Page 90 of The Stars are Dying

“Nothing, I—”

Rose leaned in close, adding pressure through the blade, and my eyes welled with blurred vision. “What thehelldid you do to her?”

“She’s dead!” My tears spilled over, and I released one sob.

Rose eased off me a little but didn’t remove the threat of her dagger. I watched her expression twitch with something I related to. Sorrow. “I figured as much for you to be in her place,” she muttered coldly.

“There was a soulless…and I-I wasn’t able to save her.” I couldn’t breathe. Not with the waves of grief flooding me over and over at the scene playing out in my mind.

Rose finally backed away.

“I guess I did kill her.” I spilled my darkest confession, the guilt that would consume me for the rest of my existence. “She always came for me. And if she hadn’t that night she would be here.”

The stillness that fell between us was colder than our winter breaths.

“This meant so much to her, and I couldn’t let a whole kingdom lose their only beacon of hope…” I couldn’t stop. The story came tumbling out of me, and I didn’t care if her blade came to swipe my throat for real. I paced the alley until I ran dry of words, emotion, and as I gazed up at the sky, I prayed it was the last time I’d have to tell this story when I felt like I was dying all over again.

I didn’t know how much time passed in silence after I said the last word. I had no care for the threat Rose could still be, and regardless of whether she spared my life tonight or kept my secret, only one of us could survive this bigger deadly game.

“There you are!”

Both of us firmed into defensive positions at the voice that disturbed us. Until the familiar blond head came out of the glare of the sun and into the alley.

“Zath!” I couldn’t have been more relieved to see him, and my jog to him didn’t slow until we collided. “How did you find me?”

“Luck, it would seem,” he said.

Rose didn’t ease her threatening expression that held a hint of ire now we were in Zath’s presence.

“Good to see you too, Thorns,” he grumbled, dropping his arms from me.

“Is he in on it too?” Rose accused, using her dagger as a pointer toward him, which didn’t settle well.

Zath stepped forward at the threat. “In on what?” he asked in a deadly tone.

“That I’m not Cassia,” I interjected.

That only inspired a far more tense standoff as Zath reached for his blade. He said to Rose, “We might not be permitted to kill you, but I can arrange it.”

“And I might not be able to killher,but you, however…” Rose finished her sentence with action, feigning a right attack before switching at Zath’s response, but he was equally as cunning.

I stumbled back, at a complete loss for how to stop them before they could follow through on their threats. There was nothing friendly about the way they moved. Rose landed her elbow on Zath’s jaw, stunning him, but he managed to disarm her dagger, pinning her to the wall.

The victory didn’t last long.

I watched with a rush of dread, calling out to them, but it was as if I no longer existed in their honed battle. They kicked discarded crates, tossing debris at each other, and I was equal parts in awe at the way they seamlessly answered to each other and flailing in my mind since placing myself between them seemed to be the only option that might stop the madness.

“Stop this before I do,” a deep voice interrupted.

I turned taut, twisting my head to peer up at the Golden Guard. Rose’s protector. I spared a second glance to check for Drystan, but he wasn’t here. Perhaps giving me the enchanted map had been his way of fulfilling his obligation without needing to track me senselessly.

“Truce,” Zath called finally, taking several long strides back before Rose could attack again.

She panted, locked in a beautiful position of defense as she debated his retreat. “Not even close,” she grumbled, but to my relief she straightened.

“You fight well,” Zath commented.

“I handed you your ass.”

---