“The price is too high, especially if you’re getting hurt in the process.”
“Ronan, buddy!” Bastian called out to him from the center of the room where he was lounging on the mats. “You really don’t have to pretend—we both know that you just wanted to hang out with the objectively cooler group of people. I mean, Niz may make training relatively more interesting, but it’s still with Gabe and Steele—Kieran and I arefarmore fun to be around.”
I stifled a laugh as Ronan cracked a smile. “That’s it. You’ve got my number, Caster.”
Bastian offered a beaming smile. “See? I knew it!” Shaking my head, I couldn’t help but smile at both of them, loving the familiarity they communicated with. Despite their rough start, I had a feeling they were quickly becoming friends. Acquaintances at the very least.
“Well, I am pleased to have you here, Ronan.” Noah’s voice drew our attention as he walked across the floor from the office, a mug of tea between his hands. “Today, I will be heavily focused on Bastian’s training while Kieran continues to work on her meditative state and connection process. I like the idea of having an extra set of eyes on her, just in case her attempts verge onto the line of danger and she needs to be pulled from that state to take a break.”
“The state itselfcausesher injury, I would say that is already on the line of ’danger.’” Ronan’s voice was rough as I stared up at him with concern before looking back to Noah. I knew he could no doubt see the tension in Ronan’s jaw and the way his eyes were narrowed on him.
Noah’s look was filled with understanding, his brow dipped in sympathy and his lips pressed together as he considered his words for a long moment. “I understand it is upsetting, and it will be even more so to watch it occur in person. While the texts didn’t mention that specific injury occurring, they did mention that once the connection to the assigned star is made, it grows physically easier to use Star Keeper powers. I have to assume that once that happens, it will reduce the risk to Kieran.”
“I guess we’ll see then,” Ronan rumbled.
I had a feeling that was the best we would get the man to agree to right now.
“Where do you want us?” I asked Noah, turning my attention back to training.
Considering Ronan’s concern over my potential state, I was more determined than ever to make this connection happen quickly to avoid a dramatic scene.
“Ideally over to the far corner of the space. Considering the extent of Bastian’s powers and their nature, I would rather err on the side of caution and have you at a bit of a distance. I don’t suspect it will be an issue, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
“Works for me!” I agreed quickly before scurrying toward the corner, Ronan following me over. We sat facing one another. His back was to Bastian and Noah, naturally shielding me, and I fought the urge to smile at the sweet gesture.
Still, my gaze tracked over his shoulder to where Noah and Bastian stood in the middle of the room talking in lowered tones. I was half tempted to sit and watch Bash’s training out of interest. He hadn’t told me much about his experienceyesterday, so I found myself beyond curious about the full range of his powers. I shook the notion from my mind, knowing I had massive leaps to make in my own training.
This needed my full attention.
“I’m going to focus in,” I told Ronan before my brows furrowed. “Are you sure you won’t be bored just sitting here? I could end up doing this for hours.”
“Never,” he promised, propping himself up by leaning back on his arms. I settled myself in a comfortable position with my legs crossed, calm flowing through me. I wouldn’t lie, I felt ten times more confident going into the meditative exercise this time around.
Sure, I knew pain could come with it…but I also knew I was getting closer and closer to my goal. Taking a deep breath, I let my eyes fall shut. This time when I went to build my internal tether once more, I quickly found it there and waiting.That was progress.
Almost immediately, it responded to my touch.
Releasing it from the center of my sternum, the gold rope slackened around me on the floor of my imagined space before lifting from the ground. Focusing my attention upwards, I felt my chest squeeze with excitement and awe at the infinite skyscape above me. My tether didn’t waste time, responding to my will with far more strength than the day prior as I continued to push upwards toward the stars.
It was still a slow process, with the sensation of our world’s gravity trying to ground me and keep me bound. It was hard to fight against, but I was determined, and with each push, I felt myself growing closer.
As I drew nearer to the stars, reaching the same point as yesterday, I began to notice subtle details about them that I missed before. My gaze narrowed in on the star closest to me. Ifelt as though I couldn’t push forward, but I found that Icouldsee more clearly and could more closely study my discovery.
Runes.A set of runes vibrated around the star in a circular pattern—almost like rings around a planet. Except they weren’t vibrant or pulsating with the power they should have exhibited. Instead, there appeared to be something wrong with them, their image glitching in and out, as if they were having trouble solidifying within my reality.
I wasn’t sure how long I floated there, trying to study the unique pattern. When I finally realized that the runes were all the same, but drawn in slightly different variations, I had a shocking revelation.
Were these…were these runes drawn by previous Star Keepers?
Wanting a closer look, I decided to attempt to push past the barrier that had stopped me from moving forward twice now. Drawing my power into my center, the tether vibrated with energy as I focused all my will on the star directly in front of me. I pushed—hard. Every ounce of my energy and focus was completely aligned with the task at hand, and the second I shot my energy out, I went flying. Relief, victory, and a sense of pride soared through me—I thought that I had finally managed to break through another blocking point.
A wall slammed up in front of me suddenly. A scream caught in my throat as I smacked against it, the imagined state around me shattering as the scent of burnt flesh hit my nostrils. Searing heat stretched across each of my arms and up my neck, causing me to whimper in pain. My skin felt as though it was bubbling like molten lava.
“Fuck, Kieran—open your eyes!” Ronan’s frenzied tone pulled my eyes open, and I found myself looking down at my arms, tears leaking down my cheeks. My head throbbed and Ishook, my arms covered in burn marks and blisters that had popped, blood and a clear liquid seeping out of them.
Suddenly, everything went cold, my arms prickling with a chill. My energy dipped, like there was something new draining me that I didn’t understand—something completely disconnected from my power.
My eyebrows knit together. The room felt almost locked into place, with a distinct magic floating through it and saturating the air. The taste of copper hit my tongue and a surprised gasp left my throat. My heart beat loudly in my ears as the power began to pull on me.No.That wasn’t a strong enough word for the force it latched onto me with. It felt as if I was being fed on by a ravenous entity.
