PART ONE
TheDarkestDays ofNyte
1Astraea—Past
Astraea Lightborne descended from the skies like a shooting star, a blinding arc of light and silver feathered wings slicing through the darkened clouds above the city of Vesitire. The key in her hand pulsed with a fierce, radiant energy, mirroring the markings that snaked across her skin—ancient symbols glowing like embers over her flesh, their intensity heightening with each second. She could feel the weight of her purpose thrumming within her, grounding her even as she landed with a soft, lethal grace on a humble dwelling’s rooftop.
The city loomed around her, an intricate web of bridges and towering spires. Tonight the vampires had attacked. Astraea took in the savagery of red eyes and leathery wings, but the nightcrawlers cursed to roam after dark weren’t the only vampire race among those fighting against the celestials—her kind. Some didn’t cast a shadow as they sank their fangs into the scrambling humans, consuming their blood. Others didn’t have a reflection in the nearby shop windows as they held innocent prey in their arms, draining their victims with a kiss of death.
It hadn’t always been like this. The vampires were once as peaceful as the fae, coexisting with the humans. Until someone entered her world who was never supposed to be here and sought to overthrow her reign as the star-maiden, ruler of Solanis, by poisoning the minds of her people and the celestials who governed against her. Nyte’s father was the leader and instigator of that brutal uprising, but everyone knew he was nothing without Nyte—Nightsdeath—known as the realm’s nightmare.
Astraea swooped down off the roof, and with a flick of her wrist she held the key aloft, watching it blaze brighter in response to her awakening magick, a beacon in the gloom. The vampires surged forward to the target she made of herself. Swift and deadly they came at her, their fangs bared and claws outstretched. She took a breath, the air sharp and cold, and then sprang into action.
“We can handle this,” Auster called over to her, sending bolts of blue lightning to take out several foes at a time.
He always tried to send her away, but she could never stand by idle. Auster and the other three High Celestials wanted to encase her in glass for protection while they led the frontlines of this war. Though each time he suggested she stay out of the fighting irked her, she understood his concern. Astraea’s chest pounded with fear for his safety too in the thick of their enemies. They were lifelong friends and he was her Bonded.
Astraea was reminded of the immense guilt that had festered inside her when she hadn’t yet told him that they would never be able to forge their true bond now. For she’d tied herself to another: the realm’s nightmare, and Auster’s greatest enemy.
Nyte should be her enemy too, but at some point along the dangerous alliance she’d made with him to discover why their lands were shaking and the stars were dying out, the line between desire and hate had blurred, burned, then ceased to exist.
Now, as she sent a flare of light to cut through a swarm of nightcrawlers, she knew Nyte was watching. His presence lived within her, both a pleasant assurance and a nagging hindrance to her focus. He couldn’t interfere with this fight, though his tangible wrath at sitting on the sidelines rattled through her.
“You’re far more capable than he is,”Nyte grumbled through her mind in response to Auster’s concern for her.“Behind you.”
She spun, shifting the key to a blade that sank through the chest of a shadowless. Even though they were her foes right now, she hated to spill the blood of those she didn’t know the stories of. How desperate did this man have to be to side with Nyte’s father and believe this was the only way his kind could achieve equality?
Astraea was determined to bring back the peace she’d dedicated her life to. Her Golden Age was shaking, and she was running out of time to keep it from collapse.
“I’d focus better without your input,”she sent back to Nyte.
“I’d focus better by your side.”
“You’re not needed here.”
“You wound me.”
She didn’t reply, though contrary to what she told him, talking to Nyte while she fought oddly kept her hyper-focused on slaying enemies.
“Did you know about this attack?”she asked, wanting to find exactly where Nyte was, but these vampires were unrelenting.
“No, actually,”he replied with a note of disturbance.
“Then if you want to be helpful, you could find out.”
“I can’t leave while you’re in danger.”
“Like you said, I’m the most capable here. And I’ve survived much worse without you.”
“You’re having all the fun without me.”
“I’ll make it up to you later.”
She shivered as Nyte stroked her senses. It was highly inappropriate given the circumstances. She dislodged her blade from a vampire’s back.
“How so?”he coaxed.
“It might involve a bath, given we were interrupted.”
