Page 101 of The Stars are Dying

Nyte was gone.

I’d wanted him tobiteme.

Stars above, what was I thinking?

31

Isat with my legs dangling off a high roof, mulling over the clear sheet I’d obtained from the Crocotta that mapped the location of my next trial. It had various lines and some circles, though nothing else that could help me decipher what it was for. There was a beautiful line drawing of a flaming bird. A phoenix.

“Are you really going to keep ignoring me?” Nyte drawled, reclining lazily on his hands beside me.

I twisted, crossing my legs and giving him my back. I picked out my map instead. It was childish, but I didn’t have the energy to push him away right now. “I told you I needed time.”

“Time is not our luxury, and I could have told you exactly what that is by now.”

His offer wasn’t even tempting. I didn’t want the answer I felt close to figuring out from studying my map and the new transparent clue.

“I think I’ll pass.”

“It’s time to make our bargain official now you know…whereI am.”

I cast him a frown over my shoulder. “What does that entail?”

“Come back to me and find out.”

I pushed back the shiver that took over me with the enticing way he spoke.

Scanning the city, I saw there were many pointed ears roaming the streets of the second level. I wondered if any of them could be fae, but that only brought about unsettling feelings of Elena, the fae Drystan had escorted to the library. Her switch to contentment at being here wasn’t something I could let go of completely. Something wasn’t right.

“The fae…they’re being forced into the king’s army,” I said, not posing it as a question Nyte could skirt around.

“Many of them are compliant,” he answered.

“What is he doing with those who aren’t? Those who are hiding but are found?” I couldn’t tear my eyes from observing the different walks of life below, trying to discern what could single out the fae.

“They either yield or they die.”

“Why can’t he just leave them in peace?” Anger seeped into my voice.

“Many of them have magick, and even those who don’t provide strength in numbers.”

“There is no war. Why is he still taking them?”

“War is ever-present, Astraea. There is always a hand reaching, a power growing, an opportunity waiting. It’s only a matter of being prepared for a battle that could strike at any moment. The celestials have been dormant for longer than the king anticipated. He’s bracing for them to finally try to claim back what he took long ago.”

“Do you even know some of theawfulthings they’ve had to do just to stay out of his reach?” I whirled to him as if he could do something for my rage that surfaced at thinking of Lilith.

I almost missed his wince. It only passed through him for a split second before he masked to indifference.

“This isn’t the end of learning the cruelties of the world we live in,” he said in the most sincere tone I’d heard from him. It was a harsh truth he clearly felt disturbed by with the way he regarded the people below.

I followed his gaze to observe them again.

The buildings here were far more structured and well-kept. Very little of the bustling trade and work happened here. Instead I found establishments fit to host the elite, though this level wasn’t entirely devoid of humans. Some appeared as impeccably dressed as their vampire counterparts and looked content to be by their side. I wasn’t certain if it was an act of survival, and that thought didn’t sit well.

I watched blood vampires roam without shadows, an eerie effect I didn’t think I’d notice, but next to anyone else the distinction was more obvious.

“What does it mean…to not have a shadow?” I pondered.

---