“You have a sister?” I asked.
He paused. “I had one. Sort of. Her name was Allison.”
“Oh, I’m sorry…”
“Don’t be. It’s not your fault. But anyway, she used to read this one all the time, so I hope you like it.”
Leo sat beside me, one leg folded beneath him, his voice smooth and rich as he began to read.
It wasn’t a story I knew. Something old, lyrical. A tale about a girl who swallowed starlight and wandered the edge of the world looking for the place it came from. His voice lulled me, not just with the rhythm of the words, but the care in how he read them. Like the storymattered.
I drifted somewhere between sleep and waking, tucked beneath the blanket, watching the light catch the gold strands in his hair.
And when he finally looked over, thinking I’d fallen asleep, he smoothed a hand gently over my forehead and whispered, “Sleep, beautiful.”
I didn’t reply. I just let the warmth of him and the weight of those words carry me into the dark.
Chapter 26
Elira
I wake in a cell.
It’s cold—so cold the stone floor bites through my skin. Damp air clings to my lungs. My shadows drift restlessly around me like smoke, like they want to protect me. They slither up the bars, but the moment they touch the shimmering silver light that hums around the cell, they snap back with a hiss.
“Where… where am I?” My voice sounds wrong. Higher. Fragile. A child’s voice. “Where’s Mummy?”
Beyond the bars, I hear them—moaning, whimpering. Screams that start high and end in silence. They claw at my bones. I flinch. I try to cover my ears, but the chains rattle and pull my arms taut. I can't move. I can’t run.
Then I hear footsteps.
A shadow detaches from the darkness and walks toward my cell. He’s tall. Too tall. His shoulders scrape the archway. His eyes glow red—like coals buried in ash.
I shrink back, heart hammering.
“There, there, child…” His voice is syrupy, smooth—and wrong. “I’ve got you now.”
My eyes shot open and I clutched my chest. My heart was pounding. The room around me was pitch black and beside me, with his mouth wide open snoring loudly lay Leo.
He was snuggled up against me, and at my start he stirred. I froze in place and gradually watched as he settled down again, snoring once more.
With his floppy hair on the pillow, he looked remarkably innocent and young. I didn’t want to wake him.
But I was scared. My whole body throbbed with the adrenalin.
I felt wide awake. I tried to lay back and drift off, but I couldn’t. I needed to act. To do … something.
I extricated myself quietly from the bed and got dressed. I pulled on my stretchy pants and a shirt, then attached my knives to my body. Then, giving Leo a soft kiss goodnight, I opened the door and snuck out down to the training room chambers.
**
Phoenix
My office was a disaster.
Maps, blueprints, and broken weapon schematics cluttered every inch of desk space. None of it worked. None of it would satisfy the king. I stared at the mess for a long moment, then grabbed the nearest sheet and crushed it in my fist.
Useless.
