Page 2 of Starchaser
“Take one more step,” Will says, his voice deathly calm, a subtle honey-gold light flaring in his eyes, “and the girl loses more than her leg.”
Shade sighs. “Don’t you ever get tired of making empty threats?” He removes the gun from my face, releasing his grip on my waist only to kick my legs out from under me. I land on my knees, my teeth gritted against the pain. He must aim the pistol at the back of my head, because when I look up, Will’s face has gone pale. “Are you really willing to gamble with her life? I know what she means to you.”
My heartbeat thunders in my chest. When we agreed on how this exchange would play out, we didn’t discussthis. Captain Shade—Titus—has saved my life more than once. But can I trust a pirate not to take things too far?
Can I trusthim?
Will never takes his eyes off me as he removes the blade from Diana’s throat. The Bloodknights throw her forward, where she lands in a heap on the ground beside me.
“Your turn, pirate,” Will says, fixing a glare on Shade.
I glance behind me as Shade lowers his weapon, shrugging his shoulders. “She’s all yours.”
I meet Will’s gaze once more as I gather the strength to rise, and I see it there—the relief, the concern, the silent apology. And… something else. Something neither of us has given breath to. I brace my palms against the slick, rough cobblestones, lifting myself slowly when—
BANG.
The gunshot rattles in my chest, my ears ringing. For a split second, I think I’ve been shot. But it’s Will who staggers to the left, sways. With his free hand, he touches his shoulder. His fingers come away wet with blood.
And then chaos.
I scramble out of the street, pressing myself flat against a building as Captain Shade’s crew descend from the rooftops, swords flashing. Bloodknights stream out from the alleyways to meet them, wielding blades made of Elysian Iron. Gunshots reverberate off the brick walls, and for a moment, I lose sight of Will in the blur of bodies.
But there—there he is, locked in battle with Captain Shade.
It’s all for show, I remind myself. Titus and Will don’t actually hate each other. They’re on the same side; they would never try to kill each other.
Still, shooting Will wasn’t part of the plan. And if Shade is going off script…
With an expertly timed strike, Will uses his sword to knock the gun out of Shade’s grasp, making it a fair fight. But with Will’s steady loss of blood, I’m not sure how much longer he can keep this up.
I would kill for a weapon. Even though, despite the battle that rages around me, I know I’m not in any real danger. Shade’s crew wouldn’t dare harm me, even if they didn’t fear what their captain would do to them if they did. And the Bloodknights have been ordered by the king to assist Will in bringing me safely to Castle Grim.
Nevertheless, my fingers itch for my daggers. I can’t bear sittingstill, watching as others shed blood in my name. Blood that pools at my feet. Blood that whispers to me in a language I feel I’ve forgotten, like waking from a dream…
I shut my eyes tight as the sickeningly sweet smell of copper overwhelms my senses. I can’t risk anyone seeing the golden glow that now emanates from my irises—growing brighter as my affinity continues to rise within me, stronger now than it did the first time it manifested that night in the bloody fountain.
I shake my head. It’s been only two weeks since Titus revealed I am half Nightweaver—a bloodletter with elemental power over water. But now is not the time for losing control. Not when I haven’t even begun to discover what kind of power I can wield. Not when I can’t be sure of the damage I could do if I just—
A Bloodknight slices a member of Shade’s crew, and the girl crumples to the ground next to me, entrails spilling from the gash in her abdomen. I tried my best not to learn the names of Shade’s crew, especially knowing what I planned for tonight, but now as the girl dies nameless beside me, shame coils in my gut.
She chokes, coughing blood onto the cobblestones, before her eyes roll to the back of her head.
I look away.
Shade’s crew knew what they signed up for. They knew some of them might not leave this street alive. Still, the blood that seeps into the cracks is on my hands.
Let them believe the great Captain Shade, hero of the human rebellion, has lost, I told Will and Titus.Then, once the king believes he’s won, we’ll attack from the inside. They won’t suspect a thing.
Will was reluctant, but I thought I saw a hint of pride in Titus’s eyes as I detailed my plan to invade Castle Grim by using hisfather’s own scheme against him. A brilliant plan—ifWill doesn’t succumb to the wound in his shoulder.
It has to be convincing, Will said.
It has to be a struggle, Titus agreed.
It has to look real, we decided.
Only, now I wonder if I didn’t misjudge the lengths they were willing to go to stage this deception.
