SAPPHIRE
“Togoto the star?”I repeat. “As in, up there? Inspace?”
“That’s the only place stars exist,” he says simply, as if he’s suggesting a trip to Hawaii instead of one toouter space.
“I can’t astrally project that far.” I shake my head, the idea too absurd to comprehend. “I can only project to places I can see.”
He glances up at the star, then back to me. “You can see the star,” he points out.
“From a gazillion miles away!” I snap, glaring at him, waiting for him to say he’s kidding.
“I don’t think ‘gazillion’ is a technical metric term,” he says instead, actually having the nerve to smirk at his own statement.
I continue glaring at him, expecting him to take his idea back. To propose another—actually rational—idea. Or to do something other than just sit there, waiting for my response to an insane suggestion.
But he doesn’t take it back.
He’s truly, one hundred percent serious.
“Are you trying to kill me?” I finally ask.
“You won’t die,” he says, annoyingly calm. “Do you remember the night you broke into my quarters at the palace? My sword went right through your projected form. You weren’t harmed.”
I freeze, the memory flashing in my mind. The way his blade went through me, leaving no mark. No pain. As if I was a ghost.
“That was different,” I say, throwing my hands up in frustration. “I wasn’tleaving the planet.”
“But the principle is the same,” he says. “Your projection isn’t tethered by physical limitations. And every time you’ve used it, you’ve returned to your body. Every single time. No matter what.”
He’s right, but that doesn’t make the prospect any less terrifying.
I open my mouth to argue further, but a sharp, biting cold creeps across my skin.
The ice magic from our deal. It’s spreading over me like frost on glass, demanding that I fulfill the deal we made that I’d do everything I could to help him make the potion.
Right now, that means trying to reach the Midnight Star. Even if that involveslaunching myself into spaceto do it.
I glance back up at the star, terror rushing through me as the biting cold grows sharper, sinking beneath my skin, twisting through my veins like shards of ice. I clutch my arms, trying to shake it off, but the frost crawls faster.
Riven reaches out, his hands on my shoulders, although it does nothing to stop the cold.
“Stop fighting it,” he says, pressing his forehead to mine, as if he’s trying to ground me with his closeness. “The magic will hold you to our deal. If you keep resisting, it will kill you.”
“But what if I don’t come back?” I whisper, trembling from both the fear and the cold.
“You will,” he says with certainty. “You always have. And remember, I’ll be here. With you—therealyou—keeping you safe.”
The frost tightens, making it hard to breathe.
Zoey’s face flashes in my mind—her terror as the night fae dragged her away. She doesn’t have time for me to be afraid. And I can’t help her until my deal with Riven is completed. Which means every second I waste is another second she’s in danger.
“Okay. I’ll try to go to the star,” I say, and the ice magic retreats, although the chill still feels etched on my bones.
Riven pulls me closer, one hand cradling the back of my head while the other wraps protectively around my waist. “I’ll be right here,” he promises. “Watching over you. Nothing will harm you while you’re gone.”
The owls hoot, and Ghost moves closer, as if they’re all promising to protect me, too.
I lean into Riven, drawing strength from his steadiness.
