The Stars are Dying : (Nytefall: Book 1)

I sat with my legs dangling off a high roof, mulling over the clear sheet I’d obtained from the Crocotta that mapped the location of my next trial. It had various lines and some circles, though nothing else that could help me decipher what it was for. There was a beautiful line drawing of a flaming bird. A phoenix.

“Are you really going to keep ignoring me?” Nyte drawled, reclining lazily on his hands beside me.

I twisted, crossing my legs and giving him my back. I picked out my map instead. It was childish, but I didn’t have the energy to push him away right now. “I told you I needed time.”

“Time is not our luxury, and I could have told you exactly what that is by now.”

His offer wasn’t even tempting. I didn’t want the answer I felt close to figuring out from studying my map and the new transparent clue.

“I think I’ll pass.”

“It’s time to make our bargain official now you know…where I am.”

I cast him a frown over my shoulder. “What does that entail?”

“Come back to me and find out.”

I pushed back the shiver that took over me with the enticing way he spoke.

Scanning the city, I saw there were many pointed ears roaming the streets of the second level. I wondered if any of them could be fae, but that only brought about unsettling feelings of Elena, the fae Drystan had escorted to the library. Her switch to contentment at being here wasn’t something I could let go of completely. Something wasn’t right.

“The fae…they’re being forced into the king’s army,” I said, not posing it as a question Nyte could skirt around.

“Many of them are compliant,” he answered.

“What is he doing with those who aren’t? Those who are hiding but are found?” I couldn’t tear my eyes from observing the different walks of life below, trying to discern what could single out the fae.

“They either yield or they die.”

“Why can’t he just leave them in peace?” Anger seeped into my voice.

“Many of them have magick, and even those who don’t provide strength in numbers.”

“There is no war. Why is he still taking them?”

“War is ever-present, Astraea. There is always a hand reaching, a power growing, an opportunity waiting. It’s only a matter of being prepared for a battle that could strike at any moment. The celestials have been dormant for longer than the king anticipated. He’s bracing for them to finally try to claim back what he took long ago.”

“Do you even know some of the awful things they’ve had to do just to stay out of his reach?” I whirled to him as if he could do something for my rage that surfaced at thinking of Lilith.

I almost missed his wince. It only passed through him for a split second before he masked to indifference.

“This isn’t the end of learning the cruelties of the world we live in,” he said in the most sincere tone I’d heard from him. It was a harsh truth he clearly felt disturbed by with the way he regarded the people below.

I followed his gaze to observe them again.

The buildings here were far more structured and well-kept. Very little of the bustling trade and work happened here. Instead I found establishments fit to host the elite, though this level wasn’t entirely devoid of humans. Some appeared as impeccably dressed as their vampire counterparts and looked content to be by their side. I wasn’t certain if it was an act of survival, and that thought didn’t sit well.

I watched blood vampires roam without shadows, an eerie effect I didn’t think I’d notice, but next to anyone else the distinction was more obvious.

“What does it mean…to not have a shadow?” I pondered.

“They have to go somewhere,” Nyte said. I shivered with that notion. “There are some who believe with the blood vampire curse their detached shadows became deadly forms of their own. To keep the creatures from destroying the land they were banished to another realm. Shadow Craft is a very powerful and ancient practice.”

I skimmed over the dark cast of his form as if it were alive with his tale.

Then I watched as another vampire passed a dress shop window and no reflection got in the way of her admiring the feature gown. A soulless.

“You said the king is fae,” I pondered. I wanted to rant about how barbaric it was that he could treat his own kind this way, but that wasn’t what nagged on my mind. “The prince is shadowless—a blood vampire.”

“Why the interest?” Nyte asked, and I detected a hint of bitterness.

It was my turn to shrug, playing it off as bored curiosity. “He seems friendly.”

“I told you not to trust him.”

“You can’t tell me to do anything.”

Nyte’s hard look as he straightened only fueled me with challenge. Something about him sparked a dangerous thrill in me, and I found delight in pushing his darkness.

“His mother was shadowless, if it satisfies you to know.”

I blinked, processing that information. “I wonder what happened to her.”

