Page 94 of The Stars are Dying

I most certainly did not.That was what I thought to say to wipe away his confidence. But I schooled my frustration. “That’s not an explanation.”

“Free me, and you won’t have to fear or change for him once this game is over.”

At what cost? What horror could be unleashed if I did as he asked?

“I wouldn’t free a lion because it whined like a house cat,” I said.

Nyte’s mouth curled, the first easing of his cut features. Therealhim. “A few minutes and you’ve already deemed me so dangerous?”

“I might not know much of the world yet, but I’m insulted you thought me to besonaïve that I could look at your chains, where you’re kept, and not think ‘dangerous’is a tame term for what you are.” My fear of him turned to anger. “Is that why you chose me? You saw someone weak, vulnerable, and your grand trick was to get me here.” Then my world turned cold, and in my spike of rage I remembered I had my dagger at my waist. “Did you kill her to get me here?”

“No,” he said without hesitation. “I am sorry about your friend.”

I couldn’t be sure. Not when everything I thought I knew about him had turned out to be a lie. His very existencehad only been an illusion until now, and I needed to figure out that part before I lost my damn mind.

Perhaps that was already long gone.

“I can’t trust you,” I said. “Not until you start giving me answers.”

“How many lives are you willing to watch end before you receive them all?” he said harshly.

I flinched, hating the bait. He knew exactly where to get to me. But I held my ground. “As many as it takes to be sure you aren’t a greater threat.”

His fist flexing rattled the chains, drawing my attention to them. I wished to turn them to ash for causing the thick abrasions that looked healed over many times. Then I shook my head to wipe my unexpected flash of sympathy.

“How long have you been down here?” The whisper slipped out.

Nyte withdrew, giving me his back as he leaned against the uneven stone wall, half cloaked in shadow. “You’re not safe out there,” he said, evading my question. His quiet voice ofdefeatpinched my chest as he refused to meet my eye.

“I don’t think there is such a place.”

“I told you where you should go.”

Beyond the veil.

“Why?”

“You’re in the Central now, Astraea. Make use of the knowledge you have access to here, but be wary. The king has not one shred of mercy for anyone. He cannot find out who you really are.”

“Why have you been helping me?”

Nyte pushed off the wall, making the clang of his chains resonate through the cavernous dwelling, and my gut sank with every note. He stopped, the distance between us the shortest it had been since I arrived. I didn’t balk this time.

“Will you come closer?”

The low tone of his voice was so inviting I answered to it. I took a couple of steps, each one making me feel like I was tethered to an electric pull. A hum that grew over my arms and chest and made my breathing come quicker.

“What is that?” I whispered, stopping when there was only a small measure of distance between us.

Nyte raised a hand—slowly with the weight of his shackles. A finger pointed until his restraints met their end, and his teeth clenched. My brow flinched at his suppressed pain, but I saw it then: a faint iridescent sheen that rippled with the advance of his touch.

“The only thing that’s keeping me here.” His hand dropped, and mine fought the urge to reach out and touch what he couldn’t.

“I would have thought it was the shackles.”

Nyte chuckled resentfully, and the unexpectedness of it locked our eyes.

“I could take care of those just fine if it weren’t for that damned ward.”

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