body in the water.

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