Page 100 of The Star's Sword

“You heard that the trials are back on?” Cayne yelled down the hall at us, as Samael rolled his eyes and gave me an apologetic look.

“Tonight?” Sam asked.

I nodded, throwing my arms around his neck to hug him again. “Tonight.”

He took off, as Cayne strode over to me.

Samael and Zadis left together, bending their heads to discuss something, and Cayne clapped me on the back.

“You two are doing okay again?” he asked. “Not going to keep holding the prophecy against him?”

“I was silly to,” I said.

“No,” Cayne said. “You were right to be angry. But now we’re all united. We know what’s coming. We have no secrets, and we just have one more fight to get through before you can attempt to ascend.”

I sighed. “You want me to train with you, don’t you?”

“I overheard Zadis and Sam saying they would need you later tonight, so yes, since it’s been a couple days, I think we should train you.” He hummed happily. “I can’t believe we get a rematch with Vasara. Finally, we can avenge Simon.”

I stopped suddenly. “About that, Cayne. Where is Simon?”

Cayne rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, he hasn’t been very happy with me, ever since that night at the keep where I had some fun with his vampires.”

“You murdered them wholesale,” I said.

“They got in my way when they should have been behind me in avenging him,” he replied, unapologetic. “Look, Cleo. This world isn’t worth living in if we can’t protect our friends.”

“But how can we protect him, if he’s still with her?” The thought of Simon staying there with Vasara made my skin crawl.

“He won’t let his guard down again,” Cayne said. “He’s so congenial to most people that I’ve never seen someone try to hurt him like that before.” He looked at me. “But we can get rid of Vasara, free Simon and his court and set everything right, if we win.”

I nodded. “But how did Simon get her to agree, when she already has the vampires on her side?” I shook my head. “No way she’ll risk actually fighting me.”

“She said you had to bet Samael,” Cayne said, suddenly somber. “But I didn’t think that would be an issue, because there’s no way you would lose.”

“Sam?” I nearly yelled. “What the hell, Cayne? I won’t bet Sam.”

“He would want you to, Cleo,” Cayne said. “He isn’t afraid of Vasara. And look, he’ll be in a locked case. No one can touch him until the trials are over.”

I hated even the idea of it.

“Cleo, if we don’t have to fight vampires on the way up, if they help with the fight, what if it helps you have strength? What if that strength is the difference between being able to save Samael or not?”

I blinked. “What do you mean?”

Cayne shoved his hair back over his shoulder. “The prophecy is vague, about what happens when the Morningstar weapon goes off. But if we didn’t even have to use your anti-matter detonation—”

“My what?”

“We still haven’t talked about it.”

“We’ve been busy training and fighting vampires,” I said. “Besides, you said I didn’t need training with my Morningstar ability. That it would just activate.”

“It will,” he said. “But if that’s what kills Sam, wouldn’t it be better if the group of us could just help you kill the celestials with your lasers?”

What he was saying finally registered in my mind, lighting everything up like dawn was breaking.

A hope. In addition to the unicorn, it was something.

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