Page 52 of A Sky of Emerald Stars

I pinned him with a look as I stood and strode to the door. “I can sleep anywhere,” I spat, gripping the door tighter. “After all, I’m just a dog, aren’t I?” I slammed the door in his face before he could reply. I hoped Navin’s heart sunk a little further with the snick of the lock.

I flipped through a book of ancient maps as I perched on the kitchen table, eating my fourth bhavi roll. It wasn’t until my stomach was painfully full that I licked the honey off my fingers and reached for the jug of freshly squeezed fruit juice.

I wondered if Navin had been up all night picking fruits and baking for me. Again, I had no sympathy for him. My forgiveness wasn’t so easily won. I wouldn’t be gently wooed into compliance. Not again.

But it was delicious...

No. That doesn’t matter. Figuring out what is happening matters.

Now that Navin had steered me toward answers in the library, I was determined not to need him at all. I had a thousand questions right on the tip of my tongue—ones he could probably answer for me with no effort. But instead, I pored through tome after tome, searching for the answers the long way.

I’d stayed up most of the night reading Mina’s letters to Ciara. Whoever this Ciara was, clearly the two of them were close friends. In letter after letter, Mina pleaded with Ciara to use any influence at their disposal to convince Rasil to support the Golden Court. It consoled me greatly to know Calla was safe with Mina; at least on that front, I hadn’t entirely misjudged the musician.

I heard the scuffle of Navin’s sandals long before he said, “I knew you’d like the juice.”

He knew nothing about me.

I knocked the carafe off the table at that, knowing it made me petty, far more like a cat than a Wolf. The ceramic shattered, shards flying everywhere as juice splattered across the floor.

Navin, to my surprise, only let out a light laugh. “You’d saw off the branch you’re sitting on just to watch it fall, hey?”

“Only if you were also on it. Goddess of stubbornness,” I reminded him. “You think I’m only an animal, so I’m behaving like one.”

“I said that so Rasil would leave you alone,” he countered. “I thought he would retaliate after you nearlychoked me to death,” he added pointedly. A satisfied smile curved my lips at the memory. “I didn’t want him to suspect how I truly feel.”

I dramatically rolled my eyes at that. “If you felt anything at all, you would’ve been honest with me.” I pressed my lips together, making a study of him. “The only thing I’m left to conclude is that I was some twisted obsession, a sick curiosity—”

“I would never think like that.”

I picked up the book beside me and slid off the table. “Will you and your husband laugh about all this one day?” Chin high, I didn’t meet Navin’s eyes as I tried to walk past.

“Sadie—”

I knew before he even moved that he was going to reach out and try to grab me. I’d once been thrilled by the possessiveness of those hands, the confidence of his grip, but now... His hand had barely lifted when I moved, dropping the book I held and blindly reaching backward to grab the kitchen knife off the table behind me. My other hand grabbed Navin by the wrist and spun him, wrenching his arm until he barked out a cry. I slammed him into the wall. The tip of my blade was at his throat before he could even speak.

“You have a way of thinking you can just grab me whenever you like,” I hissed, pushing my blade in for emphasis. “Let me make one thing abundantly clear, Navin Mourad.” My nails bit into his wrist. “Every single time you touch me, it is only becauseIallow it.” I threw the knife to the ground and released him, storming out the door as I said, “Remember that next time you think it’s a good idea to stop me.”

Sadie

We navigated around each other the next few days in a wary dance, giving each other space. It wasn’t exactly friendly, but the tension between us seemed to ease like a fatigued muscle. I couldn’t hang on to that white-knuckled panic any longer. We were like two caged wild animals deciding to not kill each other. Begrudging allies at best. All I needed was to get out of there with my hands unbound and I’d be free. I’d find Maez and get the fuck out of the desert and back to the Golden Court. And if Navin was the ticket to that future, then so be it.

I was wandering aimlessly through a new part of the building when Navin turned the corner and startled, clearly surprised to find me there. My fingers traced over a mosaic of a bright green dragon, a juvleck in its talons. Navin paused and considered the mural beside me.

I thought about saying, “If only you had a dragon in the mines, maybe your father would still be alive.” But I couldn’t summon the will to be that cold.

I was still furious at him, leaving him messes to clean and punishing him with my silence, but even I wasn’t that cruel. The silence was beginning to nag at me too, and I selfishly was considering breaking it just to have a conversation again. Besides, no amount of research in the library would give me all the answersthat lay within Navin’s mind. Only he could recount what the past few years had been like.

And that was only if I could believe him.

“This is why I need us to go along with this plan,” he said.

“What?”

“This.” He tipped his head to the mosaic. “No more monsters. No more sorcerers.”

He said it like a prayer he’d voiced a thousand times before.

“And how is me helping you going to do that?”

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