Page 15 of Fallen Stars

Ion the last, a straight line from sternum to groin.

She allowed herself a small smile, pulling her shadows back towards her as they gathered and morphed into her dragun.

Then carefully, ever so carefully, she took Astra’s waning form, coating it in shadows as she pulled them both onto the back of her dragun, and set course back to the inn.

She looked over her shoulder once to the message she had left. Thought of the bodies that littered the insides of the tunnels. She’d allowed a few to escape, but the majority… Death had claimed them all.

If Eli needed a reason to come and find her, she’d given him one.

Chapter Six

Eli strolled into The Ruby,tipping his fingers to the doorman.

“Alright, boss?” Stefan asked.

“Never better,” the Star replied. He pushed the curtains of the entranceway back, revealing the sumptuous rooms behind. The smell of liquored cherries greeted him—a taint of the aphrosmoke that they pumped through the rooms here.

He straightened his tie, making his way into the club. His eyes didn’t even follow the bodies twisting from poles, studded with rubies and sparkling red. Flesh bored him, had for centuries. The curse of a Star, some would say, to fuck and eat and drink so much that he sickened himself with it over an immortal existence. And then of course there was the promise he had to keep.

He rolled his shoulders, wondering why such a morose feeling fell over him tonight. There was a prickle of something unwanted on his skin, a sense he got as a Star that something wasn’t quite right. He was lying low at the moment, staying around The Remains rather than the pretentious Pollux Quarter. The mortals there were dramatic gossipers, and right now he was trying to keep a low profile—had been ever since the Moon had risen.

What better place than a stripping club? Surrounded by people and yet invisible, everyone too high or lustful to remember him there.

He pushed past a woman, her soft hand trying to grasp his tie. He gave an irritated flick with his mind, diverting the woman’s thoughts elsewhere as he reached the back room. His room.

With a sigh, he entered, closing the door behind him.

Eli knew that Elara was in his kingdom. He’d felt her power the moment she’d crossed the in-between. He wasn’t scared. Eli didn’t feel terror as a Star. But…uneasiness? He felt that for certain. She’d left a message a few weeks ago in Helios—that Stars would fall. And whether he had helped her or not…the woman didn’t strike Eli as merciful. Would she see that he had been the one urging her to wake? Or remember him at all from her life as the Moon?

But he shook his head. He didn’t want to think of that right now. Of her.

So instead, his mind turned to the news Stefan had relayed to him earlier that day. Ariete was in his kingdom too. It was only a matter of time before the king would seek Eli out. Exactly as Eli had wanted—Ariete in his city and under his watch. Castor was certainly a good place to lick your wounds, and it had the loosest morals in Celestia, bar the Sinner’s Sands. And since the king hadn’t even dared show his face in the heavens after his cowardly run from battle, it made sense he’d come here.

But with Elara and her friends perhaps a few streets away from the Star who’d tried to kill them all, Eli had to be careful. It was the reason he hadn’t yet sought Elara out.

He paced to the ornate cabinet in the corner of the room, his favourite firewhisky in there, laced with vanilla. He could hear music thumping beyond the walls, blaring from the latest contraptions that the Castorians had created. They were inventive; he’d give them that.

He settled into an armchair with his glass, mulling his predicament over in his mind. It wasn’t safe for him to seek out Elara just yet, not until he’d set Ariete up here and gotten enough drugs and drinks down his throat that the king would never want to leave.

Eli would just have to pray thatElarawouldn’t leave over the next few days. He needed to see her, needed to help.

Because she needed her Sun. And Eli was perhaps the only one who had an inkling of how to wake Lorenzo.

He took another long sip, savouring the burn that slipped down his throat. He’d finish his drink and find Ariete tomorrow, get the inevitable meeting over with and plant an idea in his head to stay in Castor, to take a room at The Ruby for his own pleasure. Eli could keep him there, subdued, as he went to find Elara.

He closed his eyes, rubbing them, before stilling.

Oh fuck.

Not tonight. He wasn’t prepared tonight.

A charm had entered the club, its red energy weaving through the dancers. He knew that charm, could feel it even if it didn’t permeate him.

He muttered another curse under his breath, brushing his shirt down and unhooking a button. It suddenly felt constraining.

He didn’t bother looking up as the door swung open, and Ariete appeared.

“Long time,” Eli drawled, finally flicking his gaze to the King of Stars.

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