The last thing Claudia sees before her vision goes are those two green stars leering down at her from above.
Then comes the heat.
It starts in her shoulder, in the open wound where the starlight meets her blood. It’s as if life itself is burrowing into her. She opens her eyes. First, she sees the point of the dagger nearly touching her skin. Then, to her right, she sees her blood glowing green. Below them, Odette’s grave rumbles like the empty belly of a beast. The entire sky shakes.
The stars are here. They are listening.
They are on Claudia’s side.
“You’re wrong, Marcherie,” Claudia says with sudden strength. She throws the girl off her, rolling until she’s now mounted on Marcherie’s hips, holding her down with her thighs. She grabs Marcherie’s wrists and pins them down to the ground. To get the dagger, she repeatedly slams Marcherie’s fist into the ground, individually snapping the tiny bones in her hand until the blade comes loose. She holds the blade to Marcherie’s throat, slicing through the gold ribbon until it falls from her neck to the ground. The tip of the dagger barely touches Marcherie’s skin, but still, blood petals out around the blade.
“You’re wrong about all of it,” Claudia says, seething. “I didn’t kill Odette, and you won’t kill me.”
Marcherie struggles beneath her, unable to lift her shattered hand. “GetOFF,” she cries.
“I’ll let you go, and you will return to the school immediately. You need help.”
Marcherie’s mouth twitches in anger. With a deep breath, her eyes flash bright blue, and she releases a deafening shriek. It’s high enough to break glass, sharp enough to slice the very air, painful enough to force Claudia to crawl away.
It’s magic. It’s a siren’s scream. Claudia can do nothing but cover her ears and cower as the singer stands. Marcherie lunges for Claudia, snatching the dagger from her hand. Aiming directly for Claudia’s face, Marcherie plunges the blade through the air. Less than a second before it spears through Claudia’s left eye, Cassius rushes from the woods and catchesMarcherie by the wrist. He throws her back like she weighs absolutely nothing. With a grunt, Marcherie hits the ground, landing on her broken hand. Cassius turns to her and rips the blade from her grip. He holds her up by her hair and points the dagger at her heart.
“Marcherie, what theFUCKis wrong with you?”
“What’s wrong withYOU?” She arches her back, fearlessly leaning into the blade. The sharp tip touches her skin. If she took a deep breath, it would pierce her. “Why are you with HER? She’s a MURDERER.”
Cassius groans. “No, she’s not.”
“HOW DO YOU KNOW?” Marcherie shrieks, her voice booming with Dolericym’s magic.
“BECAUSE MALEVIMUS HIMSELF DECLARED HER INNOCENT.”
Marcherie freezes. She swallows, eyes darting between Cassius and Claudia. Cassius releases her from his grip but keeps the dagger readied.
“What?” Her voice is quiet and childlike. “When?”
“Today. When we spoke before the debate.”
She shakes her head, hands bracing her temples. “No. No—she—she’s not—no. No. No. I don’t believe it. I know she’s evil. Iknowit.”
“You claim to know more than Malevimus?”
Her hands fall to her heart, and her big round eyes soften with shame. “But I don’t understand,” she whimpers. She looks to Odette’s grave. A sob cracks and spills out of her mouth. “I don’tunderstand.”
“There’s nothing to understand. You are wrong. We both were. Claudia is innocent.” He points the dagger directly at her eye. “Youare not.”
“I don’t understand,” she repeats over and over, rocking back and forth with her gaze fixed on Odette’s name etched into the headstone.
Cassius turns, charges to Claudia’s side, and wraps her in his arms. She melts with relief, throwing her arms around his neck, desperately trying to stop shaking.
“I’ve got you.” He kisses her forehead. “You’re safe.” His hold on her is powerful and unyielding, like he might never let her go. Seeing the wound on her shoulder, he untucks his shirt and tears a piece from the bottom, creating a makeshift gauze to wrap around her. Starlight spills over his chest, his stomach, the strong V of his hips. When he’s done dressing her wound, he says, “Are you okay?”
She takes his hand. He’s warm. He’s here.
“I’m okay now.”
“Good.” His grip doesn’t loosen when he turns back to Marcherie. The singer is still on her knees. Cassius swallows. His voice is harsh and scathing as he says, “If you ever do anything to harm Claudia again, I will have you expelled, and I will champion any additional punishment that Dolericym exacts.”
She gasps through another sob. “You can’t—”
