Page 84 of Stars May Fall

I felt so alive.

The poor tortured creatures brushed against me with terrible expressions. They shrieked and jerked. Their gaping mouths reminded me over and over of the teeth that had sunk into my arm. But I wouldn’t lose Lyrason. If we didn’t stop him soon, all of Adenburg would become halfsouls. Kasten wouldn’t like what I had done, but Icoulddo this, whatever he thought. All of Fenland was relying on me. And they’d killed Meena…

As the press of halfsouls came closer, the harder it was to see Lyrason and Mister Gregane and keep up with their pace. Lyrason was walking normally now, the wound in his abdomen apparently healed. In fact, he moved with astonishing speed. I kept pressing on my reserve around my neck so I could keep up my fast walk, dreading the moment it would run out.

Gregane held an object that somehow repelled the halfsouls and was constantly shoving it outward toward them. It appearedto be a globe of greenish metal. The repulsion wasn’t like the halfsouls’ manner toward me, whom they simply ignored, thinking I was one of them. No, the halfsouls would run eagerly toward Lyrason and Gregane, then be actively repelled. I assumed it was some sort of haemalcomy.

An ear-splitting crack from behind made me turn. Arcs of bright light burned my vision, and a group of soldiers dressed in pale blue and silver headed down the road from the palace. Kasten was coming. I just had to lead him to Lyrason. I turned back and almost missed Lyrason turning down a side street. I unslung my medical bag and hooked it as high as I could reach on a shop sign next to the passage to mark the turning. I hoped Kasten would see it.

I turned and was glad to see there were no halfsouls in the street ahead. The path was clear and clean, and Lyrason and Gregane were running away unhindered. They were heading toward Father’s old house. Trepidation tightened my chest. No, my family was gone. I couldn’t get distracted or hesitate.

We turned a corner, and I reached for my detector, using the alert code again. Please let somebody be close. Please. It would take Kasten too long to fight his way through the halfsouls that I’d simply slipped past. I followed around another bend and slammed into Gregane. He’d been waiting for me.

He grabbed my arm, his lank hair falling forward as he leaned into me. “For somebody who’s meant to be intelligent with all your plants and experiments, you’re actually rather stupid, aren’t you?”

Lyrason stepped up on my other side with a neutral expression, a small, apologetic smile on his lips as he pushed his glasses up his nose. “Now we can stop Kasten, but we should still move fast. Can you drag her?”

I didn’t waste a moment. I didn’t think. I lunged for Mister Gregane’s hand and grabbed the small globe of greenish metalthat he had been using to keep the halfsouls away. To my surprise, I prized it free from his sweaty fingers. He jerked me backward, away from his hand, and I used the momentum to fling it over the nearest high wall. Now they’d be vulnerable. I might not be strong enough to kill them, but enough halfsouls would. And there were more than enough on the streets now.

Gregane roared in frustration. “You stupid girl!” He hit me across the face with the hilt of his dagger.

Pain bloomed across my cheekbone, and pressure throbbed in my temple. I gasped and panted as he pulled me upright. “I don’t care if you kill me,” I hissed. “Not if it stops all of this.”

Lyrason sneered. “I thought you’d realized by now that some things are far worse than death. You should know that more than most.” He turned to Gregane. “We need to move. Kasten will clean up the halfsouls. We have enough vitality now. When he finally finds us, he won’t be able to hurt us as long as we have her. He’ll do as we want, which will allow us to take Annabelle.”

I reached for my dagger, but Gregane predicted the movement and twisted my arms behind my back tighter and tighter until my eyes watered with pain. “There are so many experiments I can’t wait to do to you,” he whispered in my ear. He raked his long dirty fingers through my hair, found the detector, and yanked it from my scalp. I yelled as the little metal claws ripped through my skin.

Gregane started dragging me down the street after Lyrason. I did my best to slow us down, kicking my heels into the cracks between cobblestones and rolling in his grip so he had to keep changing hands to avoid letting go, the material of my dress constricting his fingers. If the halfsouls caught up, they would have nothing to repel them with. I’d survive, and they’d die. It was my best hope.

Soldiers burst onto the street ahead. They wore the pale blue and silver Kasomere colors and aimed their crossbows atus, blocking our path. I breathed out a shaky breath. They must have heard my rally call before my detector was torn free. They would stop Lyrason and Gregane’s escape. I was not alone anymore.

Lyrason stayed perfectly calm. “If you shoot, I will kill Lady Batton.” He lifted a knife in my direction. Gregane held me tighter and jerked my hair back so my throat was exposed.

The soldiers hesitated but kept their weapons drawn as they formed two ranks that blockaded the street. Gregane kept one hand knotted in my hair and drew a long rapier with a black blade to the side of me. He cocked his head, his lank hair falling across his features.

Lyrason swept his arm to gesture toward us. “Gentlemen, you really, really don’t want to fight him. Believe me.”

From behind, screeches grew louder as halfsouls found our alley and started flinging themselves off the walls in eagerness as they came down. I licked my lips. Not long now before they reached us and attacked Lyrason and Gregane. But I didn’t want them to hurt the soldiers as well.

The troops before us held fast, and I felt a swell of pride, quickly overwhelmed by fear for their bravery. Gregane looked back nervously. “My lord?”

Kasten, Kasten, where are you?

The screams of the halfsouls came closer. Gregane dragged me to one side of the street, and Lyrason grabbed my wrists, waving Gregane away. I yanked myself forward, hoping that Lyrason would be weaker, and so easier to free myself from. However, his nails dug deeper into the tender skin of my wrists, making me hiss in pain. Sharp metal grazed my ribs, and I looked down to see Lyrason had angled his dagger where he could drive it up into my heart. “Behave,” he whispered in my ear. “Save your energy in case we have to run. A spindly little girllike you won’t be able to break free, hmm?” He spoke too quickly to be menacing, his voice slightly too high-pitched.

Lyrason nodded to Gregane who still held his rapier outstretched. “Break through these men. Now.”

Gregane’s eyes widened, but then he looked back at the approaching tidal wave of halfsouls and nodded. He pressed down on a metal band around his forearm and lunged at the soldiers blocking the way, suddenly faster and stronger. Maybe the bracelet functioned like Callum’s reserve. Or maybe he was drawing on more vitality. They had to be harvesting unthinkable amounts with this many halfsouls running loose.

My resolve started to shake as he plowed into Kasomere soldiers.Mysoldiers. Were they going to die like Meena simply because I had called them to fight? If I ordered them to retreat, I knew they would. But we had to stop Lyrason—we had to stop this terrible darkness.

Gregane’s blade caught a soldier’s arm, and the man dropped, screaming in unexpected agony. An arrow hit Gregane’s invisible haemalcomy shield causing a white explosion that sent men stumbling to the ground. Masonry crumpled around us. It seemed that the slower blows from swords didn’t trigger the shield, just kryalcomy and fast projectiles.

However, Lyrason was focused on the halfsouls. He pushed me to a trellis up the side of a tall garden wall. “Climb up. Now.”

I obeyed, glad he’d let go of my arm. I reached the top, my long, wide skirts creating some difficulty, and balanced on the bricks on my hands and feet, not daring to stand. I wished I’d changed into sensible boots like Annabelle, but at least my slippers didn’t have heels. Lyrason followed close behind me, his dagger still unsheathed. “Don’t try anything stupid.” He perched on the wall beside me and gripped my upper arm.

The halfsouls were almost level with the men fighting below. I pressed a hand to my mouth in horror. I wanted to stop this. I didn’t want our soldiers to be turned into those twisted beasts.

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