Page 103 of Starchaser
In one fluid motion, Titus slashes the king’s throat.
Calix stares at me, grasping at the thin seam of red that opens, gushing blood down the front of his jacket. He cuts his eyes at Titus only once before they roll to the back of his head and he falls face-first in a pool of blood, his crown toppling from his head.
Calantha claps as Titus crouches, lifting the bloody crown and placing it atop his blond hair. It sits askew, beads of scarletdripping down his face as he stands once more. He smirks, pointing his dagger at Will, who fights for breath, held captive by Leo’s magic.
Merely twenty feet away, a barricade of Gores block Lord Bludgrave and Lady Isabelle from reaching me—it seems as if every time they cut one down, two more take its place—and Killian stands over Henry, bleeding out on the floor, his left leg hanging on by a few stubborn tendons. Sybil appears, taking Annie by the arm, and I hear Killian shout, his voice ragged, “… to the ship!”
My eyes meet Will’s, and I don’t know why I expect to see some glimpse of hope there, because all I find is terror.
“S-stop,” I manage to gasp, unable to recognize the sound of my own voice. “L-let him—g-go—”
Titus’s smirk broadens to a vicious grin. “You should have left when you had the chance,” he says to me, slowly making his way back onto the dais. He kneels at my side, lifting the medallion out of my pocket, placing the chain around my neck. He squints, his mouth pressed tight as his fingers trace the symbol of the skull and crossed daggers, but Leo places her hand on his shoulder, clearing her throat, and he gets to his feet, stepping away to allow her access to me.
Leo smiles, her eyes glowing red.“Finally.”The voice that speaks is no longer Leo’s—coarse, like smoke, and somehow powerful and all-consuming, as if she were a storm wrapped in flesh, her every word like the low growl of thunder as she says, “You have something that belongs to me.”
Black spots edge my vision, my breath coming in ragged gasps. With one hand I press against the wound in my stomach, and with the other I reach for one of my daggers, but Titus steps on myfingers, shattering the bones with an efficientsnap. I cry out in pain, blinded by white light.
I barely make out the shape of Leo as she grabs my arm, wresting my hand from my stomach, and slides the leather bracelet from my wrist. She tosses it aside with a scoff. “Pitiful sorcery. Did you think your little trinket would protect you fromme?” She leans in, her face inches from mine as she traces my jaw with a long, decaying nail. The sharp tip punctures my skin, drawing blood, but I’m numb to the prick of pain.“If they’d only told you the truth about who you really are, you might have had the means to save yourself. To save them all.”
She grips my chin, painfully tight, her nails digging into my flesh. “He had his chance,” she says, examining my face with idle curiosity.“I let him have his fun. But I’ve waited six hundred years for this—I won’t waste another second playing his games.”
I know she’s referring to the Shifter who bit me as a child—to Flynn. But I can barely focus my thoughts as I watch Leo lift the dagger, crackling with purple lightning.
“Come with me to Havok,” she says, her voice like a silken whisper, soft and cool.“You need only say the word, and I’ll release Titus. You can save him, Aster. He’ll finally be free.”
I think of Father’s compass, tucked safely in my pocket.There is still time to chase another star.If I go with Morana now, there’s no guarantee she’ll free Titus. But if I refuse—if I fight—there’s still time to save him myself. To cure Will and free Owen.
She doesn’t want me dead, I think.She wants me to be compliant.
But I will not be silenced.
“Rot in Havok,” I say through gritted teeth.
Leo’s eyes flash, a bright scarlet light that burns hotter than any fire.
I think I might have been wrong—that Morana might kill me right here, right now—but as Leo drives the dagger toward my shoulder, it’s as if some invisible force grabs her wrist, forcing her to halt midstrike, as if the True King reached down from his heavenly realm and commanded her to be still.
But then, I see Leo’s red eyes go wide. See blood dribble from her lips as she coughs, the dagger clattering to the floor beside her.
I feel as if I’m dreaming when my vision focuses, briefly, on Mother, standing where I’m certain she wasn’t just seconds before, withdrawing a sword made of Elysian Iron from Leo’s back.
Calantha shrieks, springing from her seat on the throne.
Everything seems to slow as Will—free of Leo’s hold on him—lurches for me.
Another explosion rips a hole in the throne room, and the ceiling crumbles overhead, chunks of stone plummeting to the marble floor, taking out the barrier of Gores that hindered the Castors’ escape and blocking Calantha from view. Titus stumbles back a step, removing his foot from my hand.
“You get Henry!” Will shouts at Mother, his eyes glowing gold. “I’ve got her!”
Lady Isabelle and Killian hoist Henry into the air. Mother hesitates, looking from Will to Titus to me. She appears as if she’s about to take another step toward us, but something gives her pause.
“Help them!” Will roars, gathering me into his arms. I can feel his magic prodding at the wound in my stomach, attempting to stitch me back together, and a pitiful wail escapes through my clenched teeth as my broken fingers straighten out. I know it takes everything within him to resist the blood—myblood—noticing the way his nostrils flare, the muscles in his jaw rippling.
Mother nods, just once, before turning to cut through the remaining Underlings, clearing a path for Lady Isabelle and Killian.
Hope flares in my chest.They’re going to make it out of here alive.
But I know, judging by the deep rasp of Will’s voice when he groans, “You—you’re bleeding—Aster—” that if we don’t get out of here soon, Will might not be able to stop himself from ripping into my throat.
