Page 43 of Broken Star

The wound should be fatal.

Instead, the monster jerks back, jaw gaping wide, revealing rows of needle-sharp teeth.

Pulling from the ocean below, I shape a fresh round of water bullets and launch them into the creature’s mouth.

They strike deep in its throat, and it reels back with an ungodly shriek. But even as blood and seawater spray from its skin, the wounds are already closing.

“That’s getting annoying,” I growl, gathering more water from the ocean.

“I’m all for annoying it to death,” Riven says in dry amusement, his blade flashing as he strikes again, ice spreading from each cut. “But let’s find a smarter way to end this.”

“Always logic over emotions.” I roll my eyes as the monster whirls with impossible speed.

Its tail sweeps across the pier, and I jump. But the blow still catches my legs, sending me crashing onto the pier, my head slamming against the wood.

Pain explodes in my skull.

Everything blurs.

A massive, clawed hand pins me down, crushing the air from my lungs.

And then the monster’s face is looming over me, jaws unhinging to reveal rows of needle-sharp teeth that are coming closer, threatening to shred me into more pieces than Eros’s arrow when he shot my heart.

Sapphire

I slashat the monster’s face with my dagger, and it arches back, screeching so loudly that my ears almost bleed.

Then, suddenly, Riven’s here.

His body’s pressing against mine, solid and unavoidable, the cold weight of him sinking into me like ice through flesh. And before I can pull away, he drives his frost-covered blade deep into the monster’s throat, the impact vibrating through my bones.

Agony rushes through me as his sword breaks the monster’s skin.

But the pain isn’t from the fight. It’s from the way Riven’s body curves perfectly along mine, a cruel reminder of everything I had and lost.

Suddenly, he’s bracing himself above me, pinning me in place beneath him as he creates a barrier of ice between us and the monster.

I stare up into his eyes, the air between us crackling with energy, his frosty barrier holding steady overhead. And projecting clearly isn’t an option, since it would leave me vulnerable and potentially crushed.

“Interesting time for a reunion,” he murmurs, his voice smooth, his breath cool against my skin. “Although I must say, I prefer the circumstances of our previous horizontal encounters far better than this one.”

I glare at him as the monster’s claws rake the ice overhead.

And behind the ice… there’s something pulsing beneath the monster’s skin. Right in the center of its chest. A heart, maybe? Or whatever passes for one in a creature like this. It’s almost like the ice ismagnifyingit, allowing us to see it now that we’re so close.

“Look,” I say, and it takes everything in me to sound normal—to act like my world isn’t collapsing around me as Riven remains pressed on top of me.

He twists his neck slightly to see. “I’ll melt a hole in the ice,” he says, his mind moving quickly. “You take the shot.”

I grip my dagger tighter, water and air swirling around the blade. The magic burns through my veins like lightning, demanding release as the monster thrashes against Riven’s ice.

“You might want to move,” I tell him, steadier than I feel.

He flashes me that infuriating smirk. “I trust you.”

The words hit harder than they should. Because he can’t mean them. Not anymore.

But then he’s creating an opening, and my magic surges through me, consuming every cell in my body until all Iamis water and air.

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