The Stars are Dying : (Nytefall: Book 1)

I didn’t venture out of my rooms the following night. Instead I hugged the blanket around my shoulders tighter as I stared up at the midnight sky, leaning against the balcony doors that allowed a chill to seep in for my last night here. I wouldn’t risk being caught. No—I had to be as obedient as he believed I had always been if I had any chance of eluding him tomorrow.

My mind taunted and laughed that no matter what I tried, even if I made it a day, a week, away from him, he would always find me so long as he lived.

And so came a dark thought, one that had stroked my mind before in the heat of Hektor’s worst moments: I had to kill him.

Every time I truly thought of the idea, I expelled it with horror. No matter what, I couldn’t forget everything Hektor had done for me. He’d found me, sheltered me, given me fine things most could only dream of. Just never a life.

This wasn’t living.

To distract myself, I looked again at the small binding that had arrived by post yesterday. Flipping it open to the name that clenched a tight fist in my chest, I saw Cassia’s profile as the Selected of Alisus. There was no drawing, only a list of her strengths and weaknesses. I flipped through the others, but each time, my blood turned hot and my pulse raced as I imagined her having to face them, knowing they’d have to die for Cassia to win.

Two women, three men, and only one victor.

I closed the booklet, refraining from scrunching it up in my palms in my rage. This wasn’t right. Humans needing to prove themselves worthy to live. That was all the Libertatem was.

My door creaked open without a knock, and I whirled in fright.

“Just me,” Zath said with a smirk of amusement.

“You shouldn’t be in here,” I said, glancing behind him as if Hektor would enter any minute.

Zath waved off my concern, stalking over to the seat near the blazing fire. “He’s busy with a bunch of crooks just back from his latest kill order.”

The flickers of amber highlighted what he carried, and my eyes lit up to follow him. As he placed the two books on the table, I sat, eagerly examining their titles and promptly flicking through one.

“I don’t know if they’re any good,” he said.

“They’re perfect,” I answered, not even caring what was written in them as I was sure to gain something, however small, from the scriptures.

Books were rare in Alisus, even in the Keep. We all had our suspicions it was to keep us from learning anything that could teach us how to overthrow the High Ruler of Solanis. Knowledge could turn into the most dangerous weapon.

I flicked my eyes up from the words to utter my gratitude to Zathrian. He smiled, broad and as excited as I was, even though he had no interest in books.

I’d once read a story about two lovers and their struggle with a family conflict that wouldn’t allow for them to be together, but neither of the lovers struck me as the true hero of the tale. The real hero was her brother. He reminded me of Zath.

When I first met Zath, it wasn’t an instant connection. No one ever showed me any interest, and initially he was no different in his primary role of pleasing Hektor. Then he saw me. He wanted to know me, and slowly I gathered the same feeling I remembered from immersing myself in that story for a while. Zathrian was a living semblance of the bond I’d felt through those pages.

“I’m leaving tonight,” he said, dulling my good mood at receiving the books. “Hektor wants me to oversee a trade in the North Port.”

Zathrian was an excellent spy. It wasn’t often I heard Hektor speak of any of his men, but Zath had quickly become an invaluable asset to him.

Then I realized, as the first real protest to my joining Cassia…I would also be leaving Zath behind.

“What’s wrong?” he asked at seeing my ghostly stare.

My mouth opened but snapped shut. I could trust him, I knew that. Yet…this was my only chance. And if there was even a slight doubt he would tell Hektor, I couldn’t risk it. Heat rushed behind my eyes, so I flipped through more pages as a distraction. “Nothing. I’m just going to miss you.”

Zath reached over to tousle my hair, and the chuckle it pulled from me as I fended him off brightened the room. “I hope to be back for the last of the send-off celebrations. Save me one of the little round sponge things with the chocolate filling.”

My lips pinched. I couldn’t bear to look at him with my lies. “I’ll save you two if you’re prompt.”

Zath leaned in, his hand cupping my neck as he planted a soft kiss to my forehead, and I sighed knowing the contentment of safety—real safety—was about to slip away from me. “All the more reason to hurry the crooks along,” he mumbled.

He reached the door, and my racing pulse surged me to my feet.

“Zath,” I called.

He paused to throw me a look back.

“Thank you—for everything.”

His dark blond brows knitted. I hadn’t meant for it to sound like a goodbye. Then his expression eased with a warm smile, and he nodded. My heart broke with the click of the door.

I wasn’t used to expending so much emotion, and I was growing so tired. I spent the next hour flipping through the pages of a book so worn some papers came loose.

