Page 66 of Stolen Star

Another violent tremor shakes the platform, chunks of rock the size of my head breaking away and plunging into the lava with sickening hisses.

We have seconds—not minutes.

“Sapphire.” Riven’s voice is strained, his hand finding mine, holding it like a man grasping the edge of a cliff. “We need to go.”

I glance at Thalia, guilt filling my chest.

“Thalia...” My voice breaks on her name.

Her expression softens. “Tell them I found peace,” she says, her fingers going to a small ring hanging from a chain around her neck. “Tell them I wasn’t afraid.”

Riven’s turmoil pulses through the bond—a mixture of shame and resolve. And then the platform gives another sickening lurch, more stone breaking away beneath our feet.

“Go!” Thalia shouts, water erupting around her in one final, defiant display. “Now!”

I position the Star Disc above my head, gripping it with both hands.

Riven steps behind me, his arms circling my waist, his chest pressed against my back.

“On three,” I say, gathering my air magic despite the stifling heat. “Don’t let go.”

“I’ll never let go,” he replies. “No matter what I have to do to stay with you and keep you with me… for me, it’ll always be you.”

“And you better believe I’m holding you to it,” I say, and then I begin counting before the magma beneath us can terrify me more than it already is.

“One... two...”

“Three!” we shout together, taking a running leap from the edge of the crumbling platform.

We drop.

My air magic explodes behind us, Riven’s joining mine, propelling us forward. The Star Disc catches the current, and suddenly we’re soaring, the Disc humming with energy as it guides our flight.

I look back in time to see Thalia press the ring to her lips and run to the edge of what remains of the platform, gathering her magic in a desperate surge. She leaps with all her strength, water erupting beneath her to boost her jump.

For a breathless moment, she soars through the air.

“She’s trying to follow us,” I cry, hope flaring in my chest.

But her water dissolves into steam, her momentum stalls, and she begins to fall.

“No!” I scream, reaching out with my air magic, trying to catch her, to push her toward us.

Riven’s grip tightens around my waist, his own magic lashing out alongside mine—but it’s not to help me save Thalia. It’s to push us faster. Further away from her, and closer to the Ember. Closer tosurvival.

My magic dissipates before it can reach her.

Thalia falls, our eyes meeting one last time—not with fear, but with a strange peace—before the lava closes over her.

I only half hear myself screaming as Riven guides us the last few feet to the central platform, his arms tight around me as we land hard on the stone.

“She’s gone,” I whisper, staring at the spot where Thalia disappeared. “It…”

Consumedher.

The magma pulled her in and swallowed her whole.

Riven’s body is rigid against mine, his magic dangerously still. When I look up at him, his face is composed, but his eyes—those beautiful silver eyes—are so haunted that it makes my heart stop.

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