Page 64 of Broken Star

I swallow, since I’ll never forget the moment I first saw Riven at the Maple Pig. He was so focused on me—like nothing else mattered in the world.

Which makes sense, since he was there to hunt me down. To use me for my potion making abilities. He was testing me—seeing if my magic was strong enough to give him what he needed. To see how much of anassetI could be to him.

“You have no idea what happened that night,” I tell Matt, trying to breathe steadily, despite my racing heart.

“I was there,” he reminds me. “And the way he was looking at you… it was the look of someone who knew they were doomed from the start, but who fell anyway.” His voice drops, almost like he’s talking to himself now. “Like he didn’t have a choice.”

The words hit me so hard that it’s impossible to steadily breathe.

“Saph?” Matt’s voice rips me out of my thoughts, and when I look at him, he’s fading even more, dissolving like mist in the starlight. “I hope you find your way back to whatever you lost. Both of you.”

Then he’s gone, leaving me alone with the weight of his words and the storm of my magic that can’t be released in this ghostly limbo.

I take a shaky breath, trying to push away the memory of silver eyes watching me from across a crowded bar, full of wonder and possibility and that terrifying, beautiful thing Matt called love at first sight.

“Time to go,” Circe calls, her voice cutting through my thoughts.

I turn back to her and Riven, forcing my expression into something neutral. But as Riven’s gaze meets mine—like he’s searching for something he lost—Matt’s words echo in my mind.

Love at first sight. Like he didn’t have a choice.

But it’s not true. Rivendidhave a choice. We all have choices. And he chose to throw whatever existed between us away to that dryad.

My magic settles, not in peace, but in resignation. Because whatever sparked between me and Riven in that electric moment at the bar, when he made one of his typical teasing comments about the pink drink I made for him, is gone.

And no amount of wishing or remembering will ever bring it back.

Sapphire

The vortexof the in-between fades, leaving me, Riven, and Circe standing in the clearing once more.

The weight of Matt’s revelations presses down on my chest, making it hard to breathe. Zoey’s in danger—real, immediate danger—and we’re still so far from reaching her.

And the Cosmic Tides… I can’t begin to imagine what to expect from them.

“Well,” Circe says, gesturing at the pig’s body lying in the center of the ritual circle. “At least Antonius finally proved useful. He was a sailor who displeased me long ago—it was far past his time. I’m sure he’ll be thrilled about contributing to such a noble cause.”

The words take a moment to register.

“What do you mean that your pig was asailor?”I ask.

Circe’s golden eyes dance with amusement. “Oh, did I forget to mention? The pigs on my island weren’t always pigs. They were men who landed here. Arrogant, entitled sailors who thought they could take whatever they wanted.” She waves her hand dismissively. “All I did was reveal their true forms.”

Water droplets rise from the ground as my magic responds to the growing horror in my chest. “You’re saying that pig was?—“

“A man I transformed.” She smirks.

I spin toward Riven, who’s been unnaturally quiet throughout this. No quick comebacks, no snide remarks… nothing.

“You knew what that pig really was,” I accuse him.

“Of course he knew.” Circe laughs. “Why do you think he ate the moly? It prevents me from being able to cast spells on him. Even though he’s not mortal, he’s smart enough to know that my power’s not to be trifled with.”

But I pay no attention to Circe. I don’t want to hear the truth from her. I want to hear it fromRiven.

“That’s why you didn’t let me perform the sacrifice,” I continue, my voice rising like the wind curling around us. “You wanted the human blood onyourhands—not on mine. You didn’t think I could handle doing what needed to be done.”

Frost plays along his fingertips, but his expression remains maddeningly indifferent.

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