The next one to crack free from the binding took my breath. I stood slowly, discarding the rest as I stared and stared at the wondrous image. I vacantly wandered to the fireplace to catch more light that would reveal the finer details.

A map. I was entranced, marveling at how the pinpoint I stood on at this very second was smaller than a spec of sand on this parchment. I couldn’t believe a realm so vast could be displayed on a single sheet. I’d never seen one before, and the visual of Solanis was nothing like what I could have imagined.

It was breathtaking.

The Central earned its name literally. Vesitire proudly occupied the middle of the landmass, the other five kingdoms surrounding it. Those were divided from each other by the king’s guard border control, and these kingdoms would compete against each other. Then, on Vesitire’s right…

My fingers traced with wonder where the veil cut off access to the magnificent realm of Althenia. There was an island, streams breaking off to make it appear as if the land made a six-point star. My imagination exploded with imagery, but I knew I could never visualize what beauty truly lay there. In the realm of the celestials.

A soft knock drew my attention, and Sira slipped into the room with a warm smile. “He’s called for you, milady. I was sent to make sure you are appropriate for his guests.”

Immediately, my palms clammed up. “What guests?” Hektor never invited me out of this room when the establishment was full for the night.

Sira helped me into a new white gown. I despised the pale material he favored me in, turning nauseous at the sight. Over it, a long-sleeve cropped coat with a high button neck. No markings on show. Which only twisted my gut tighter with the dread that I would be seen by people.

She styled my hair with some elaborate braids, adding crystals that complemented the glittering strands through my silver locks. In the mirror the candlelight reflected off every jewel I wore from head to toe.

A spectacle.

Walking the halls so openly at this hour, I didn’t know how to carry myself. Usually, I’d be seeking the next shadow to become one with, straining my hearing to detect every nearby voice. But most of all, I’d be keeping track of exactly where Hektor was. I stood tall, clasping my hands behind my back, but that felt too stiff. I folded them in front of me but quickly dropped my arms to let them sway loose.

Sira nodded her head for me to go in through the open doors we’d stopped a few meters away from.

Hektor’s study.

My throat burned dry at being here. There was not a single memory I harbored that had ended well in there. Sira tried to appear encouraging, yet I could always see the cracks in a person’s mask. Her concern, mixed with my own, drummed hard in my chest. I took a deep breath and headed through.

The low chatter of voices raised every hair on my body. I counted first. Six men, some standing and others sitting on the ornate brown leather couches. Smoke filtered through the air, but not enough to choke me. I found the source as the first one to notice me. A middle-aged man with shaggy but well-kept brown hair finished the drag of his pipe before his shadow-lined jaw eased into a predatory smile. I stiffened with the overwhelming urge to retreat when, one by one, every new set of eyes turned more of me to stone. I feared I wouldn’t be able to move.

Then I found him.

Hektor seemed to be the last one to cast a lazy gaze my way from his single tall chair facing the others. “My darling, come here.”

At the command I took a second to breathe, watching the flex of skin around his eyes, his subtle irritation that I wasn’t by his side before he’d finished speaking. The click of the door jolted me from my stupor. A quiet rumbling of chuckles grated over my skin, and I wondered if it was my fear they found amusing. Heat crept over my cheeks though I had nothing to feel embarrassed about. I walked the few paces to Hektor, sliding my trembling palm into his awaiting one.

“You look absolutely stunning,” Hektor admired, trailing a slow gaze over me that I wanted to shrink away from. “Doesn’t she?” He gave the invitation for the other six men to observe me, feast on me, and all I could think of was hunger as they took me in. I stood as prey in a circle of vultures, and my mind was racing with the thought of what I could be here for. Never had Hektor summoned me to be among any of his guests.

“May I?” a low voice asked. One of the men stood slowly from the opposite couch, and my feet grew roots to prevent me from doing something that would enrage Hektor. This man was studying me. A short blond lock tipped over his eyebrow as he tilted his head.

“You can look, but touch and you’ll lose that hand.”

I was glad of Hektor’s protection, but as he cast an adoring gaze at me with a nod to step forward, my eyes pricked with tears. Humiliated, I stood as a spectacle to these men. An object to observe, a prize to weigh, a sum to consider.

The blond man came closer, and as his hand rose to my chin I almost flinched—until another shuffle of movement had him shifting playful brown eyes to the side.

One of Hektor’s assassins eased out from shadow, the glint of his blade catching on the firelight. I wanted to be any lost place in the world but right here.

Don’t let him see your fear.

“Don’t test me, Fennik,” Hektor drawled with all the power of the room.

