Page 102 of The Stars are Dying

“They have to go somewhere,” Nyte said. I shivered with that notion. “There are some who believe with the blood vampire curse their detached shadows became deadly forms of their own. To keep the creatures from destroying the land they were banished to another realm. Shadow Craft is a very powerful and ancient practice.”

I skimmed over the dark cast of his form as if it were alive with his tale.

Then I watched as another vampire passed a dress shop window and no reflection got in the way of her admiring the feature gown. A soulless.

“You said the king is fae,” I pondered. I wanted to rant about how barbaric it was that he could treat his own kind this way, but that wasn’t what nagged on my mind. “The prince is shadowless—a blood vampire.”

“Why the interest?” Nyte asked, and I detected a hint of bitterness.

It was my turn to shrug, playing it off as bored curiosity. “He seems friendly.”

“I told you not to trust him.”

“You can’t tell me to do anything.”

Nyte’s hard look as he straightened only fueled me with challenge. Something about him sparked a dangerous thrill in me, and I found delight in pushing his darkness.

“His mother was shadowless, if it satisfies you to know.”

I blinked, processing that information. “I wonder what happened to her.”

“I would rather we didn’t talk about him,” Nyte grumbled.

“I would rather you weren’t here at all.”

“That’s not true, or I wouldn’t be.”

My mouth opened only to stall on a response.Think of me, and I will answer. Long for me, and I’m right here with you.

I got to my feet, pacing across the roof as the full clarity of those words hit me truly. They warmed my chest and caressed my mind, but I wanted to shake this feeling away. Nyte had come to me every time I’d needed him. So strongly did I yearn for someone that he’d become a tangible force, fooling me all that time. Because I wanted it. Him. And that realization frightened me.

Somehow, I knew when I turned Nyte would not be there. I needed to wrap sense around what was happening. He wanted to use me, and that wouldn’t change no matter how much he’d helped me before.

Casting my gaze up with a sigh, I mapped the stars though they slept. I traced the constellations solely from my memory, which could project me so close to them sometimes.

I stilled.

A constellation.

“Phoenix,” I mumbled to myself.

My breath hitched as I held up my map. The drawing formed three circles indicating the levels of the city. It was so undeniable I couldn’t unsee it. How there were some broken lines, streets perhaps.

“Not the bird—the constellation.”

Holding both up side by side, I slipped the transparent sheet over the map and exploded in triumph when the lines fit together, connecting to the ink underneath it to create the full constellation and circle three locations.

“Which one first?” I asked.

The map answered me, revealing a tiny scroll like before, and my vision lit up.

“See? I don’t need you,” I muttered to Nyte’s ghost. Hopping back onto ground level, I pulled up my hood in the alley and stopped to peek a look onto the main street. It was bustling during the afternoon hour. Floral perfumes and cool wind filled my nostrils in this sector of the city. My poise tensed at the many pointed ears and how I would be far more singled-out here.

I’d nearly braved a step out when a particular figure caught my attention. His hood was up, trying to remain inconspicuous, but it seemed I’d already gathered enough familiarity of the prince to know it was him from the shadowed tilt of his face as he almost glanced my way.

Shouldn’t you be keeping an eye on me?

Though I was glad to know Drystan wasn’t constantly following me.

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