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“Get away from us!” she screamed, tears trailing down her dark olive cheeks, the ones that matched mine. Her short curls shook, showing the fear she tried to hide. Who did she think I was?
“It’s me, Heavens. It’s Nova,” I soothed, reaching out for them as I grew closer. Celeste swiped the knife toward me, barely missing my hand before I moved it out of the way.
“You’re a monster, Starlight,” Dad croaked, his hand reaching up for Celeste’s free one.
“No,” I denied, shaking my head vehemently. They misunderstood. “I was defending myself from the real monsters. Those were core family members. Trust me, they’re better off dead.”
“I said, stay back!” Celeste screeched when I took another step toward them. I stilled, unsure of what to say. Celeste didn’t let the silence fester. “You’re all better off dead. Every last Shaytan.”
Without hesitating, Celeste took the knife and threw it toward me. While I knew it wouldn’t hit, nor would it hurt, for some reason I still reacted as if it would. I dove, rolling out of the way, then sat up on my heels and hurled the blade. Right before my eyes, it landed in my sister’s chest.
“No!” I wailed, slipping in blood as I tried to crawl toward her. Mama and Dad remained silent, even their tears ceasing. Finally, I had Celeste in my arms, her body suddenly far frailer than normal. She was gasping, choking on blood as it gurgled up her throat and filled her mouth.
“I always knew you’d be the death of us,” she mumbled, blood flicking at my face as she spoke. And then, abruptly, everyone fell to the ground, gore seeping into my clothes almost immediately.
Hyperventilating now, I tried to inch back from it all, but something stopped me. Someone.
“Little Void,” Altair hummed into my ear, his bloody hand reaching around me to cup my jaw and force my face to tilt up. His chest pressed into my back, the other hand holding a snake, hissing coming from its thrashing form. “Time to go now.”
I screamed as both the snake and Altair sunk their teeth into my throat, my body collapsing to the ground.
Hands encircled me, far gentler than the last, but still I resisted.
“Trainee Tershetta, it’s okay. I’m here to help,” came a soothing voice. My eyes shot open, reality finding me once more. A hand clasped around my mouth, the blazing magic stealing my consciousness.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Azazel
“There are times when I distinctly remember how it felt to consider the world a good place. All the hope I once had for my future. How awful it now is to acknowledge my own stupidity and ignorance.”
-From the journal of Azazel Altair, 9279 AS
“Rub my feet,” Priya ordered, her voice deeper than normal as she shoved her toes into my face.
Scoffing, I dug my thumbs into the soles of her feet, turning to continue talking to Quinn. “What did your father say about the plans?”
“At first he told me to mind my fucking business,” Quinn deadpanned, letting himself fall back onto one of Priya’s fury chairs. I couldn’t help but smile at the way the tufts of faux fur shot up and seemingly attacked him. Quinn fought them off for a second before submitting and closing his eyes. “After he got a good hit in on me, he said that he’d tell me only because he was tired of my incessant pestering.”
“Well?”
“You could at least pretend to feel bad for him,” Dove remarked, kicking me in the thigh so hard a huff of pain slipped past my pursed lips. “I’m sorry he hit you, Quinn.”
“What, are we suddenly pretending that we don’t all get the shit beat out of us regularly?” I shot back, not wanting to argue but unable to help myself. She had been a pain lately, which I understood since the circumstances with Talon were only worsening, but she was getting on my last nerve. Still, I couldn’t help but notice the pinch of her brows and down-tilt of her mouth as she stared at me. The pain that floated around her at all times.
“Okay, everyone, let’s play nice. Don’t need another one of us straying,” Cal teased, his voice light as he let himself fall back onto Priya’s bed at her side, his feet swinging toward me where I sat on the end. Rolling my eyes, I batted his legs away.
“If you get your disgusting optimism on my bed, I will kill you,” Priya hissed, shoving him away from her only to sigh and then tug him back. He beamed at her, cuddling up against her smaller frame like a pet. Rolling my eyes, I looked back at Quinn.
“What did he say?”
“He said that they plan to strike the Royal District first.” Quinn swiped up one of the bottles of starshine I had brought, taking a hefty gulp and choking on it slightly before continuing with a strained voice as he passed it my way. “The goal is to take out King Amori and anyone of the Dremly bloodline. From there it won’t be hard. What will the eadi do?”
I didn’t mean for it to, but my mind strayed to Tershetta as I took a large pull of the liquor, feeling it burn and wishing it would light me on fire.She would fight.
There was something about her that unsettled me. That told me the eadi wouldn’t be a simple problem. I knew they weren’t all as obviously fierce as she was, but I doubted there were none like her.
“You’d be surprised,” I mumbled, passing the bottle to Priya and smacking her feet when she pushed them back toward me. Jutting out her bottom lip, she shuffled higher up her brightpurple bed, taking a small drink and then making a disgusted face.
