Page 32 of A Clash of Stars

I slid the ring on my finger and put the golden box in my right hand. Now, to get out of here.

I couldn’t believe I had found the Relic and that Madok had helped me. I felt relieved I could trust him, but this whole other part filled me with dread. The voices I heard and the message given to me were apparent.

I could trust no one, but I had just won the Variance. I only had to return what I had found to the council to be declared victorious, the Queen of Carondelet. I had to get out of here. I should be over the moon right now, but I felt a knot in my stomach and an eerie instinct that it won’t be that easy. A clue that this was only the beginning.

Madok continued to look for an exit as I noticed a huge painting to my left. Floor to ceiling.

The painting was similar to the one I saw as a child in my mother’s office, except this painting was of a woman with purple eyes and light that radiated from her body. She looked into the distance, and her face was overwhelmingly in love. I knew that look. My parents shared glances like that one all the time. I looked at it one moment longer and started pulling on the sides until a latch clicked, and it opened into a short passageway that looked to lead outside.

I was right.

Madok smiled at me, “You clever girl.”

He took considerable strides toward me and kissed me once more. “I am so proud of you, Clara.”

As he turned to walk through the passageway, I grabbed his arm. He turned, waiting for what I needed to say.

“Why didn’t you take it as your own? Your chance to rule was right at your fingertips. Why me?”

He took a deep breath and approached me again, moving a piece of hair and placing it behind my ear.

“Clara, like I said before. Your destiny is greater than all of ours. I am not allowed to stand in the way of fate. It is your fate to achieve this. Now let’s get you back to the council.”

He turned again, walking through the passageway as I followed him. Once we were outside the castle, I knew we had to return to the starting point. I placed the box in my satchel and began walking. Madok waited for me to walk ahead of him. He was such a gentleman.

I heard a smack behind me. When I turned, Madok was lying face down in the grass with blood trickling from his temple.

“No! Madok, can you hear me? Oh, gods. Help me!”

No sooner had those words left my mouth. I felt a hand creep up behind me and pull me backward. I immediately started throwing my elbows and pushed my head back, crushing their nose. Then, I ran.

I ran so fast, and I didn’t know I could move that quickly. My chest began burning, and I realized it was no longer daylight. I could hide somewhere. I dove behind a large tree and scrambled behind a bush. When I looked up to see who was chasing me, I thought my eyes deceived me, Luke.

Are you shitting me?

As he passed, I ran. I ran with the tall grass whipping at my legs. My muscles began to cramp and then slowly locked up. I kept pushing myself, and I knew if Icould run further, I could be safe. Until I ran into a body. When my eyes drifted upward, it was Griffin. Thank the gods.

“Clara, are you all right? Why are you bleeding?”

I couldn’t even get the words out when Luke approached us quickly. I unsheathed my dagger and held to my warrior stance as he approached. He also withdrew his dagger. All the while, like a distant memory, I could hear Griffin’s voice saying, “No, Luke!”

He looked at me, and his eyes were almost black, with his pupils blending into his irises. I had never seen him this way, almost like it wasn’t even him. He came at me, ready to attack. He struck each side of me, but I blocked every one of the blows. He became frustrated as his strikes became shorter and more rampant. I heard a voice behind me that distracted me, Evander.

In a split second, I lost my attention. Luke struck his free hand against my forearm, sending my dagger flying to the grass at least ten feet away.

“This is going to hurt,” Luke whispered.

I felt the yank of the dagger and the sound of flesh and armor ripping as I fell to the ground. The pain was excruciating, and I started to feel my eyesight blur and darken. I could hear another voice around me, yelling.

“She will be fine. She is immortal, and she has the ring. No one can kill her. At least, not yet,” I heard a voice speak to the group as I was in and out of consciousness as the conversation continued.

“Where is Madok?”

“Eh. I have him tied up currently by the road. We’ll grab him on the way out and put him in the cell with her.”

“We did what we needed to. She did the work for us, and now we bring her in.”

I knew that voice. Evander.

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