Page 108 of Starchaser
“You’re safe now, Aster,” the man says, removing the mask.
I’m dead, I think. I must be dead.
“We’re going home,” the man says, the brim of Captain Shade’s red tricorn hat casting shadows over his familiar face as he bends down to place a kiss on my forehead. “We’re all going home.”
PART THREE
AWAKENING
Sunlight prods at my eyelids.I blink, my temples throbbing from the effort to lift my head. Squinting through bleary eyes, I’m met with a modest room made entirely of wood. At first, I think I must be aboard theStarchaser, but everything is perfectly still, aside from the occasional gust of wind. From where I lie on a large, cushioned bed in the center of the room, in a pool of warm light that floods in from the window opposite me, a familiar, glittering stretch of blue fades into the horizon.
Chirp.
A bird lands on my windowsill, startling me. It’s unlike any bird I’ve ever seen before. Unlike anything I might have seen in the Eerie. Its feathers are green and red and gold, its beak long and curved. It cocks its head at me, squawks.
I look down at my white cotton gown—at the band of braidedleather on my wrist. Eliza or Gabriel must have recovered it from the dungeons before we fled.
Instinctively, I reach for the medallion hanging around my neck, rubbing my thumb over the skull and crossed daggers as if to soothe myself. As if to ease the soreness in my rib cage or the ache behind my eyes. Someone has healed my wounds. There are no marks, no scars from the wedding. But I feel what they couldn’t mend with bonewielder magic and human medicine.
Father’s compass!I scan the room for any sign of the tiny golden trinket, but it’s nowhere to be found.
I swing my legs over the side of the bed, wincing at the pain that burns in my chest, pumping through my veins with every beat of my heart. Gripping the bedpost, I attempt to stand, only to collapse onto the edge of my mattress, panting for breath. I bite my lip to stifle a wail as I try again, but just as I gather the strength to take a step, my legs give way beneath me and I fall to the wooden floor, my face colliding with a loudsmack.
Instantly, the door to my room swings open, and Charlie and Lewis rush inside. They haul me to my feet, depositing me on the bed once more, both talking over each other as they fuss about my cheek.
“—bleeding again—”
“—definitely going to bruise—”
“—told you she would try—”
I grab them both by their shirt collars and pull them toward me, throwing an arm around each of their necks. They tense—I can practically feel them looking at each other over my shoulder—before returning the embrace, squeezing me tight.
“You’re okay,” I say weakly, my voice hoarse from disuse. I drawback to look at them both, wanting to be certain they’re really here and not just a cruel trick of my mind—another nightmare waiting to devour me. Fear grips my heart. “Will? Is he—”
“He’s alive, and he’s here,” Charlie assures me, but something about the way he cuts a glance at Lewis sends a chill down my spine. “Sort of.”
My heart leaps into my throat, but before panic overwhelms me, Lewis continues.
“He hasn’t turned into a Shifter,” he says. “It’s as if his transformation was… suspended somehow. But, Aster…” He hesitates. “He’s ill. He won’t come ashore. He insists on staying aboard theStarchaser.”
I think of the last time I saw Will—the pile of corpses, the way he tried to attack me, lost to his bloodlust as the Shifter curse weakened his resolve—and something in my chest splinters, piercing my heart.
“I need to see him.” I try to get to my feet, but Lewis seizes my wrist, his grip gentle but firm.
“You can,” Lewis says, cutting a glance at Charlie, who scowls, shaking his head slightly. “Just… not yet.”
I want to argue—want to insist they take me to see him this instant—but another, more immediate question takes precedence. “How did you escape?” I ask, looking between the two of them, searching for any sign of injury, but they appear strong—healthy in a way I haven’t seen them in a long time. Maybe ever.
“It’s all thanks to theStarchaser’s crew,” Lewis says, plopping down beside me on the edge of the bed. “When Titus lowered the wards, it wasn’t just Underlings that were able to enter Castle Grim.” I wince at the mention of Titus working for Morana, butLewis doesn’t seem to notice. “The suggestion of the Order’s fleet was a distraction, and when Eva Mercer was killed, it worked to our advantage because Morana’s forces thought the Order had called off the invasion. But they didn’t expect theStarchaser—weren’t even looking for it. Our people stormed the gates during the attack and got us out of there, guns blazing. It was incredible.”
Our people.I know they mean pirates—humans—but the words puncture something inside me.
“I have to tell you—” I start, but Lewis cuts me off with a wave.
“We know about Mother,” he says, his brow quirked.
“Halflings.” Charlie snorts a laugh. “Surely, someone could have come up with a better name for a half-human, half-Nightweaver offspring.”