“I would rather we didn’t talk about him,” Nyte grumbled.

“I would rather you weren’t here at all.”

“That’s not true, or I wouldn’t be.”

My mouth opened only to stall on a response. Think of me, and I will answer. Long for me, and I’m right here with you.

I got to my feet, pacing across the roof as the full clarity of those words hit me truly. They warmed my chest and caressed my mind, but I wanted to shake this feeling away. Nyte had come to me every time I’d needed him. So strongly did I yearn for someone that he’d become a tangible force, fooling me all that time. Because I wanted it. Him. And that realization frightened me.

Somehow, I knew when I turned Nyte would not be there. I needed to wrap sense around what was happening. He wanted to use me, and that wouldn’t change no matter how much he’d helped me before.

Casting my gaze up with a sigh, I mapped the stars though they slept. I traced the constellations solely from my memory, which could project me so close to them sometimes.

I stilled.

A constellation.

“Phoenix,” I mumbled to myself.

My breath hitched as I held up my map. The drawing formed three circles indicating the levels of the city. It was so undeniable I couldn’t unsee it. How there were some broken lines, streets perhaps.

“Not the bird—the constellation.”

Holding both up side by side, I slipped the transparent sheet over the map and exploded in triumph when the lines fit together, connecting to the ink underneath it to create the full constellation and circle three locations.

“Which one first?” I asked.

The map answered me, revealing a tiny scroll like before, and my vision lit up.

“See? I don’t need you,” I muttered to Nyte’s ghost. Hopping back onto ground level, I pulled up my hood in the alley and stopped to peek a look onto the main street. It was bustling during the afternoon hour. Floral perfumes and cool wind filled my nostrils in this sector of the city. My poise tensed at the many pointed ears and how I would be far more singled-out here.

I’d nearly braved a step out when a particular figure caught my attention. His hood was up, trying to remain inconspicuous, but it seemed I’d already gathered enough familiarity of the prince to know it was him from the shadowed tilt of his face as he almost glanced my way.

Shouldn’t you be keeping an eye on me?

Though I was glad to know Drystan wasn’t constantly following me.

He dipped around a corner, and I decided to be curious about what he could be getting up to in the city. More so, why he wouldn’t want to be noticed.

I followed him down two more streets, until down a dark alley I crouched behind a wet frozen crate to spy on him as he headed toward a group of tall, dark figures. I cursed the noise around me, unable to make out a word of the vampires’ exchange.

They didn’t talk for long before he was moving again.

I watched him enter an establishment a little farther out. From the outside, I couldn’t imagine what business he’d have in such a place during the daytime: The Scarlet Rose. I shouldn’t be surprised, but I’d still figured he could request any lady at the castle or host far more elaborate gambling nights within the palace.

I threw away all sense when I entered the establishment a few beats after him.

Expecting to inhale the sting of alcohol, I was pleasantly surprised by the embrace of delicious perfumes such as peach and rose. Paintings lined the walls, and at first, I almost looked away from the scandalous images, but they were breathtaking. Women whose every beautiful curve and fold had been painted with amazing realism. Some men too, and their positions heated my skin, setting off a wild foreign desire to see them locked in passion in ways I’d never imagined. I took a deep breath and tore my interest from them.

It was quieter than I’d hoped for. I winced at every creak of my boots against the floorboards but continued down the narrow hall, turning once before continuing down another.

I barely got two steps before I was pushed against the wall, my cry smothered by a gloved hand. Fright pounded my chest, but my mind couldn’t decide if it wanted to run or if it was relieved to be staring up at Drystan.

“Am I not to be the one following you, Cassia?” Drystan drawled the three syllables of her name as if he were playing with it.

“It seems neither of us is effective in our tasks,” I said.

Drystan’s hazel eyes held amusement as he looked me over. I counted my pulse.

“You haven’t found yourself in any precarious situations,” he said. “Yet.”

“The map.” It was the confirmation I needed.

His head tilted with his slow smile. “I happen to be good at optimizing my time. Why trail you through every delirious trial? I’m surprised, and I’ll admit a little disappointed, you haven’t attracted any danger for some action.”

