Page 4 of Fading Sun

I search for words, but they don’t come.

There’s too much to process. Too many secrets.

Secrets I’m keeping with every second I hide Astrophel’s token in my pocket. The strange stone pulls on me, a subtle tug at my heart, as if it’s trying to comfort me and let me know it’s here for me.

I should show it to Cassandra.

But I don’t remove it. It’s mine, and I’m not going to let anyone take it from me. At least, not until I learn exactly what I can do with it.

Instead, I focus on Lucas’s ashes.

“The shadow souls were here,” I tell Cassandra. “I was fighting them with Lucas. We were holding our own, but they ambushed us. They did that to him. It happened so fast…”

I motion at the place where Lucas met his demise, still shocked at the memory of his screams as the shadow souls fed from him at once.

Cassandra looks over me in confusion. “Are you… sad about it?” she asks.

I laugh at the thought, remembering the times Lucas drank from me, threatened to bond me to him, tried to convince me to turn on Damien, and eventually tried to kill me.

“The only thing I’m sad about is that I didn’t get to do it myself,” I tell her.

“You and me both.” Her hand goes to the hilt of her sword, as if she wants to take one final swing at Lucas. “What happened to the rest of them?”

Her question hangs in the air, the weight of it heavy and unavoidable.

I need to think of a good lie. Anything other than admitting that Astrophel kissed me—and that I kissed him back.

But my brain feels like it’s stuck in slow motion, unable to come up with anything convincing.

So, I go with the truth. At least, a version of it.

“The Shadow Lord was here,” I say, not wanting to tell her his true name. It would feel dirty, somehow. Like revealing a secret only I’m meant to know. “He wants me on his side.”

Cassandra’s eyes narrow, and she doesn’t drop her hand that was inching toward her sword.

“I said no,” I continue. “Obviously. And then he just… left.”

The token hums contently in my pocket, as if it’s agreeing with my decision to keep its existence secret from Cassandra.

“Just like that?” She raises a brow, and unease crawls up my throat.

Why is she doubting me? Sure, she didn’t like me when I first came to the Fairmont. But as far as I know, she’s never suspected me of betraying the clan.

“I stabbed him,” I tell her. “In the heart.”

“You killed him?”

She checks the area for the telltale sign of dead shadow souls—sludgy goo on the ground—but finds none.

“I tried,” I tell her. “It didn’t work. He said it’ll take a far stronger weapon to kill him.”

“And then he left,” she says slowly, as if she doesn’t totally believe me.

I nod, not having to fake the shock shining in my eyes. So much happened in such a short period of time that it’s hard to process.

“How’s Abigail?” I ask, changing the subject.

“She’s in a cab on her way back to the Fairmont,” Cassandra says. “I had to hold off a few shadow souls as they entered the island, but they didn’t seem interested in me. They just wanted to get through. Like they had somewhere else to be. Someone more important to find.”

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