Page 109 of The Stars are Dying

I had only passed one trial, and the new daunting outcome didn’t inspire me with confidence. “How does he give the Golden Guard immortality?” I asked.

Nyte canted his head. “They started off as an experiment. A way to build his army faster. To transition humans…into vampires.”

Stars above.

“But there is always a consequence. Their hearts do not beat, and they are cursed never to attract true love. They are perhaps his most deadly weapon as they keep their shadows and their reflections. Their ears are round, and a human would never know the new bloodlust that walked among them.”

“Who would choose that?”

“None of them do.”

This event had become so much more sinister than I’d originally thought, and I didn’t know what to do with the information Nyte revealed.

A new, unwilling breed of vampires…

It couldn’t continue. I couldn’t fathom such a heinous act being forced upon me, especially not on Rose. There was no glory in winning; it would be nothing but another manipulative gain for the king, and I loathed him more powerfully than I thought myself to be capable of.

He had to die.

“Drystan said there’s a sixth key—that’s what he’s truly looking for,” I said, calculating while trying to keep my calm.

Nyte’s eyes narrowed a fraction. I couldn’t decide if it was the prince’s name or the knowledge he was reacting to. “Yes. The star-maiden’s key.”

My breath came short. “Why does he think we can find it?”

“Because long ago the star-maiden made sure that should anything happen to her, no one would be able to wield it. She broke it into five pieces and scattered them throughout the city. Every one hundred years, anyone with even a shred of magick can feel the pieces awakening. It’s a very powerful tool, and it can only stay dormant for so long before it has to expel something. The king didn’t create these trials; he was the first to ever participate in them. Over and over, until he had five whole keys, and it almost drove him to madness. But none of them opened the temple door he’s been trying to get inside for three centuries since. He started the Libertatem as a brilliant political structure to keep the kingdoms obedient and under his control in exchange for their safety from the savage vampire attacks that were close to wiping out entire human populations. At the same time, he has five people playing the star-maiden’s trials, hoping each time the real key will be among them. He kills four Selected out of nothing more than spite and rage, and one he keeps to form his Golden Guard to keep up the pretense of a reward for the victor. That’s all the Libertatem is for.”

My fingers gripped the edge of the bathtub, not realizing what I was doing as I sat forward. Only the bubbles concealed my upper half, and Nyte’s golden gaze flashed a dark shade, but he did not look down.

“You’re hardly being fair,” he said huskily.

I stifled a shiver, but my mind was reeling with the information. “What is beyond the temple door?”

Nyte remained at eye level, and when his hand reached for the water I almost barked out a protest. But this wasn’t real, and instead I tracked the fingers he danced across the surface of the bathwater with some intrigue as to how they would feel.

“It’s a place to summon the God of Dusk and the Goddess of Dawn.”

“Why does he want that?”

“He has always craved magick as someone without it and despises that he has always needed someone else to keep his empire under his control. The king has found a way to call the God and Goddess to mortal form, and with the star-maiden’s key he would hold the greatest weapon. They might very well grant his wish in exchange for it.”

I didn’t want to know really, but I asked, “What is his wish?”

“To become a god, and he plans to kill them.”

“He can’t.”

“Agreed,” Nyte said, his voice still low and distracted as if our conversation were about the weather: insignificant compared to what truly held his interest in this moment. “Which is why you must free me. I can help to stop him.”

“I’m afraid,” I said honestly.

Nyte’s head tilted, his hand dipped past the water’s surface, and my lips parted. “Of me?”

“Of what you could be capable of.”

“You should be.” His fingers grazed my calf, and I breathed steadily.

Not real. This is not real.

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