Page 44 of Starchaser
“Can’t have you falling ill,” he says, flashing his teeth in a biting smile, even though his hands are gentle as he secures the top button of the coat. His hands linger a little too long, his gaze drifting.…
I clear my throat, and he takes a step back, putting distance between us. He runs his hands through his hair, dappled silverbeneath the light of the stars, and I note the tattoos on the backs of his hands—the matching sparrows in midflight.
“Well?” His throat bobs. “What did you see?”
My mouth works, my breath like a puff of white smoke. I know I have to tell him the truth—that I didn’t see anything. But the way he’s looking at me—the desperation in his gaze… I can’t bring myself to say the words.
“Aster,” he says softly, hesitantly, “you can tell me.”
My heart aches. He expects me to tell him he’ll have to kill his childhood friend, not that I couldn’t sense Morana, which means he won’t be able to cure Will’s curse. Either way, someone he loves must die.
“Titus, I—”
“Apologies,” Will says, and I whirl to find him jogging toward us, his expression somewhat pained. He stops a few feet away, his hands on his knees as he pants for breath. “I’m not sure how long I have before they find me again.” He looks over his shoulder, as if the two girls from dinner might appear at any moment. Apparently satisfied that no one followed him, Will closes the distance between us. His gaze flits to Titus’s coat, and I almost expect him to scowl, but his eyes soften when he looks at my face. “Are you all right, my darling?”
I shake my head, my lips pressed tight as a rush of emotions rises within me—disappointment, fear, guilt, all lodged like lumps in my throat. “I—my ability—I didn’t see anything tonight. Leo was right beside me, and I couldn’t sense that she was possessed. There were no signs of a Sylk. What if something’s wrong with me?”
What if I missed it, as I did before? I already lost Father because I failed—what if Will is next, and it’s all my fault?
“Nonsense,” Titus says, waving his hand in dismissal, and though I should feel relieved that he appears calm, it only serves to unsettle me. “I expected you might have trouble. Morana is powerful—more powerful than you can imagine. It won’t be as easy to detect her as it has been with other Sylks.” He meets my eyes, his voice level, confident. “You’ll try again tomorrow.”
“Brother,” Will says gently, his voice strained. He clutches at his abdomen, a muscle in his jaw feathering. “It could be time to accept that Morana isn’t here. You can’t force Aster to—”
“I’m not forcing her to do anything!” Titus’s eyes go wide, his frozen breath punctuating every word. “She’s cursed, too, William!” He points at me, nostrils flaring, and suddenly the swans take flight, disappearing behind the mausoleum. “She’sdying, too. You can’t run from this! You say you want her safe? She needs the cure. Don’t you want this? If not for yourself, then for her?”
“Of course I do!” Will snaps, spit flying, voice cracking. He squares off against Titus, but he winces, fist clenched at his side. “I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for her—if I didn’t have hope that there was even the slightest chance she could be saved from this fate. But I don’t have much time left, and there’s no one I trust more than you.”
Titus opens his mouth as if to argue, but Will doesn’t stop.
“No, listen to me!” Will insists, his voice rough. “I need you to keep searching for a cure even after I’ve turned. But you can’t do that if you won’t let go of this—this unfounded belief that Leo is possessed!”
Will staggers a step to the left. Titus reaches for his arm as if to steady him, but Will brushes him off, half-sitting, half-collapsing onto the base of a large, winged statue. The carved face of thewoman looks down at Will, her expression mournful, as he buries his face in his hands.
Gingerly, I kneel beside him, my touch light on his arm.
Will captures my hand in both of his. “It’s nothing.” It looks as if he attempts to hide his grimace with a reassuring grin. “It comes and goes in waves.”
That’s when I see it—the dark green veins peeking out from underneath his collar.
I gasp. “It’s spreading?”
“Please, Aster—” Will starts.
I shake my head, whirling to look at Titus. “Can’t you help him? Slow the spread, like you did with the venom in my veins?”
He glares at the veins as Will adjusts his shirt collar, covering them once more.
“It doesn’t work like that,” Titus says, his brow furrowed. “There’s nothing I can do for William, save for the cure. Tomorrow you’ll see Leo again and then—”
“And then what?” Will presses, his teeth gritted. “Say the princessispossessed. You still have to force Morana to take her corporeal form. You’re not strong enough to perform the ritual, not without—”
“I’ve already told you.” Titus cuts him off with a look that threatens violence. “I have a plan.”
I look between the two of them, my heart racing. “Withoutwhat?”
Titus grinds his jaw, pacing. Will blows out a tight breath.
“Without human blood,” Will says, pinning Titus with a glare.