Fennik’s mouth grew in a slow curl as he returned his eyes to me. “How can we be certain she is what you say?”

That sparked my interest, though not with anything good. I listened to Hektor stand, ripples of his presence encasing me as he closed in. When his fingers brushed over my neck I drew a shallow gasp, stepping back, which only pressed me tighter to him.

“You don’t have to be afraid,” he whispered over my ear.

Afraid was not the reaction bubbling inside me. It was embarrassment, vulnerability, and I hated every note of it. My teeth clenched as he undid the buttons of my overcoat. His hands slipped into the material, peeling it from my shoulders with purposeful attention like the grand unveiling of a statue. And the eyes of the men widened to gawk at me as such.

I couldn’t hear through the pounding in my ears. My gown was sleeveless with a low, curving neckline, and instinct made me hug my arms as though I were naked at the attention of the strangers raking over me. I bit back my whimper when Hektor took my wrists, gently guiding my arms to my sides.

“She is the most unique thing,” he said with an air of wonder, trailing slow fingers over my silver markings while the other men studied me.

Not out of affection, but to show his claim over me.

“If she is as valuable as you say, surely not even an island is enough of a trade.”

“Volanis isn’t just any island, as you are well aware. Many have coveted the volcanic isle, many have gone to your Overlord with high prices indeed, and never has he been tempted to sign away his claim to it.”

“And you think she is the price that will make him finally break?”

“Vermont would not have sent you in response to my letter if not.”

My corset became too tight, the air far too thick. I couldn’t be hearing this right. Hektor couldn’t be talking about me as no more than a currency to trade.

“I’m not for sale,” I whispered. Every inch of me was vibrating, but I had to react.

Spinning, I didn’t even make it one step before Hektor caught me. His hands on my arms were tight, but I couldn’t feel it with the cold embracing me. My eyes stung more. I couldn’t stand the thought of them seeing my tears and I wished for Hektor’s pain to keep them from falling.

“Don’t cause a scene,” Hektor warned, a low breath across my ear as he stroked my hair.

“Please don’t do this,” I said.

“It is for us, darling, trust me.”

I never had, and I never would, trust the manipulative Hektor Goldfell.

“We have yet to see if she is capable of anything you say,” Fennik said. “Vermont will want to see her.”

That wouldn’t happen. I would sooner run from this manor and not stop until the fire in my lungs killed me. I would sooner kill all of them. The thought was as soul-tarnishing as it was liberating.

I couldn’t make sense of what they wanted with me—what lies Hektor might have told in this grand scheme to win an island by fooling a pirate overlord.

“Then he should have come here himself,” Hektor replied. His hand stroked along my arms, and I couldn’t shrug out of it, not wanting to turn and face those men who feasted on me.

“You know he wouldn’t risk crossing the sea and leaving Volanis open to threat,” Fennik said.

“Then I wonder how he has not gone mad ruling without a counsel he can trust to operate in his stead.”

“Volanis produces the highest value minerals. It makes up a great deal of trade across the entire continent. I’m sure you can see why the temptation of greed might have made even those he trusts the most willing to risk a civil war to claim a vacant throne.”

“What I can see”—Hektor turned me slowly in his grip, and I dropped my eyes pitifully as I faced them again—“is that Vermont wants this trade to sever his ties to an island that has become a great burden, but he does not want to let go of the wealth associated with his position. This gives him exactly what he has wanted for a very long time. A new lifetime of security.”

Fennik looked me over again, and while I wanted to avert my gaze out of repulsion, I studied him back. All of them, not wanting to miss a thing.

“That is how you keep the vampires away?” he asked skeptically.

“We have an arrangement. One that will continue in my absence.”

Fennik drilled his eyes into me as if I were the answer to that protection. “Why don’t they just take her?”

Hektor chuckled with smooth arrogance. “That secret will remain solely between Vermont and me.”

I didn’t listen to the rest of their exchange in the next few minutes, remaining numb instead. My mind had never scrambled so desperately to make sense of how my small existence could be shaken and bartered. One more day, I repeated to calm myself. He wouldn’t get to trade me as I would disappear tomorrow.

Only when we stood alone in his main study did I start to climb out of my reeling thoughts. “How could you?” I breathed. I didn’t want to feel the hurt that cleaved me at his betrayal. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise, but I realized, after all he’d done, I still believed that in his own twisted way he cared for me.

Hektor sighed like he’d been anticipating my outrage and believed it would be something else he could brush off. I watched him with building resentment, balling my fists as he wandered over to the liquor cart and poured two tumblers of whiskey. He brought one over to me, extending his hand, but I didn’t reach for it.

