Page 14 of Storm of Stars
“That kind of hope doesn’t stay quiet forever,” he said, leaning in slightly. “It’s the kind that ignites what’s been simmering… you know.”
I swallowed hard, my pulse pounding in my ears. He reached out and gripped my hand, firm, steady, resolute.
And then, barely louder than a breath, he whispered, “I always believed that one day the stars would shine on us again.”
The world tilted. My stomach dropped. My jaw parted on instinct, words scrambling up my throat, questions, demands, pleas. It was a line only Runaways used, a promise buried in whispers and rebellion. My mother’s words.
“And I think you all might be our stars,” he whispered, glancing back at the others. Ezra, Bex, Briar and even Zaffir, though his participation was a carefully guarded secret.
But before I could ask him anything, before I could so much as tighten my grip, Fenly was already moving, sauntering toward the cameras like a man heading to the gallows on his own terms.
“I can’t accept this victory,” he called out, loud enough to bring the entire room to a stunned halt. His hands lifted in surrender. “I cheated. I didn’t complete this trial fairly.”
Every head turned. The guards stiffened. Murmurs rippled through the crowd like a crackle of wildfire. Someone barked into a comm. Another raised a camera. Faces twisted in confusion. Nobody understood what he was doing.
Except me.
I felt it like a pulse in my chest.
Praxis guards closed in around him, their hands clamping down on his shoulders, but he didn’t resist. No fight, no struggle. He simply let them lead him away, a strange calm settling over him like a man who’d made peace with his fate. The heavy bars of his once opened cell slammed shut behind him.
And a second later, Ezra’s opened.
He spilled out, the shock and disbelief on his face melting instantly as Bex flew into his arms. He held her so tightly I thought she might break. He whispered something unintelligible as he kissed her face, her hair, his hands running along her arms as if he was trying to memorize her touch.
But I couldn’t look away from the cell that Fenly now inhabited. Couldn’t shake the truth in his gaze. The belief. The sacrifice. He’d given himself up so we could stay whole. So we could finish what we started.
And somewhere deep in my chest, the old words stirred again.
One day, the stars will shine on us again.
CHAPTER
FIVE
Bex
I’d spentthe entire day curled up against Ezra’s side, my fingers constantly brushing over his skin, his hair, gripping his hand as though sheer touch alone could anchor him here, could convince both of us that he was still breathing. Still alive. Still mine to hold. I couldn’t believe how close we’d come to losing him. If Fenly hadn’t admitted to cheating, something I still couldn’t quite believe, he would’ve been gone.
And it rattled me.
I’d let myself grow comfortable. I didn’t mean to, but it happened anyway. I let the familiarity of my team, the way we moved together, trusted each other, looked out for one another, lull me into a false sense of security. A dangerous mistake in a place like this. In the Run, safety wasn’t real. I’d forgotten that for a moment. Ezra’s near-death reminded me.
And I couldn’t ignore what it meant for us in the eyes of the world. The only thing audiences loved more than a champion to cheer for… was a favorite to tear down. And we were making ourselves far too easy to watch.
Ezra was asleep, his chest rose and fell in steady, careful breaths. I laid beside him, one hand resting on his ribs, feeling the soft warmth of him beneath my palm. My heart ached in ways I didn’t have words for. A hollow, scraping kind of ache that came from almost losing something vital. If he’d gone…I didn’t know what would’ve been left of me. I couldn’t imagine a life without any of my Wildguard. They’d found their way into the deepest parts of my heart and took root there.
I stayed there longer than I should’ve, watching him in the low light of the room, the way his lashes lay against his cheeks, the small crease between his brows even in sleep. Eventually, my stomach’s low growl pulled me from my vigil. I slipped from his bed, pressing a final touch to his hand before leaving the room, careful not to wake Zaffir who was asleep in the bed beside us. The cabin was quiet, still wrapped in the hush of late night. The moon hung high, silver light spilling through the windows and pooling on the wooden floorboards like liquid glass.
I padded barefoot to the kitchen, only half-aware of my surroundings. Hunger gnawed at my stomach, but my mind was elsewhere, on Ezra’s pained face behind bars, on the cameras always watching, on the quiet, creeping fear curling up inside me.
I didn’t notice the figure at first. Not until the fridge’s pale light caught movement, and a silhouette shifted, a glint of metal in their hand. My heart slammed against my ribs, a startled sound catching in my throat as I staggered back a step.
A voice, low and warm, cut through my panic.
“Easy, love.”
Thorne.
