Page 2 of Broken Star

Something in my stomach twists all the way up to my throat.

It’s not just pain. No—this is stronger than that.

It’s Earth-shattering, all-consuming heartbreak.

“Whatever you’re feeling right now,” he says, slowly and carefully. “It isn’t real.”

“You don’t know anything about ‘real.’ You don’t feel anything at all.” The words tear out of me before I can stop them, physically hurtingme as they do.

“Sapphire—”

The way he says my name is too much.

The memory of him whispering it against my lips, murmuring it as our bodies were pressed against each other, saying it in that breathless way that made me think I was something precious to him…

It’s a knife to my ribs. A blade to my throat.

A dagger to my heart.

“Don’t talk to me like I’m still yours.” I hold his gaze as I stand, even as he stands as well, towering over me and looking down at me with those heartbreakingly cold eyes of his. “Don’t pretend like any of this means a thing to you—as if you didn’t trade away your love for me for a vial of sap. Don’t pretend you still love me.”

I hold my breath, praying he’ll say I’m wrong, and that he loves me despite the dryad’s deal.

He doesn’t.

After all, thanks to fae not being able to lie, he can’t say what he doesn’t mean.

I’m drowning in the truth of it when laughter slices through the tension and Eros strolls over, smug and satisfied.

“Please continue your heartfelt discussion,” the god says, holding his bow casually by his side. “I do so enjoy watching undeserving, unappreciated, selfish love crumble into pieces.”

Riven curses at Eros, moves away from me, and raises his sword.

The moment he steps away, something in my chest eases.

I can breathe again. Sort of. It still hurts, but it’s better than when we were only inches apart.

The god smirks, unbothered by the blade pointed at his heart.

“You fae think you can cheat love,” Eros continues, circling us, watching us with the arrogance of someone who knows they’ve won. “Manipulate it. Reshape it to your will. But love isn’t something to be bargained with, traded away, or twisted into something cold and convenient. It’s sacred. It’s meant to be held onto and cherished for all eternity. But you, Winter Prince, played with something you never deserved. Now, both of you will suffer the consequences of that cruel, foolish, reckless decision.”

And then, in a flash of golden light, Eros vanishes.

The dome shatters into nothing, and every arrow that littered the field— both gold and lead—fades into oblivion.

There’s only Riven and me.

And he’s just standing there, unreadable and cold, studying me with a chilling calm in his eyes that bear so much resemblance to those of the man I loved.

Yet, they’re so devastatingly, painfully, agonizingly different.

“You’re upset,” he says, the sheer simplicity of the word knocking the air from my lungs.

“Upset?” My voice sharpens, the heat of my magic pulsing beneath my skin. “Yes, I’m upset. Would you like a list as towhyI’m upset? Because I could go on for hours.”

“By all means,” he says, so detached that it sends a fresh wave of pain—real, raw, and unbearable—through me. “Enlighten me.”

How does he do that? How does he speak to me like I’m nothing but a passing inconvenience? Like I’m something that will bend to his will if he acts unaffected enough?

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