Page 172 of The Stars are Dying

“Yes,” Nyte said. “And no. He would have done it again, and while there were times he regretted his mistreatment of you, there was always a dominant side that found power in it. Your submission to him.” Nyte spoke so calmly, but it was the most terrifying kind of rage that invoked the shadows to claw out from the corners of the room. He slipped his golden eyes to me, and the fire in them almost leaked out. His other fist trembled at his side as though he were trying to hold back from something.

The something dangerous he could become.

I nodded. It was all the closure I needed.

Nyte turned his focus back to Hektor, and I had to look away as terror paled his face with the realization he was staring at his mark of death.

“I wanted to string out your end for everything you did to her,” Nyte said. Calm. So chillingly controlled.

A sickeningsnapresonated. I flinched back. Hektor cried out, and I couldn’t stop the sob that escaped me with it. His arm was now bent at an angle.

“But every second you’re still alive, even in pain, makes me murderous to a degree the darkest things can’t come back from. They’re going to take your soul so it may never plague this land again. I will grind your bones to dust so you become nothing. A mere blink of meaningless existence, while she will take everything you ever dreamed of and torment your last moment with what that will look like.”

I was so cold. My blood, my bones. I sank to the ground helplessly, wishing I could be brave and face Hektor with my own vengeance, but all I wanted was him gone. All I desired was everything Nyte offered, and I wondered if that made me a coward as I bowed my head, shivering against the marble.

Hektor began to scream, and I winced, forcing my gaze up, but there was no physical torture. Nyte had moved behind Hektor but still held his neck. Hektor clawed at his skin, and I didn’t want to know what torture Nyte was conjuring in his mind.

A guard approached, and the moment Hektor locked eyes with him he was entranced. The kind of vacant stare I would never forget as the vampire consumed his soul.

“I said to aim for the heart, Starlight. But next time…” Nyte’s other hand plunged into Hektor’s back, retracting in one smooth motion. Sickness rose in me so fast I spluttered despite my empty stomach. “Make sure you can see it.”

I didn’t know what hit the ground first. Hektor’s limp body or his heart.

50

The next breath to leave me was both liberating and soul-tarnishing.

Hektor was dead.

His blood dripping from Nyte’s fingers started to wisp away to shadow before it could touch the dark marble. Darkness engulfed his hand, spilling down into a wave of mist that grew over the floor to cover Hektor’s body.

I didn’t think I was breathing, hardly present as I watched it turn his body to smoke…until nothing was left of him at all.

No blood. Not on the ground or in Nyte’s hand.

I blinked as though I could have imagined him being wiped out so easily.

Perhaps this was a nightmare.

But then a shuffling behind me rattled my senses and I drew a long inhale. When I turned to see who had entered, nothing else mattered. My eyes widened as my feet raced for their salvation. Toward Zathrian, who marched into the room, face lined hard, and Rose, who looked just as braced for battle.

I collided with him, and Zath tried to pull back to scan every inch of me, but I couldn’t stop pushing him. “We have to go,” I said desperately. Maybe it would be futile to try to outrun Nyte, but I couldn’t risk him finding some reason to kill Zath too. “We need torun!” I demanded when he held me but didn’t move.

“Who is that?” Rose asked.

I stopped trying to steer them back, and something about Zath’s stillness coiled a knot in my stomach. I dreaded to look up. Zath wore a face of anger, but in his pinched brow I didn’t want to see the pity, thesorrow.

“This isn’t like what you think,” he said, sparing a glance at Rose.

Her brow wrinkled with accusation. “What are you talking about?” she asked, freeing a blade from her side. “You said we were coming to get her before…” Rose paused, and fresh dawning relaxed her firm face. Her hazel gaze shifted sideward.

“He’sNightsdeath?”

She didn’t hesitate, but her step to Nyte was intercepted by Zath. The look she locked on him spoke of deadly promise.

“Please wait until I can explain. You’re safe—both of you. I promise you that.”

The way Zath spoke as if he were defending Nyte… I shook my head with dizzy confusion.Something isn’t right.

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