Page 17 of Broken Star

Riven goes first, his grip on my hands firm and effortless, like none of this affects him.

Meanwhile, every second of contact makes it harder for me to breathe through the crushing pressure in my chest.

“I vow to honor this alliance between Winter and Summer,” he says, precise and calculated, each syllable chosen for maximum political impact. “To uphold the duty placed on us. To sacrifice what must be sacrificed, and to ensure that the balance of the universe doesn’t falter.”

Something inside me fractures with each sentence he speaks.

“I vow to keep you alive,” he continues, holding my gaze so intensely that it’s like he’s daring me to break more than I already have. “No matter the cost. And no matter how much you might hate me for it.”

The water surges, reacting to his truth.

I want to scream at him. I want to make him understand how devastating it feels to have someone tell you they love you and then twist those words into cruelty minutes later.

Because despite his pretty words, he’s not vowing to love me. He’s notcapableof loving me. How could he be, when he never loved me in the first place?

He said it himself when he broke my heart at the dryad’s tree—he loved the things I did for him. He never lovedme.

And that’s what hurts most of all.

Lysandra gives him an approving nod, then turns to me. “It’s your turn, daughter.”

My body locks at the word.

And before I can stop it, the magic tightens around my throat, forcing honesty from my lips whether I want to give it or not.

“I vow to fulfill my part in this alliance,” I say, sharp as steel, as unyielding as the agony the lead arrow carved into my heart. “To help save the mortal realm, the Summer Court, and the Winter Court from what’s coming.”

I should stop there. Keep it political, like he did.

But the magic pulls the truth from me, merciless in its quest to make me lay my soul bare, even as I try to fight it.

“I vow to never forget what you did,” I tell him, the words searing through me like poison, thick with the grief I’ll never escape. “To never let myself be weak enough to believe in you again. I vow to remember that every word you ever spoke to me was a lie, that every touch was manipulation, and that every promise was empty. And I’ll never—ever—forget that whatever love I thought I felt for you was based on something that didn’t exist at all.”

He’s as still as a statue.

Then, finally, a breath escapes him. Barely there. A flicker of something—regret, hesitation, or maybe even longing—before it vanishes.

Lysandra looks back and forth between us, as if waiting for something more.

It doesn’t come. Because I’m not giving anything more toeitherof them.

They don’t deserve it.

“It’s time,” she finally says, and I pull my hands out of Riven’s, my skin burning from the contact. “Enter the water, kiss while surrounded by your element, and be bound as one.”

Sapphire

I glance at Riven again,and for once, our emotions seem aligned.

I don’t want to do this. He doesn’t want to do this.

And yet, the water awaits.

“Let’s get this over with,” he finally says, short and clipped.

I inhale, sharp and pained. Because aftereverythingI just vowed to him—after every hateful word I slung—that’s all he has to say? He doesn’t want to shoot anything back at me? He just wants to jump into the water, partake in what will be the most resented kiss ever, and call it a night?

Lysandra, who’s clearly still enjoying this, claps her hands like a child. “Into the water with you both,” she says, sounding disturbingly pleased with herself.

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