I could only gape, though I wasn’t surprised he would wish harm on me for his own twisted amusement.

He had yet to step away from me, and I hoped my sideward glance for an escape would deliver the hint. He eased a smirk. Sometimes I had to double-take at certain quirks about him that hinted at familiarity.

“How are your trials faring?”

“I have the first piece,” I said.

Drystan grinned, and being this close to the exposure of his sharp teeth sliced a frightening memory of the soulless through me. I suppressed my shudder, but he seemed to notice my hesitation around him.

“Are you afraid of me?”

“No.” My response came so fast it exposed my lie.

“Do you need help with your next location?”

“I have it, actually.”

Drystan’s face relaxed with arrogance as he extended his palm. “Let me see.”

I wanted to refuse so he wouldn’t know all my locations in advance, but I couldn’t deny the prince. He took the map and clear sheet from me, fascinated by it as if he’d never seen such a thing before. He slid a curious look to me.

“The Poison Garden,” he mused.

“That doesn’t sound inviting,” I said warily.

Drystan gave a low laugh. “It’s not. Be cautious, as the most beautiful things can be tempting, but they’re often the deadliest.” The way his tone dropped with the warning accompanied by the slow trace of his eyes over me inspired a crawling warmth.

“I should, uh…get going then,” I said, making as if to move around him, but he planted his hand on the wall to stop me.

My heart skipped a beat.

“You could stay. You won’t make it to the garden to complete your task and be back to the castle before twilight now. I could escort you back in a few hours, safe and sound.”

I didn’t want to find out what a few hours in here with him would entail.

“Thank you, but I’ll head back to the castle now on my own.”

“Your Highness,” a sultry voice said from down the hall behind him.

Drystan kept his attention on me, his tall form blocking my view of the woman. “Another time,” the prince said, finally straightening and dropping his arm. His jaw worked with ire though he’d been expecting the woman.

I nodded with absolutely no plan to be back here with him ever.

As I made to leave, I found a stunning blonde in a scandalous silk gown, midnight in color, poised in a doorframe at the end. I quickly turned the corner for the exit as my thoughts had been right. Drystan wasn’t here for any suspicious reason but, I wagered, a whole lot of sin.

The winter air chilled my heated skin when I stepped out. Heading back to climb the steps to the castle level, I walked in plain sight while the daylight began to dwindle.

“Look what we found.”

The leering voice stiffened my spine, so close I didn’t have time to react before a large arm was clamped around me. I turned to stone as we kept walking, Draven hugging me into his side as if we were lovers or old friends, but I felt his menacing claim. At his mention of “we,” my head turned just enough to find Enver on my other side.

“Let me go,” I warned, praying he would decide I wasn’t worth the petty entertainment.

“Do you have any of your key pieces yet?” Draven ignored me.

“I wouldn’t tell you if I did.”

“We could find out,” Enver said, his eyes roving over me, and my panic started to rise with his meaning.

“You think I would have them on me?”

“Only one way to know,” Draven said, turning me abruptly toward him.

I reacted on instinct. My knee jerked toward his crotch, and while he groaned and slackened his hold I managed to grab Draven’s eye patch as Enver clamped a hold around me from behind. I let the elastic go, making Draven cry out as he stumbled back with the impact of it slamming back into place. Enver lost his footing with me, and we went tumbling too.

He let go to regain his balance, but I kept falling.

My calves met something solid before I was swallowed whole by a freezing embrace.

Then I was back in the lake. Floating and drifting in a numbing cold that stole my will to fight. I tried to open my eyes, but nothing glowed like I expected it to. No gold reaching for silver.

Air ripped down my throat when I was pulled with some force. I coughed violently on my knees, aware of someone beside me. Something warm was slung over my shoulders.

Warm.

Nyte had been warm when I’d felt him at the lakeside. He had to have pulled me from the water.

Yet I didn’t know how.

“I guess I spoke too soon.”

It was Drystan who held me. I wished for it to be anyone else. Anywhere else. At least he wasn’t entirely abandoning his role of ensuring my safety.

“You could have been more prompt,” I chattered, panting and shivering so intensely as if I were becoming ice.

