“Something’s going on,” he said quietly after his eyes roamed over my face.
“Yeah,” I agreed, taking a long sip of my coffee before bolstering myself. “Come inside with me.” Ronan followed me through the door dutifully, and we found the others gatheredaround the kitchen island, with Gabe and Steele finally conversing like normal.
“Alright,” I said, calling the room’s attention as I stood at the far end of the island and took another sip of my coffee. My hands were shaking slightly, and I tried to still them, wanting to appear confident about what I had to say—even if it completely upended my entire world. “Something happened last night—something I can only classify as insane.”
Instantly, everyone’s eyes were on me, and I found it a bit intimidating. I was used to interacting with these men on a daily basis, but that didn’t change the fact that it could be a bit hard to focus when every ounce of their attention, their intensity, was directed toward me.
“Explain,” Steele demanded before he added with a strain to his voice, “please.”
Honestly, I would have smiled if it hadn’t been such a serious discussion. After all, Steele saying please for anything wasquitethe event.
“As you know, in training with Noah, I’ve been focused on using a meditative state to reach out to the stars, to be able to interact with them on that level before attempting anything physically,” I said, my eyes darting down to the island as I recalled what happened the previous night. Even at the mere memory of it my heart was beating fast, my body feeling the phantom touch of the power imbued in me.
“I was restless for most of the night, so I finally got up, hoping some fresh air would help me feel a bit more settled. When I went to sit outside, I decided to try meditation to keep my mind occupied…But I couldn’t get anything. I couldn’t even begin the process of reaching out to the stars, which was unusual considering the success I had at training.”
Pausing, I bit down on my lip in thought as I looked at each one of them. Each man was completely focused on me, takingmy words seriously, so I forced myself to take a steadying breath. Ireallyhoped they didn’t think I was crazy. Hell, I felt a little crazy. “And this is when it gets a bit unbelievable, so I’m just going to go for it.”
“We’ll believe you, no matter what it is,” Niz offered, causing my lips to tilt up in a thankful smile.
“Right,” I put my shoulders back and spoke in as sure of a tone as possible. “I was pulled into space by a beam of light. It was painful. Shocking. And somehow, that wasn’t the craziest part.”
I watched in tense silence as their expressions filled with shock, eyebrows raised high. “I thought I was alone up there, surrounded by the cosmos, much like in my meditative state…but that was when they appeared.”
“They?” Ronan asked, leaning forward on the counter, seemingly riveted by my story. It gave me the boost I needed to continue.
“The previous Star Keepers—thousands of them—all surrounded me at once. They looked ghostly, with no distinct features but they were very clearly individual beings,” I motioned to the space around me, as if they might appear in our kitchen. “But three of them took a human-like form that I could communicate with.”
“And I thoughtmypower was the crazy one,” Bastian mused, looking fully entertained and excited.
“What did they say?” Steele asked, his gaze almost calculating in its interest, his brow dipped and fingers tapping on the island. There was no lack of belief in his expression—so even if he was surprised, he was still taking me completely seriously.
“That they believed in me, said that theyknewI could keep the stars from falling. They offered me their knowledge, what itmeans to be a Star Keeper. More than that, they gave me the remnants of their power.”
“Allof their power?” Gabe asked, disbelief in his tone as he shook his head slightly.
“Everything they had left to give—it extinguished them in the process.” I whispered, feeling a painful pressure in my chest. Regret slammed into me, and even though it was quite fair to feel it, I still pressed my hand against where it hurt the most. I knew it had been part of the process of gaining my powers, but I wouldn’t discount the sacrifice they made. “They won’t ever be able to reappear again.”
Pressing my hands to the island and leaning forward slightly, I pushed the regret to the side and spoke clearly, “Because of their sacrifice, I now understand my place in this world—their belief in me and their willingness to give me their own power—makes me know without a doubt that I can do this.”
I swallowed before making a statement that I had never believed before.
“Iwillsave the stars from falling—Iwillsave everyone.”
The silence that followed was one I should have expected, but I felt a momentary sense of doubt, wondering if they would think my story was absolute bullshit. Even to me it sounded a bit wild.
So I continued, hoping to explain myself better. “My power feels different now, like I have a more instinctual and intense connection to it. I can almost feel the weight of the dagger in my palm and the urge to draw runes. I can sense the tether inside of me trying to reach out to pull on the vast energy of the cosmos. Centuries of knowledge about how our power, as Star Keepers, works and how to wield it is bouncing around in my head. I don’t knowexactlywhat I need to do to save the stars—I haven’t worked out those details yet—but I truly believe with the power I’ve been given and the knowledge of how that power works, I can do this.”
I knew how heavy my words were—ladened with responsibility. Up until this point, my mission, while very real, felt more abstract, hanging completely on the success of my training.
“The time for action is here.”
After a long moment, Steele finally said, “You won’t be able to fully focus on saving the stars with Alfemir aware of our rebellion. We have to deal with them.”
I nodded, knowing he was right. The prophecy was breathing down my neck, and with my time split between trying to understand my affinity and training for the brewing war, I didn’t feel like I could fully give my focus to either.
“And we can’t just sit here waiting for them to attack us,” Ronan said, nodding his agreement. “If we don’t want to be constantly on the defensive, we need to go to them. If we stay here, theywilleventually bring enough numbers to overwhelm us and cash in on the bounty Kieran’s dad has put on her head.”
“We could move to a different hideaway, but I don’t think any of us wants to do that. That would feel a bit too much like abandoning the Rebellion for me,” Gabe pointed out.
