Page 25 of Fallen Star

Rich, sweet, and inviting.

I freeze, dagger still in hand as the aroma curls around me like smoke, weaving through my thoughts, drawing something dark and hungry out from inside me. My hands tremble, and I press my lips together, clenching my jaw so tightly it feels like my teeth might crack.

Not here. Not now. Not like this.

“Focus, Sapphire.” Riven’s voice cuts through the haze, cool and commanding as he collects the dove’s blood in the satchel. “Start the spell. Now.”

Right. The spell.

Forcing myself to concentrate, I cradle the bird and start chanting the spell he drilled into me earlier. The words feel strange on my tongue, but there’s power in them—power so strong that the air hums with energy.

“Feel the magic,” he coaches me through it. “Like you did with the potion.”

Focusing as hard as I can, I will my magic into the dove’s tiny body, praying to every god in the universe that this will work.

The blood glows, the spell taking hold, shimmering like liquid sunlight.

“Good.” Riven watches me intently, ready to intervene at the first sign of failure. It’s infuriating and comforting at the same time. “You’re doing great.”

The dove’s body grows cooler in my hands, the last of its blood dripping into the satchel.

I feel like a monster the entire time I watch. Because I did this. This delicate, beautiful creature is dead because of me.

Eventually—finally—there’s nothing left to come out.

Now, we wait.

I stare at the dove’s broken body, holding my breath, continuing to pray.

Nothing happens.

Panic flares in my chest.

Did I do it wrong? Did I?—

A soft coo breaks the silence.

The dove’s chest rises and falls, its wings fluttering as it looks up, as alive as when we first spotted it in the clearing.

Relief crashes over me like a tidal wave, and I lower my dagger, wiping the rest of the dove’s blood off on my pants.

“You did it,” Riven says, the intensity in his gaze making my stomach flip. “Do you have any idea how rare it is for someone to succeed with that spell on their first try?”

As he studies me, the space between us feels charged again—like a live wire humming with tension.

But we don’t have time for… whatever always happens between us when he looks at me like this.

There are far more important things for us to do right now.

“We need to get back to Zoey,” I say, pushing to my feet and breaking our connection.

Riven nods, back to looking as detached and as unimpressed as ever. “Right. Let’s go.”

He transfers the glowing satchel back into his pack, the dove watching him with curious, trusting eyes.

Then, as if wishing us luck, the dove spreads its wings and flies away.

Sapphire

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