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There’s a pause as all eyes turn to the professor expectantly. Do the others not know?
The silence stretches, becomes awkward, then downright uncomfortable. The professor refuses to meet anyone’s gaze. Dread forms in the pit of my stomach, and the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
When he opens his mouth to speak, no sound comes out. He closes his mouth, swallows, tries again.
“There’s a ritual that will reinforce the portals to our world. Make them impenetrable to the Shikari.”
I frown. Something isn’t adding up. If the guys are convinced I’m the star and I can somehow save both worlds with a simple ritual, why haven’t they done it yet? Why am I only just finding out about this?
“But, won’t the Shikari still come after me. Won’t they kill me later to open the portal?”
I feel like the pieces of the puzzle are slipping through an hourglass, slowly coming together one by one. But I’m missing something. The bigger picture. It’s like looking at an impressionist painting. Up close it’s all blurred brushstrokes and dots, but if you take a step backwards you see it in its entirety and can make out the image.
I need to take a step back to see what I’m missing.
“They won’t be able to,” the professor admits.
“Why not?”
“Because the ritual to seal the portals is irreversible.”
“How? Why?” Bhodi demands. Reef is silent, staring at the professor in disbelief, and Cove is squeezing my hand so tight my fingers have turned white.
Iknow. I know what the professor isn’t saying. What he doesn’t want to admit. The cruellest fate of them all: that I finally found someone to love me for me, and we can’t be together. Because I’ll seal the portal forever and they’ll be on the other side of it, and I’ll be stuck in this realm without them.
“Because the ritual demands the star’s blood.”
“Meaning?!” Bhodi shouts, jumping to his feet and looking ready to kill someone.
“Meaning, that we have to sacrifice the star to save everyone.”
“S-sacrifice h-how?” I ask, swallowing past the lump in my throat, unshed tears burning my eyes.
The professor draws in a ragged, pained breath, blows it out and looks me dead in the eye. His expression is swimming in regret.
“The star has to… You have to…” He breaks off, unable to say the words. I swallow painfully around the lump of disbelief, regret and emotion that’s lodged itself in my throat and whisper the words that he can’t.
“You have to kill me.”
“NO! No fucking way!” I yell, scraping my chair along the floor as I race round to pull Malia into my arms. “Not fucking happening.”
“Bhodi—” Malia’s reproach comes out muffled from where I’ve crushed her to my chest. I throw my hand over her mouth to quiet her protests and her pupils dilate.
Fuck. Is she turned on right now?
Focus, Bhodi! Now is not the time to be wondering if Malia has an asphyxiation kink.
I tell my dick to settle the fuck down and remove my hand from Malia’s face. She glares at me, but I see her nipples standing to attention. Fuck. I silently groan and then chastise myself.
“There has to be another way. We are not sacrificing Malia, do you hear me?” I bark, glaring daggers at the prof.
“We’ve exhausted all of the alternatives.” He’s completely unapologetic.
“And you had one job to do, find another way.” I hate this man, I hate him and I hate this situation I’ve been plunged into.
“And I am sorry, for not doing that, but we simply do not have the time to go traipsing all over the world looking for another way to end the danger.” He wearily rubs his eyes with the back of his hand, stressing his exhaustion.
“There has to be something else we haven’t thought of. You’re the fucking expert, find something—”
