Page 127 of The Stars are Dying

“I want to give you the world, Astraea,” he said, running his hands up and down my arms, but it felt sowrongit grated my skin. “Everything you have ever dreamed of.”

That had my thoughts drifting to wondrous things, unlocking every desire I’d ever had and knowing there was one key to having it all.

Hektor’s hand dipped into his pocket, and while he’d gifted me jewels and trinkets before, my heart stopped with the purpose of this.

He took my hand. “Marry me, and it will all be yours.”

There were no limits to what I could have. I thought of every precious stone and beautiful garment. All the delicious food and expensive wine. I spared a glance around the room and realized how much he meant it. I had only ever glimpsed this room from above, but here I was—public, known. I wasn’t hidden anymore, and these people looked at me as if I were aqueen.

The cool metal drew a gasp from me as it was slipped onto my finger, and as I stared at it, I realized the price. The rock on my finger spoke of a lifetime of wealth, but there was a distant tug in my heart.

Hektor didn’t release my hand, instead guiding me gently, and I followed.

When I looked up, the purple velvet throne he led me toward was triumphant, though it felt somewhat familiar—but not in this room. It dominated the place with power, and I wanted to know what it would feel like to sit upon it and have the eyes of the room regard me as royalty.

I turned with his coaxing and sat, looking over the adoring crowd and noticing their gifts. They wanted to extend them to me. I met eyes with Hektor and his sparkled wide with adoration, giving me everything I could ever desire.

“Not everything.”

I gasped at the intruding voice. He couldn’t be here—not now. I tried to shake him, but it was like he fought to remain. He wanted to take it from me.

“Leave me alone, or I’ll order you gone.”

Nyte’s chuckle was darkly smooth, and a featherlight stroke along my jaw invited my head to turn to my opposite side. “This is not what you want,” he said.

I tried to shake him again, but he grew roots in my mind, and they had claws I would have to pry free.

This was everything I wanted. The power pulsed with exhilaration, the gifts and jewels more than I could crave in a lifetime.

I was seen, and I would be heard.

“Greed comes at the price of losing something,”Nyte said distantly, observing the crowd with me.“For this, it would be your heart.”

His enlightenment had me glancing at the hand Hektor held out. I looked at the diamond now, feeling the weight of an iron shackle. I could have every luxury with him, but not love.

“No,” I said, the word barely a breath as I knew it would inspire the sinister look in Hektor’s eyes. I pushed to my feet, backing away from him, and tried to pull the ring free, but I cried out when it clamped down harder.

“I offered you everything. Why won’t you take it?” Hektor’s voice became unrecognizable, a dark vibration, as shadows engulfed the room.

My answer was there, lodged in my throat, and I knew it had been for some time. Growing and suffocating, and now I wouldn’t breathe until it was out.

“Say it,”Nyte taunted.

My head was spinning. The ring around my finger squeezed tighter, and I yelped with pain before lowering to the ground. My hands clamped over my ears, trying to expel Nyte’s presence so I could focus.

“You have already beat the trial—now end it.”

I looked up, trying to find him, though I knew he wasn’t here.

“I can make it all go away, darling. Give yourself to me.” Hektor’s hand reached out again, and I looked at his palm. The offer had me contemplating the material things once again.

What was one harsh hand to a world of many?

My mind broke with anger, a surge like a power line through me that I didn’t think was of my own making. It snapped me with sense. There was nothing I wanted, nothing I could be bribed with, more than the freedom and strength to never feel another harsh hand again.

“I don’t love you,” I confessed. “No number of diamonds in this world could make me love you truly.” My heart was cleaved and I was bleeding. “That was all I wanted, not your wealth. But your love is condemning.”

I didn’t want to mourn for him, but I was. The darkness faded and his face turned to something I’d never seen before. Pleading, regretful.

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