Page 86 of The Stars are Dying

“Yes,” he said so quietly I almost missed it.

We walked, blending in with the humans now their initial intrigue had passed. Or at least I did. Yet Nyte’s tall form and pointed ears didn’t seem to draw even a flicker of attention. The threat of panic only lessened as I fixed my gaze on Nyte, tracking him. He led us down some less crowded streets as the morning began to awaken the district and people started their day. I breathed steadily through my constricting throat.

Nyte’s hand lightly grazed my back.“We’re almost there.”

After a few more turns through shops, a market square, and a makeshift children’s playground, we emerged into a quieter area. Beyond a stone arch stood a massive structure with sharp gray angles. A work of art in its own right.

“Remember your riddle. You can’t speak when you enter, not even a word. This place is home to a spirit creature they call the Crocotta. If it hears your voice, it can take it. Permanently.”

I wrung my gloved hands as I glanced from Nyte to the temple. “How will I ask for the key part?”

“You won’t. It will decide if it wants to give it to you.”

“That’s not encouraging.”

“Despite what it can do, the Crocotta is a guardian. It is safeguarding the work inside and the non-speakers who choose to stay there.”

“Non-speakers?”

“Some reside here to heal from past trauma until they wish to leave. Others never do, and this way of living is their peace.”

That didn’t sound as frightening. Maybe I could admire this creature for protecting them even if it could choose to steal my voice.

“You should stay here,” I said.

“Why is that?”

“Because you have a habit of invoking my irritation with a look, and I can’t be certain I won’t break.”

I didn’t wait to see if he would stay behind as I headed for the temple. There was no door, only an archway past the portico, and I took a deep breath before stepping under it. I didn’t expect to be enveloped by heat and the complete eerie weight of true silence the moment I stepped through it.

When I glanced back, Nyte was gone, and I concluded some kind of spell kept out the cold air here, just like it did in the palace. Whatever I’d considered to be silence before was nothing compared to what raised every hair on my arms now. It was so quiet I was certain I’d hear a pin drop.

I wandered inside, finding myself standing in a great hall that offered various directions in which to head. There were organized rows of glass cases holding objects, and here I found the first signs of people dressed in white robes. Some stood with books splayed in their palms, looking to be taking notes on whatever it was they studied. Animal skeletons. Old artifacts. A couple spared me curious glances, but no one approached.

My teeth clamped on my tongue to hold back a gasp of fright when out of the shadows ahead a beast stalked. A panther. The two women I’d seen closed their books, scurrying off at the presence of this creature, and that did nothing for my nerves.

I turned to stone in the center of the circular hall, hoping it wouldn’t decide I was a threat or unworthy of being here. As I bowed my head in submission, the black panther began to circle me. Beneath my feet, lines that had no pattern or order spilled across the entire floor like sticks thrown haphazardly.

“What an honor it is to have you standing in my hall.”

Those words rang loud in the silence. A feminine voice. The panther’s mouth didn’t move, and I almost shook my head at the ludicrous notion, but I couldn’t help attaching the speech to the creature.

“I know what it is you seek, and now it makes sense why I have it.”

The panther dipped out of sight, and I didn’t have the courage to track it behind me. It didn’t reappear. Instead the hall began to darken, stealing the daylight and chilling the air. A glint caught my attention, and once again I had to clamp a hand over my mouth to keep any sound from escaping.

A fragment of metal was suspended in the air. It had to be a piece of the key, but it dawned on me this creature wasn’t done playing with me yet. A feminine chuckle blew over my skin.

“What a prize you could give me,” it cooed. “Your voice would be delicious. One of power and strength. A voice that calls through time and awakens the night.”

My voice had always felt small and pitiful in the box I locked it in. I didn’t know what else to do other than stand for judgment. When the creature came back around, my lips parted to the drum of my heart.

It had taken my face. My body. What was worse was that it wasn’t my disguise of black hair and deeper blue eyes; my silver hair had returned with my matching irises, and my tattoos were on full display in the gown it wore. The Crocotta examined its arms, every marking, and I couldn’t believe my eyes when it lifted a hand and the silverglowed.

There had been times before I had thought I’d seen them flicker, but I’d always attributed it to the lights giving off a metallic sheen. But this was beautiful. The glow radiated a soft energy.

Its shimmering silver eyes drifted to me with feline delight. “You make this difficult for me to win.” Its chin lifted before it began to stalk toward me as though it had found something. It was unnerving to want to cower from the image of myself, but the seduction it wore was not mine. “You can be stubborn. Your pride is found mostly in your refusal tolose.” Fingers swept through my hair as it disappeared around me again. “But it is those with the strongest will who know when it’s necessary.”

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