Page 133 of The Stars are Dying

My first impression was that he was reflecting on his indulgences with the woman from earlier, and my refusal formed with a spike of fear knowing he didn’t need permission to take what he wanted. It wasn’t until I allowed his fingers to trace my collar, right over the exact points of my scar, that I was sucked through a portal to another dimension of time. It stole the ostentatious pink decor and lavish furnishings, snuffing out all bright color to replace it with something ominous.

Searing pain erupted in my neck, and all I could do was stare stunned at the black canopy of trees. Then I was falling, landing with force, and every movement cut my palms, my legs. A ringing filled my ears from shock, but shallow voices echoed above it. Trying to scramble to my feet, I was so unequipped for the nighttime forest setting, but all that raged within me was survival.

I could hardly draw breath, but an instinct to run coursed through me. To know if I had the slightest chance to make it, and to find out why he’d let me go.

I turned around.

The hooded figure had his back to me. I couldn’t feel the claw of branches tearing the skin of my feet and ankles as I tried to gain distance. He turned to glance at me over his shoulder, and I sucked in a gasp that began to pull me back. Speeding, racing time forward.

The familiar caramel eyes latched onto me as he raised his hand to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth…

I stumbled back as the bright room of The Scarlet Rose exploded around me.

Us.

Those eyes from the vision didn’t change, and I knocked into a table, items clamoring to the ground as I tried to gain distance.

“Are you all right?” he asked, canting his head curiously.

All this time…Drystan had held the other end of the tether to my memories. Which only made one thing blare through my mind with even more clarity. Rose and Cassia had to be right: DrystanwasNightsdeath. Somehow I clung to the notion the title wasn’t befitting of his subdued and careful exterior. But now I remembered a trickle of that night before I’d turned and run into the arms of Hektor…how could I continue to deny it?

Drystan fastened the top of his shirt and righted the rest of his clothing. “This trial can wait; you should head back to the castle and get some rest. I’ll accompany you—”

“No.” My response came too fast, and I scrambled to tame my racing heart, which choked my airway. He couldn’t know what I suspected. It would remove my disguise in an instant. “The others are well ahead of me,” I said. “I have to get this one today.”

His tight jaw eased in understanding as he reached for his cloak.

I jerked as something grazed my calves until I found the black cat, an oddly soothing comfort right now. When Drystan turned to me as if to come closer, it hissed. The prince’s gaze fell to it with no reaction.

“I’ll send a carriage for you once you’re done here,” he said. “Draven won’t kill you unless he can obtain your whole key, but you’re hardly in a state for the exercise.”

I didn’t argue or say anything. My mind was still reeling with the haunting vision of someone who wore the prince’s face while hiding a malicious glare I couldn’t picture on him right now.

How the hell was I supposed to kill him?

When he left, I slumped down onto a plush couch.

“How are you feeling?”

I whirled at the silvery voice.

Nyte stood in the corner of the room, cloaked in shadow. His tone was distant.

“A lot better,” I replied. “Thanks for helping me.”

Nyte huffed a bitter laugh. “I did nothing for you. I could donothingfor you.”

That fact pinched my chest. Judging by the way he kept his distance, I figured it pained him too.

“Only two pieces to go,” I whispered as though on the other side of that goalpost things would be different. As if then he would truly stand before me, no barriers.

Gold pierced the darkness he stood in as he finally looked at me. “Did he touch you?”

I suppressed a shiver at the threat in those words. “No,” I said. It wasn’t a lie. I knew the distinct type of touch Nyte was asking about.

His lips pressed together, and all he gave was a small nod.

I took a few breaths to collect myself, staring at my lap until a large, scarred hand, a phantom touch, tingled over my thigh. Nyte crouched before me, but I didn’t look up.

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