Page 75 of Fallen Star

“Malakai’s girls are all so broken,” I say, crouching down and starting to look around. “Especially Katerina. Does she ever speak?”

Jake kneels beside me, his shoulder brushing mine, his expression darkening. “Not since whatever Malakai did to her three months ago,” he says. “No one knows exactly what happened, but she hasn’t said a word since.”

I shudder, unable to imagine what could silence someone so completely. “And the others just accept it? They don’t try to help her?”

“What can they do?” he asks. “We’re all just trying to survive here. Some cope by following every rule to the letter. Others try to gain whatever power they can by aligning themselves with the strongest players.”

“And you?” I ask. “How do you cope?”

“I try to hold onto who I was before. And...” He hesitates. “I look for connections that remind me that I’m still human.”

The weight of his words settles over me. Because we’re all searching for something to keep us from breaking—whether it’s perfectly polished appearances, borrowed power, or simple human contact.

I look away from him, focusing on the flowers instead.

They’re beautiful—I’ve never seen black roses before—but there’s no sage here.

“You’re different,” Jake says, plucking a flower and holding it out to me. “Most new pets either have a mental breakdown from the shock of it all, or they shut down completely. But you… you’re strong. Determined. Smart. Stubborn.”

“Are those good things?” I ask, tilting my head slightly.

“They’re potentially dangerous things,” he admits, leaning closer and studying me with a fire in his eyes that I didn’t notice before. “But maybe they’re exactly what this place needs right now.”

Sapphire

I wakeat sunset to the storm still howling outside, battering against Riven’s ice barrier like it’s trying to break through.

It won’t. His magic’s too strong for that. But the translucent wall gives us a perfect view of the blizzard, although there’s nothing to see except endless white.

Riven’s already up, staring through the ice like he’s willing Ghost to appear. He looks as desperate to find Ghost as I feel to find Zoey.

But despite fear for my best friend, I can still feel the imprint of Riven’s lips on my skin—of how much being together feltright.

Heat rises to my cheeks at the memory.

Well...memories.

There were a lot of them.

“We should…” He clears his throat, his voice rough as he glances at the ice wall again. “We should make use of this time. Since we’re stuck here, we might as well?—”

He pauses, and my heart races—in a good way—at the assumption that he’s about to say we should have a repeat of last night.

“We should train,” he says instead, and I flinch slightly, although I’m not sure he noticed. “You’re a natural with your magic, but your combat skills need work. And it wouldn’t hurt for you to learn how to use a sword.”

“I’m notthatbad with weapons,” I say. “I killed that dark angel with my dagger and the Stalo with your sword.”

“By projecting and killing them from the back,” he snaps. “By leaving yourself—yourrealself—unconscious on the ground. But you won’t be able to do that all the time. You can’t leave your real self that vulnerable. You need to be able to fight head on.”

“I think I did a pretty decent job against the nixies…”

I trail off, since did Ireallydo a good job against them?

No. Because if I’d been a better fighter, Zoey would still be here with us.

Guilt slams into me all over again for what happened to her.

But I have to hold onto hope that she’s alive. That somehow, eventually, we’ll find her and get her back.

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