“Always room for improvement.”

“I’ll help her.”

Oh, thank stars. Zathrian was here. That forced my head up, and I found him about to crouch, but Drystan was already helping me stand.

“You seem to have your hands full already,” Drystan said, drawing our attention to Rose, who was fighting both Draven and Enver.

“Damn, Thorns,” Zath muttered. “I told her it wasn’t worth it.”

“I’ll be fine,” I said through my bashing teeth.

I didn’t want to be left with the prince, but more so, I didn’t want Rose to be alone. Especially not as three of the Golden Guard began to close in, ready to intervene. Zath’s jaw worked with irritation, but his fist flexed on his sword as he watched Rose as if he were holding back from the urge to go to her.

“We need to get you warm fast,” Drystan said, coaxing me to move.

I nodded but couldn’t look at him in my shame at being a damsel in distress. I passed Enver groaning on the ground just as Zath hooked an arm around Rose to prevent her next lunge at Draven. I didn’t turn around to see their inevitable blowup over it.

“It’s humans like those who ease my guilt at the inferiority of their species,” Drystan said boredly.

My legs were on the verge of locking still from the frozen bath of water I’d fallen into, which I assumed was a trough for horses, but I still cast him distasteful eyes he didn’t meet. “We’re not all like them,” I grumbled. “Most aren’t.”

“Your defense is adorable, though hardly convincing.”

“Of course you see nothing but a meal.”

Drystan flashed me a wide grin. “Is that what you really think?”

“It’s not what I think—it’s what everyone knows.”

“Are you offering?”

I stalled, shrugging out of the arm he had around my shoulders. At my look of outrage, his laughter grated on my nerves.

“Relax. Fuck. Human blood isn’t like a meal to us—not something so bland and routine.” He kept walking, and I was so eager to be back at the castle that I followed him reluctantly.

“Then stop feeding on them.”

“I didn’t say unnecessary. We do need blood to survive, and animals can suffice. But human blood is far more desirable. Taken by force it can be painful, but if they’re willing it’s pleasurable for them. They cycle new blood. It’s harmless.”

“They savage without care.”

“Just as humans dominate without care?”

I realized what he meant immediately. To think of all vampires like that was hypocritical when I’d argued not all humans were like Draven and Enver. Devious bastards.

“Fine. You’re right.”

“Was that hard for you to admit?”

“No.”

I scowled, though admittedly I was glad my conversation with Drystan wasn’t tense and frightening given who he was.

As we walked in silence toward the castle gates, I couldn’t stop replaying the memory of the lake with a new rush of urgency to question the clue.

When we got to my rooms, it almost seemed like Drystan was about to follow me inside. I blanched at the thought. I wouldn’t be able to shed any layers in front of him or I’d expose my tattoos.

“Thank you, but I’ll be fine from here.”

As I faced him, the ringing alarm of Nyte’s warning not to trust the prince replayed in my head, but it collided with a desire to believe I could.

I was so damn confused and exhausted.

“I should make sure you get warm enough—”

“No.”

The shift on his face at my quick dismissal skipped my pulse. It was something like ire, yet it blinked into nothing but understanding.

“My handmaiden will be here soon,” I added quickly. “We might stir speculation if you were to be seen leaving my rooms. They’d think I have an advantage in the Libertatem.”

Drystan scoffed, an unusual bitterness entering his tone. “The damn Libertatem is nothing more than a hollow distraction. I thought you would have figured that out by now. No one really wins.”

“A distraction from what?”

Drystan leaned in close. “There is a sixth key,” he all but whispered though we were alone in the hall. I took a single step back, but my palm flattened against the door. “That’s the one he truly wants. No one has ever found it.” His eyes bore into mine, a slight curl disturbing his mouth as if we shared a secret. “I have a feeling this Libertatem will be a marker for history.”

Before I suffocated trying not to share breath, Drystan leaned away.

“Why this time?”

He reached for me, and while I would usually balk, I blamed the cold for keeping me stiff and shivering. Drystan twisted the handle of my door, pushing it open.

“Let’s just say, it’s been a very interesting beginning.”