Page 177 of A Touch of Stars and Stones
“You can’t protect me from this, Ever.”
“I can. We can leave. Go. I’ll happily leave this place for you. We can go home—to my home, together.”She’s pulling more energy, more power than she has before. It’s in the very thickness of the shadowy mist clouding us, clinging to us, and keeping us from view.“We can go now. Run.”
“Stars, that sounds good. And if I knew you’d be safe, I’d be pulling you along with me right this second. But I can’t risk you. I’ll speak to my father. We’ll figure this out.”That’s the only thought I can make sense of.
This is a mistake. It’s not going to happen.
Ever’s grip on Ravi drops, and the shadowy fog recedes, leaving a silent audience around us.
“I love you,” I say, desperate for her to hear me. My eyes lock on hers, and I watch as the darkness in them retreats, leaving them glacial green and full of rage. They remind me of the first time I saw her when she looked every inch the threat she could be, but her beauty overruled my senses and has consumed me from that day onwards.
She has consumed me ever since.
“Aslendrix, please watch over her,” I whisper under my breath.
Praying to our Goddess is becoming a necessity I really fucking hate.
“We’ll find a way, Ever. Hold on to that. I love you.”
forty-three
. . .
Ever
Rage, hotter than I’ve ever felt, burns inside of me, tearing away any semblance of control as I watch the Warriors line up and surround Ten.
No.I won’t let them do this.
“Calix!” I shout, and he breaks through towards me. “We need to get to him.” He nods, catching up with my line of thought. Ravi might help, but it’s not enough.
Calix clears a path, barging and shoving Warriors, and I realise what he’s going to have to do.
“Ever!” But I’m right there.
Suddenly, the power at my centre is wild and unruly, desperate to break free. The strength of Calix is at my fingertips, with nothing but our proximity. I reach for his hand, and he clasps it.
The surge is instant, but as I reach for Ten, stretching out my arm to grab him, the Warriors attack.
“No!” Calix tugs hard, pulling me back as a blade slices between my outstretched arm and Ten, missing me by an inch. My arm quivers as I realise how close that was.
“Ever!” Ten hollers and thrashes against the Warriors closing in. He throws a punch, then another, and Calix is heading right for him. But men flood around us, swarming in to create a physical barrier between me and Ten.
“Ravi, help us!” I shout, looking around as mayhem descends. But he’s gone, nowhere in sight.
“What have you learned, Ever Hart?”The Maker’s voice sounds inside my mind, and I want to scratch out the sound.
“Not enough,” I seethe.
“Show them. Show me.”
“How?” I plead, and Calix looks at me, his eyes drawn and his face tight.
“You are a Fifth. You do not need touch to control your power. Don’t you feel it? Inside of you? That growing swell?”
I listen to her voice and focus on exactly what she says. It’s there. It’s been there for a while, and every lesson in class has fed it, like the magic I access every time I touch someone is being hoarded, my own power syphoning a fraction off, drop by drop.
How to use it is still an elusive answer, even with the training.