“I knew you would have met me with reluctance if I’d told you of this before, but you know nothing, Astraea. This manor has kept us thriving, but there is more out there for us. I plan to give you a throne like you deserve.”

“There is no us,” I spat. It wasn’t often I lost my composure around Hektor. He was a snake whose rattle was always shaking, one wrong move away from striking.

I didn’t care this time.

One more day.

Hektor’s expression tightened, so close to breaking. He inched the glass a little closer. A test.

As much as I wanted to shatter it, I needed answers before I made my choice.

“What have you told them of me?” I asked, taking the whiskey only to get him talking.

As I took my first sip his shoulders relaxed a fraction. He drove a hand through his messy auburn locks before sliding it into his pocket and pacing away. “I convinced them you have celestial blood,” he said so casually I spluttered.

“You said you couldn’t find anything on what my markings mean.”

“They mean nothing, darling. Likely a product of your mother consuming too much Starlight Matter.” He braced a hand on the mantel as he stared into the firepit, downing the last of his drink.

“Why do they believe it means something?”

Hektor’s mocking laugh made my cheeks flush with embarrassment. “What matters is that I have no intention of giving you up. I’ll admit I am a bit wounded you believed otherwise. We’ll make the trade, and I’ll have all of them killed to get you back. I think it is time for a change, to grow our kingdom into an empire.” He turned, the fire blazing a frightening, hungry power across his face. “I have given you everything I possibly could here. Now I want to make you a queen.”

I shook my head, and the darkness that began to shift in him made me tremble. His hand tightened around his glass, and I saw the second he snapped. Ringing filled my ears when the shattering sound split the room. His glass rained down from the wall it hit as he crossed the distance, advancing for me, and my own glass slipped from my fingers.

“I have given you everything,” he said with a lethal calm. “I can take it all away. Every memory you have is because of me. Do you think I wanted to shelter some runaway whore? You begged to stay with me then.”

“I didn’t—”

His hand didn’t choke me, but I gasped all the same. He backed me up until I felt the desk and then he leaned further into me.

One more day.

This flare of determination I’d felt before, but never so strongly. I was going to fucking escape him before he could ever dream of using me again. It had to end, and now the frost was clearing to show Hektor would never change. This was who he was.

“You’re right,” I said. My hand flattened on his chest. “I’m sorry.”

That calmed him enough that he began to bunch up my skirts, and my stomach twisted with nausea. “Why do you test me, Astraea?” he sighed, continuing his climb up my bare leg. I pushed back my repulsion.

“Not here,” I tried.

He didn’t listen, and the clink of his belt made my eyes slip closed.

One more day.

I would run. I would run and run even if it killed me.

A voice rumbled through the door before Hektor could fully undo his buckle. I could have whimpered with relief, but a coat of shame was also cast over me at hearing Zathrian on the other side.

“There’s trouble in the main room,” Zath said. I was glad when he didn’t enter to find us in this position.

Hektor growled low in annoyance. He took my face, planting one long kiss against my lips, and I wanted to turn to dust and escape. “We’re not done here,” he said, holding me with feral green eyes. “I’ll have him escort you back to your rooms. Do not leave them until I return.”

Hektor righted his clothing, and the moment he left…I crumbled.

Something that had been straining for far too long finally broke, and I fell to a pitiful state on the ground. I tried to release it fast enough that I could rally some composure before Zath came back. If he came back. I couldn’t stop crying and thinking.

“There is no sight more tragic than this.”

Nyte’s voice stopped my sobs. It eased out like it was made of the darkness clinging to the corners of the room.

“Broken potential.”

“How did you get in here?” I sniffed. His commentary stung, though I was too exhausted and hollow to show it.

Featherlight fingers coaxed my chin up. I sat as a pitiful heap, my dress fanned out around me, and I could only imagine my hideous tear-stained face from his slow, disturbed assessment.

“What are you?” I tried. Perhaps he would save me from the failure of trying to escape. Perhaps he would prevent my vacant existence from wasting more breath in this world.

“It matters not what I am, but why I have come,” he said. “You want to escape, and I can help you.”

I contemplated, drowning in his flickering amber irises that began to entrance me. “Are you…death?”

That teased out a wicked amusement, and he dropped to a crouch. “To many. But that is not what I offer you.”

“I don’t want your help. I won’t trade one owner for another.”

