“Starling, please.Please.”
Such sweet, comforting words.
But I was tired. So tired.
And the Marked, they would live.
The Marked angels were free. I could sleep now. I smiled, closing my eyes. Then I tumbled into an endless light. I let go, free falling into that welcoming abyss of ivory. But as I fell, a voice bellowed again and again.
“Safah, do not enter the Ellelights. SAFAH, DO NOT ENTER THE ELLELIGHTS.”
Chapter 37
Idrifted on a cloud of ivory, flowing through the tears between Time and the ethereal beyond. It was tranquil here. Peace enveloped me, welcoming me home. I lifted a hand, reached for that portal leading to a realm where Time was no more…
But it closed. Sent me back.
“No,” said a voice. It was deep, authoritative, yet comforting. It sounded like Papi would, if he were several hundred thousand millennia old. “Not yet, Star of the Age.”
I gasped, stirring from the dream.
With effort, I forced my eyes to open, slowly meeting the bright sunlight illuminating every corner of the chamber I was in. It took me blinking for several moments to realize I was in my bedchamber. In my bedcloud.
I breathed deeply trying to make sense of the fuzziness in my head.
I lifted my fingers. It was about all I could do without triggering a wave of nauseating pain. Every limb was stiff. Every muscle sore. The entire length of my back burned like the Hèls.
Stars.
What happened to me?
I groaned, twitching with anguish. I wanted to move but I couldn’t. My head throbbed. Something large, warm, and inviting brushed my cheek, then caressed the side of my face. I leaned into it, still working to blink away the sleep and deep mental fog.
I tried remembering why I felt like I’d been run through by the talons of stareagles. I felt discombobulated. I shook my head which caused my neck to ache and my body to tremble.
Then I nuzzled back into the warm hold. After a moment I realized what was caressing me was a hand. A large one. I blinked, looking at it. It was pale. With inscriptions embedded into every inch of available skin.
I angled my head. Looked up.
Two glittering, emerald pools, rimmed in gold, met my gaze.
“There you are, Safah Starling.”
“Quazar,” I whispered. I was shocked at the sound of my voice. Why in the world did I sound like that? Like I’d been screaming until my throat was raw and my voice hadn’t returned? “What…”
“Shh,” Quazar cooed. “You’re still recovering. You have a little ways to go.”
“Re…recovering?”
I stuttered, my mind already growing tired. I’d said little more than three words and I was already exhausted.
“From what?” I whispered as my eyes fell shut. As the world grew dark once more.
“Shh, my Starling. Sleep.”
Sleep? Sleep.
I could do that.
