Page 28 of Broken Star

I flinch, the wind blowing harder around me.

He doesn’t care about reversing the deal. Why would he, when he doesn’t remember what he lost?

“I’m sorry that I can’t help with more,” the cloaked girl says, although her smile quickly switches from an apologetic one to an amused one. “But I wish you the best of luck, Prince Riven Draevor and Princess Sapphire Hayes Fairmont Solandriel Draevor of the Winter and Summer Courts.”

“That name alone could take over an entire realm,” Riven says, and a laugh escapes me at the sheer absurdity of the titles I’ve racked up in the past two days.

Most noticeably, the one that keeps repeating in my mind like a cruel joke that will haunt me forever.

One that zaps whatever humor existed in the situation away in an instant.

“I’d prefer it withoutyourname tacked onto the end.” I glare at him, shoving my dagger into its sheath.

“It doesn’t matter if you prefer it or not,” he says, slipping the map into his coat. “Because if keeping you alive means having my name eternally tied to yours, then I’ll take your resent with no regrets.”

I glance up, expecting mockery, but there’s none. Just the barest flicker of something behind his silver eyes—something that disappears the second he turns away.

“Now, are you coming, Princess?” he asks, and just like that, the mockery’s back in full force. “Or would you rather stand here making a new best friend?”

Before I can reply, the cloaked girl steps closer.

“You two can keep flirting with knives and insults later,” she says. “But if you’re still standing here by the time the storm hits, you won’t make it to Montauk—let alone to the Night Court.”

“You’re just as frustrating as he is,” I grumble, although her only reply is an even more frustratingly knowing smile.

Riven exhales, long and slow, then tosses the keys up and catches them again.

When they land in his palm, the metal is covered in ice.

“Let’s go before your frustration makes the storm even worse,” he says, and the cloaked girl has the audacity to nod in agreement.

“Fine.” I huff, and with one last encouraging nod from Mysterious Cloaked Girl, Riven and I set off, with the cold wind at our heels.

As we run, something flickers behind us.

An orange glow. Fire?

But when I glance over my shoulder to check, it’s gone. Just shadows stretching across the park.

Riven notices my hesitation.

“What?” he asks.

“I thought I saw—” I trail off, scanning the darkness one last time. “Never mind. It’s nothing.”

A cold unease curls in my stomach, but I shove it down and keep running.

Finally, we emerge onto a quieter street lined with brownstones.

“There.” Riven jerks his chin toward the curb.

A red Prius is parked between two trees, and Riven wastes no time unlocking it. He wrenches open the driver’s side door and slides in, and I barely manage to throw myself into the passenger seat before he’s turning the key in the ignition.

“Seatbelt,” he says, not looking at me as he shifts into gear.

“I don’t take orders from you,” I snap back.

He slams his foot onto the gas pedal at the same time as thunder booms overhead, lightning brightening the entire sky.

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