Page 8 of Fallen Stars

“Enzo, I’m sorry.”

“What good will sorry do when I disappear into the dreamlands, leaving you alone? How do you think I feel, trapped in here while the woman I love is left alone without me to protect her?”

Elara swallowed. “I can fend for myself.”

Enzo cut her with a hard stare. “My soulmate is trapped in a different world to me, with at least ten Stars hunting her. You knew I was possessive when you met me. Don’t try to deny how I feel now.”

She felt indignation at his words, utter guilt and shame too. He was right. She had become so lost in her grief that she had been utterly selfish, paralysed by it instead of using it to fuel her pursuit of answers.

Finally, she let something real through, let Enzo see it.

“I don’t know how to do this,” she cried. “How to be in this world without you.”

Every one of his features softened as he knelt in the grass before her, his arms hugging her middle.

“I know, angel. I know,” he murmured, burying his head into her stomach. “But there is no other way. You can’t live like this. I’m angry because I’m not with you. Because I can’t do anything, so you have to.”

She twisted his hands through his curls, imagining that she could feel them. “You’re right,” she said as resolve began to wash over her. She allowed Enzo’s fire to fill her, the flames in his gaze stoking the one small ember that burned in the pit of her stomach. She could feel her shadow within her opening an eye. “I will tear the world apart to bring you back.”

“That’s my girl,” he said as he pulled her to the grass with him. “Your rage will fuel you, help you. Don’t underestimate its power. Don’t tamp it down.”

She leaned into him, letting his words sink into her skin. “I’ve missed you,” he whispered, brushing his cheek against hers.

The faintest trace of amber reached her through the dreams as she nuzzled into his neck. She inhaled deeply. “I missed you too. I always do, every waking moment. And I promise, Enzo, that I will do better.”

He nodded. “Then let me help you plan how. I’ve been thinking…”

“That sounds dangerous already.” Elara smirked as Enzo softly nudged her. She could feel the tension between them dissipating and breathed out a sigh of relief.

“What if Eli has switched sides? He’s a two-faced god, one whose sister you killed. What if he’s working with Ariete, and that’s why he can’t be found?”

Elara frowned, mulling the thought over. “Well, Ariete hasn’t been sighted since he disappeared when…”

Her throat clogged, and Enzo tried to take her hand, but a dream…was just a dream. She sighed in frustration, waving her hand through the air. “Anyway, no one has heard a peep from him. Merissa has been in touch with her mother, and she said the King of Stars wasn’t even in the heavens when they were discussing ‘what to do with me.’ She drawled the last part mockingly. “So if Ariete has disappeared, do you think Eli could be with him?”

Enzo shook his head. “I’m not sure. I don’t think so. But something feels wrong, even from your dreamscape. You know, on the last night before I was trapped in here, I had a dream. In it, a star fell from the sky, burning purple.”

“The stars don’t fall,” Elara replied quietly.

“Then it was an omen. Because when I woke, I had that same feeling I had in the Angel’s Graveyard, a foreboding—as though something is gathering, something dangerous.”

“Perhaps the ten Stars at my back,” Elara drawled.

Enzo chuckled softly. “Gods, I miss you, El.”

“I’m right here,” she said gently even as grief tightened her heart.

“But none of this is real,” he whispered into her hair.

“I will find a way to wake you, my love,” she whispered, trying to kiss him. “Or I will die trying. I promise you, I won’t take another drop of hypnom.”

The brackets of tension around Enzo’s mouth slackened a little as he visibly relaxed. “Thank you,” he breathed.

“So how do I find a Star that doesn’t want to be found?” she asked, stroking the curls back off his forehead.

Enzo thought for a moment. “You’ve been illusioning yourself, hiding amongst the shadows as you were trying to find Eli. Perhaps it’s time to show him who the Moon is. Perhaps it’s time to make Eli findyou.”

Chapter Four

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