“It’s too late for that,” the queen says. “We have less than an hour. Dawn is fast approaching.”
My gaze drifts to the nearest window, and sure enough, I can see the palest shimmer of light creeping across the black velvet carpet of the night sky. There’s nothing else out there but darkness. The stars have forsaken me. Or maybe the reverse is true—I’ve deserted them. I’ve killed the stars.
“Should we wake her?” Javed asks.
“She’s already awake.”
“Good of you to join us, beloved,” Javed says, looming over me. “How’s the eye?”
My bark of laughter is a weak puff of air that scrapes my throat.Beloved?He wouldn’t know love if it branded him on the ass. “How’s your face?” I mumble back. “Want me to make both sides match?”
He rears back and slaps me, but I barely feel it.
Save yourself, Starkeeper, find your truth.
The command is razor sharp and urgent, reminding my fogged brain that I’m far from powerless. If I can get my shit together. I bite my lip hard and begin the arduous process of quietly flushing my body from crown to toe.
After a few agonizing moments, the smog in my head starts to fade, and the room comes into clearer focus. I look down beyond the altar, a sudden wave of nausea making me shudder.
A crimson four-pointed star—a symbol of the four elements with the glyph for akasha at its center—has been painted around the stone slab in what looks like blood. Two vertical incisions along my forearms confirm that it’s mine. No wonder my body feels so weak—I’ve been drained of blood, too.
Javed props himself on his elbows on the stone, a leer on his lips as if reading my mind. “Not so mouthy now, are you?”
My eyes flick past him as three men are escorted into the chamber—I instantly recognize one of them. Covered in blood, his body slumping against his captors, Roshan has been thrashed within an inch of his life.
Javed follows my gaze and grins, signaling for the guard holding his brother to come closer. “He came for you. Offered himself as a trade. Did you know my cunning little brother is the commander of the Dahaka? Too bad he didn’t know that there’s no choice. You have to be sacrificed so a god can be born.” Pushing off the altar, Javed shoves Roshan’s chin upward. Glazed brown eyes meet mine, the emotion in them making my bones ache as Javed’s face twists with malice. “I want you to watch, brother, when Fero swallows her soul.”
My tongue feels thick, but I force the words from my mouth. “You think when Fero takes over, he will spare you?”
“I am the king.”
“And he is immortal.” I inhale a shuddering breath, my voice weak. “Javed, if your mother performs the ritual, it will be the end of the world as we know it, ushering in an era so dark that nothing good will survive. Is that what you want?”
“It will be my legacy.” Releasing his brother, his fingers reach out to stroke my cheek. “Be silent. It will all be over soon.”
The chanting grows louder, and Morvarid approaches me.
Her eyes roll back in her head as red-hued darkness flickers in the air between us, flaking from her body like an extra layer of skin. I recoil in horror, struggling feebly against my bonds, my entire body wanting to distance myself from her and those blood-touched embers.
In response to my panic, my starlight sparks and flares outward, and I feel the metal clasps securing me to the altar melt. Groaning, I yank my arms up and teeter on the edge of the stone slab.
The effort nearly makes me pass out. I fight to stay conscious, but the combination of the Jade and the loss of blood undermines whatlittle strength I do have. I might have colossal star magic in my veins, but my body is still all too human.
The crimson-laced obsidian flickers fall faster, melding together, coalescing in the shape of a faceless, spindly man, his limbs and torso framed with smoke.
This creature’s essence... feels oily. I don’t know if this is Fero, but I can sense the malevolent power radiating from the mass like a palpable force. It may be made of swatches of darkness, but its poisonous aura is revoltingly real. Fear tastes like sour bile in my mouth.
With all my strength, I shove off the altar and try to summon more of my magic, but it’s as though the burst before was all I could manage. I feel it inside of me, but I’m too sluggish and weak to wield it.Fucking Jade!
“Secure her,” Morvarid orders. “Begin.”
Rough hands drag me back onto the altar. I forget about escape as slimy touches creep up my limbs, slithering their way around my body until I’m shrouded in a membrane of oil. It settles on top of me and penetrates, slowly at first and then all at once. Every nerve in my body braces for it, the stink of decay filling my nostrils as tiny spikes burrow under my skin, tunneling below flesh and gorging their way through bone and marrow.
Scream after scream echoes around me, until I realize that the gutted sounds are coming from me.I’mscreaming.
“The dagger, Javed,” the queen says. “You must be the one to complete the ritual. Pierce her heart, command her soul, and the power will be yours.”
Find your truth, Suraya.
