Page 106 of The City of Stardust

Violet glares at him. “I’m not going anywhere. Neither is Penelope, or Astriade—or whatever the hell you want to call her. We need to talk. We need a plan.”

Violet has bartered with scholars, infiltrated their parties and unpicked their lies. She’s travelled across the world to speak to gods and decipher their riddles. She has already escaped death and injury more times than she’d like to admit. If Ever thinks he can wish her away, he’s about to learn just how stubborn his bloodline can be.

“She’s not after us. She’s afteryou,” she says. “So whatever you did to her, undo it. If she wants to leave, let her leave!”

“We are safe here,” he says calmly.

“We can’t spend the rest of our lives living in a—a cage!” Violet says, exasperated. “She’s never going to stop. Don’t you get that?”

“We aresafe,” he repeats.

Violet is very quiet for a minute. Then she says, “My uncles used to tell me stories about you. The great, heroic Ever Everly, who tried to save us. But you didn’t try at all, did you?”

All the legends she believed in. All the lies.

Ever shrugs. “There are no heroes. There are only those of us who survive, and those who do not. The contract is unbreakable, and thus I will remain here.”

Condemning Violet.

Disgusted, she raises her hand to sweep an entire shelf on to the floor. If he can’t comprehend what it is to lose something precious, she’llmakehim understand. But at the last second, she stops herself. Ever is already talking to himself again animatedly, with hand gestures that would suggest an important conversation is taking place. He is just as likely to look at her blankly as he is to be upset with her over the loss of his precious vials.

Maybe this is why Marianne went through the door and never looked back. Maybe she was smart to run, and Violet is the fool for staying.

She walks down the stairs, through the courtyard and towards the lake, the hot sun burning the back of her shoulders. Aleksander is by the lake, patching up a small leak in the boat. He rubs the back of hisneck, and although he smiles to see her, there’s something troubled behind his eyes.

“I take it your heart-to-heart with Ever didn’t go as planned,” he says.

Violet kicks off her shoes and sits on the edge of the water. She thinks about diving in, clothes and all. She settles for her bare feet, cool water leaping over her skin.

“I spoke to Penelope,” Aleksander says carefully.

Violet goes still. She suspected Penelope would seek out Aleksander. A conversation filled with possibilities.

He continues, “She won’t leave until she has an Everly soul.”

“And it won’t be Ever,” she says bitterly.

And then she bites her lip, guilt flooding through her. It might be Ever’s pact, and it might be an Everly curse, but she can’t ask him to die on her behalf. Because that’s what she would be asking. Those are the stakes. Even though she’s known this whole time that it was her life hanging in the balance, it hits her like a hammer blow.

There’s no way out, this time.

Aleksander looks at her. “Violet, you can’t.”

“No, but—my uncles. Jesus Christ, what if she goes after Ambrose? Or Gabriel?” Violet’s vision starts to swim with panic. “The door is onherside.”

Penelope can go through any time she chooses. Perhaps she has just been waiting for Violet to realise how vulnerable they all are.

“If I go now—if I make a deal with her—”

Aleksander grabs her arm. “Don’t. Please.”

“But my uncles—”

“If you go, she’ll kill you,” he says urgently.

“So I should let them die instead? Just because you betray people when it suits you, doesn’t mean I will,” she snaps.

Aleksander flinches and drops his hold on her. Violet folds her arms and looks away from him. She tries to take deep breaths, to stem the tide of panic, but all she can think about is her uncles, and the choice she has to make. She’s tried to stop Penelope so many times before, and failed. Now, they’re in her city, at an unquestionable disadvantage.

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