Page 59 of Secrets and Starlight

“It’s the least I could do.”

She blinked, taking it all in.

In our shared silence, I took a final sip of wine, and when I set the empty glass down, it clinked against the table.

Vanessa looked up at me, her eyes more watery than normal. “Thank you,” she whispered before sweeping up the mast and vanishing into her nest, glowing the dullest of blues.

Alone again, I looked wistfully back at the ship’s cabin.

Several hours had passed. Through the tether, I suspected Ayla had fallen asleep, her emotions settling into a steady hum.

I should sleep too.

I snuck toward the cabin, using my shadows so I wouldn’t wake her. She was curled up on her side of the bed, making herself so small my heart wrenched at the sight.

Silent, I stripped down to my boxers. I folded my cloak and set it next to my pillow before crawling into the bed, careful not to touch her. But soon, the bed shifted. In sleep, Ayla turned over, stretching out a leg to entwine it with mine.

I smiled, relieved.

We’d figure it out. We always did.

Preparing to sleep, I glanced at my cloak. The pocket glowed an even brighter purple, as if the set of shards were stronger together than any piece had been alone. It was a relief to know my hunch had been right and we were one step closer to our goal. But all the same…

If I could justify the shade army, what else would I be willing to excuse in the name of protecting those I loved?

Chapter twenty-two

The Poisoned Tree

Ayla

The trees returned to my dreams. Growing on a hilltop, their branches swayed in the breeze, the one that was mine and the one that was Zayne’s.

I studied where our roots joined, relieved to find the sight no longer filled me with alarm. We were stronger together, after all.

My dreamy gaze was drawn down.

The roots reached deeper, descending into the earth, growing wild as they explored soil previously denied.

They soaked up the water and nutrients of this new land. But this food tasted strange, and my tree remained dormant, untrusting of the earth it found itself within.

It longed to flower, but it never bloomed.

It was finally freed of its confines but still struggled to thrive.

How frustrating.

The tree grew desperate. It plunged its roots deeper into the earth, searching for anything it could salvage. Something familiar to the small, limiting mound on which it had grown.

Finding something, the tree sparked with relief, one that was short-lived...

Red liquid filled the roots. Poison or food? The tree didn’t know. It was made to grow, to reach for the stars, and this red substance...

It felt right, so the roots soaked it in. Leaves grew healthier, plumper. New branches reached high. The tree had only lived this long because it had fought for its life. Though strange, the red liquid was clearly sustenance. So the roots grew again, thicker, so they might draw up more of this fuel.

Time seemed to accelerate, seasons passing in moments as the tree drank deeply from this new source. The tree grew taller, the leaves plentiful. As spring arrived, it flowered, and by the fall, fruit weighed down its branches.

Fully ripe, one of the fruits fell to the ground, splitting open. And inside…

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