You alright?
I’m good,I assure him. And myself.
I rip open the locket, and out pops the other half of the star. The moment it’s freed, it zooms toward its mate faster than I can comprehend, colliding in an explosion of light.
Blinding is an understatement of what they are together. The force blasts my hair back, challenging me to stay upright. The star grows like a giant, now doubled in luminosity, in size, in heat. But it doesn’t leave the circle.
The sky above us seems to be shifting, the clouds rearranging themselves. No, not the clouds…it’s the stars. The Aurea Dei is suddenly overhead, tugging at our star with brutal persistence.
“Get the box, Serena!”
My fingers slide over the cool, smooth lid and pry it open. The star rockets into the box so powerfully I fly backward, breaking the circle.
I open my eyes. The lid is shut, the star secured inside.
I look up at my friends. “Did we do it?”
Zadyn holds out his hand, flashing me that knee-weakeningsmile.
“I think we just got ourselves a key.”
“Honey, I’m home!”I sing, rounding the corner to Kylian’s cell.
I’m pleased to see him looking miserable as fuck—his hair mussed, some grime covering his perfect face. His head rolls to the side, his corded arms draped over his drawn-up knees.
“You’re awfully chipper for a poison-slinging viper. Happy to see me?” His sardonic words lack a bit of enthusiasm, as if his time here in solitary has taken its toll.
“My mood has nothing to do with you and everything to do with beating your ass. Finally.” I flash him a smirk, closing my hands over the iron bars and pressing my face between them. “It’s over, Kylian. You’ve lost.”
I swear to god, his tanned skin turns ghost-white, his arms going slack as they fall to his sides.
“What in gods’ names have you done?”
I bite my lip. “I joined the stars.”
He’s on his feet far faster than anything has a right to be, despite his haggard state. His clammy fingers wrap over mine through the bars, locking my entire body in place.
“No, you didn’t,” he whispers.
“Yes, I?—”
“The stars don’t make up a key for the portal, love.” The blue fire in his eyes turns anguished as his face softens, something like pity swirled into his gaze.
“Then what…”
My whisper trails off, my stomach sinking lower and lower as Kylian opens his mouth and says, “You have no idea what you’ve done, do you?”
106
ZADYN
“What are you doing here?” Jace shoots me a dark look, lingering in the shadow of Serena’s doorway.
I finish unbuckling my belt of weapons and toss it down on a chair. “She wanted us to meet in here.”
“She told me the same thing.” An awkward silence falls. “Yet she can’t be bothered to show up,” he adds under his breath, moving to the bar cart.
“Don’t punish her for this.”