“Starlight,” he drawled, his head tilting curiously, “there are two kinds of belonging. Possession…and alliance. One of single ownership, and one of mutual desire.” He looked over the sorry sight of me with a sigh.

“What could I do for you?” I whispered. Nyte had come to me at my most vulnerable, desperate point. As though he’d been there waiting all this time, longer than perhaps I knew, to present me this offering.

“That time will come.”

I shook my head. It was too much of a risk to owe something when I couldn’t be certain what he desired.

“Then stay to find out that right now your cage has a door, and once it seals, this time it will not lock. It will simply cease to exist at all.”

He went to stand, but my impulse was to lash out. My hand curling around his wrist felt almost like holding a ghost that had been given only enough of a form to be present for a moment.

“I don’t want to remain here,” I whispered. My heart beat furiously.

“Is that your acceptance?”

One beat. Two. Three.

“What do you need me to do?”

His mouth grew in a slow curl, but it was his irises that flashed a liquid gold, wild and thrilled. Nyte’s palm slipped over my cheek, and before I knew what he was doing, his lips were pressed firmly to mine. The stars awoke behind my eyes as they slipped shut. One by one they expanded into flares, shooting across the sky we were suspended in for those few seconds.

“Think of me, and I will answer,” he spoke to my mind. Then he pulled away, lingering against my mouth to say aloud, “Long for me, and I am right here with you.”

The door burst open, and in a blink I drew back with fright…

Nyte was gone.

“What the fuck did he do to you?” The threat in Zathrian’s tone was unexpected, and I dragged my ghostly, bewildered look to him. He was shuffling out of his jacket, and my lip wobbled at the tender gesture when he kneeled beside me and its warmth embraced me.

This was safe. Zath was safe. And real.

Nyte… I couldn’t be certain if he was my own tormenting conscience.

“I don’t know who I am,” I croaked.

His pinched brow eased from harsh lines to a soft understanding. He looked briefly at the markings on my chest. Even the first time he saw them he hadn’t seemed to find them odd. Not like the other men did earlier. They meant nothing.

Yet still they were a mystery that stacked to my growing frustration.

“What do you want to do, Astraea?” Zath asked softly, carefully.

I met his blue eyes, and they were so filled with determination my heart skipped a beat. “I’m going to leave,” I confessed in a fearful whisper lest Hektor be listening. “With Cassia, tomorrow.”

Zathrian shook his head, and my pulse spiked, gripping his arm in a plea. “It has to happen tonight.”

My back straightened at his declaration. “He’ll follow me,” I breathed—not with reluctance, but I hoped his firm face wouldn’t change with my worries. “He’ll kill you if he finds out you knew.”

Still his determination did not change. “Come. You need to pack what you can. Discreetly, so he won’t suspect a thing.”

Zathrian helped me to stand. I couldn’t believe what he was saying. I wanted to do this. Gods, nothing awoke with such a thrill and purpose than to take this dare for myself.

“I thought you were supposed to be gone.”

“I was. But then I saw those men and heard your name mentioned. He’s never spoken of you to anyone before, and I got worried. I stalled for a while until I saw Sira leading you here. Then I heard—” Zath paused, and my sickness arose along with the understanding he’d been eavesdropping enough that he’d caused the distraction deliberately.

“Thank you,” I said, though it was not enough.

He smiled sadly. “Come on.”

As he led me out to the deserted halls, my nose crinkled. Never had I truly realized how much Zath cared for me. He was willing to risk his job, his life, to help me escape, and I didn’t know what I’d done to deserve it.

In my rooms, my mind tried to lock into action. Finding a satchel, I began to think of the essentials I could need.

“Pack what you can and keep it hidden. We’re getting you out tonight, even if it puts us on the road ahead of Cassia.”

I nodded hearing the words, but my blood was roaring. I was really going to do this. I smiled, huffing a laugh as I swiped at my tears, blinking them back furiously to see the articles of clothing I was choosing. Then I headed into the bathroom for my pills.

“I’ll have to leave for a few hours to convince him I’m gone for his task. But I’ll be back before he usually retires for the night. Be ready.”

I cast my gaze to him as he lingered by the door and nodded, wearing a bright face and trying to appear brave. Zath forced a smile too, seeming reluctant to leave me. But I could handle a few hours.

“I’ll be waiting,” I said.

He nodded, and the moment the door clicked shut my heart leaped up my throat. I gathered a couple more things and paced the room, jumping at every slight sound and praying Hektor wouldn’t return early. Then I stood by the balcony and watched the stars as the only thing that could offer me a wave of calm while I waited to escape, to be free and able to not look back for the first time in my life.