His dark eyes crinkled at the corners, a sly smile splitting his lips and flashing his teeth. “Desi mentioned you were a curious one. She didn’t say you werenosy.”
“Excuse me? I’m not nosy.”
“I beg to differ.”
Hands gripping my hips, I tilted my head, leveling him with a glare. “Tell me, do you insult everyone you meet, or is that just women?”
“Just you, actually,” he said, his lips upturned.
“Aren’t I special? Since you already think I’m nosy, do tell, what is an elite from some unknown place doing in a rebellion?” I gestured to his shadow marks, watching in surprise as he tucked his hands behind his back.
His smile fell, his eyes relaxing as he said, “I beheaded a toddler.”
I reared back, stumbling as I put distance between us. He let out a sardonic chuckle, stepping towards me once more. “It was on planet eight-one-seven. The intels had described the main continent as vibrant, like a living rainbow. Nothing could have prepared me for just how stunning it would be. Music played all across the tiny planet, the quick beats and long melodies sounding even as we slaughtered them en masse.” My hand flew to my mouth, and I couldn’t stop the images of our own conquest during academy replaying in my mind. Of the screams as light shot from my chest and the planet shook.
As if he knew where my thoughts had strayed, Jonah nodded, a grim smile returning.
“Yes, you’ve killed far more than I have. You decimated an entire planet. At your will, millions of toddlers died.”
Was it possible for an already broken heart to shatter? It felt like mine was. As if every fragment was turning to dust.
“I didn’t know what I was doing. I didn’t mean it,” I insisted, trying to justify it all. To convince myself I wasn’t as awful as I knew I was. As I’d always known.
“It doesn’t matter, Nova.” Jonah gestured towards Az and Desi in the distance, their approach slow as they spoke. “We’ve all done things we will never be able to atone from. We can’t be forgiven for such atrocities. We’re a disease.” He placed his large hand on my shoulder, squeezing gently. “When the war ends, we must die too. All of us. The only gift we can give the eadi now is ridding Dajahim of the plague that is the shaytan.”
My eyes watered as Az looked up and saw me, his smile so wide that his dimples cut into his cheeks and his eyes nearly closed. He looked so handsome like that. Happy.
“Desi told me about you two. While it might not be forever, you two can be together right now. Be happy in any way you can while you still have the chance, Nova.” He released my shoulder, not saying anything before he walked towards Desi.
Az nodded at Jonah as he passed, jogging over to me after. When he reached me, all I could manage to do was wrap my arms around his neck and breathe him in. Because Jonah wasright.
III
Act III
As long as the many still cling to what little comforts they have, convenience and complacency will suffocate resistance and revolution.
Interlude
As death looms and blood pools, the stars watch and wait. They seek out their promised chaos, their destined wrath. Darkness reigns down upon the people, painting our story in shadows, wrapping around a snake and a void—an heir and a catalyst.
Will you heed the warnings given to you? Will you, unlike them, fall to your knees and praise the deities above who deign to let you live? As you watch the rise and fall of heroes and villains alike, I encourage you to tread carefully, for every step forward might just be a step away from the stars.
And you know what they say. Without the stars, we’re nothing.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Nova
“I went to the military base for the first time today. It was so…cold.”
-From the journal of Nova Tershetta, 9256 AS
“You know, this is actually a really stupid idea,” Az hissed under his breath. We were within a patch of trees just inside of the base’s wards, tucked away enough that we wouldn’t be seen. The sun was beginning to descend, making way for the moons to rise. All around the base stood guards, elites wearing their masks and cloaks, patrolling and watching for anyone who didn’t seem to belong. Forus.
Tugging my hood further over my head, I whispered, “It’s not. Talon always ended training at seventeen hundred. They’ll come from the west any time now. When they do, we’ll enter with them.”
“Our plan for security isn’t going to work.”
