Page 218 of Salt in the Seas
A sob broke from Aeliana’s throat as she helped Mayvus lift the flask to her lips, forcing it between her teeth to pour it in. When it was empty, she threw it to the side, placing the collection of starlocks over Mayvus’ chest. Her aunt’s gaze lost focus somewhere over Aeliana’s shoulder, as if she sought the eyes of her dying sister.
“Heal her!” Her voice came out hoarse with her tears, but her starlock obeyed, heating up as Aeliana envisioned the severed flesh being fused together. But the damage was deep, and blood still seeped between her fingers.
“It’s over,” Gaeren said, pulling on her arms.
“No!” She tightened her grip on her aunt’s body.
“We have to help the others now,” he insisted, his voice breaking with his tears. “They need their starlocks.” He gripped her bloody hands. “Look at her face, Daisy.”
Aeliana’s vision blurred with her tears, but she rubbed them away with her shoulder. Mayvus’ eyes held the same glassy gaze she’d seen on Nori and Holm. It didn’t matter that Aeliana had had her starlock. It didn’t matter that she’d had her light shields and healing powers back.
A piercing howl filled the room as Durriken felt the pain breaking open her chest.
She still hadn’t been able to save Mayvus. She hadn’t been able to save her mother.
They were both dead. And Sylmar had killed them.
CHAPTER 84
The blacknessthat engulfed Orra came with silence. But then it faded to a dull gray, and muffled sound returned. With it came awareness of Andreas’ arms surrounding her. The suffocating heat of his partially shifted human form—the cause of her blacking out.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured, wincing, but she knew his back was taking the brunt of Reyna’s anger.
“Let her take me,” Orra offered. “She’s partway right, you know. If you want to bring the barriers down, that’s the final step.”
He frowned but didn’t move. “I suspect there are several other steps that need to come first. I won’t let her rush things.” But even as he said the words, he fell against Orra as Reyna’s blows became too much. She welcomed the burn of his skin but still backed away, knowing her grounded form couldn’t take it.
Reyna shoved him away from Orra. “It’s time we’re no longer weighed down by what you did.” She released her glow enough to grab Orra’s wrist without burning her to a crisp but then dragged her forward, turning her around to face the other Stars on the balcony. “We’ve all watched as Sheen has continued interfering while here on the earth. She has no respect for the Sun’s authority, and she acts on her own will.”
“And what is it that you’re doing?” Orra murmured in Reyna’s ear. “You can’t tell me that working with the likes of Mayvus is the Sun’swill, even if you plan to betray her. Maybe especially if that’s your plan.”
Reyna ignored her accusations. “It’s time we sent Sheen to the Sun to receive her judgment.”
“I was judged a thousand years ago,” Orra added. “And the Sun chose to keep me here.” Even as she said the words to counteract Reyna’s, the truth of them hit her.
The Sun had left her here to do something. The Sun had still given her a purpose, despite all she’d done wrong. The Sun still wanted a relationship with her and still desired for her to do its will.
Something in her heart shifted, a crack mending, something frozen thawing. She’d been trying to listen to the Sun, to make decisions based on what the Sun would have her do. And while that was right, it came from the wrong place. “Everything we do should come from a place of love, not guilt.”
Reyna frowned at her, the words not lining up with the lies she’d spewed to the other Stars. But Orra didn’t care. She didn’t need to prove anything to Reyna or the other Stars.
“The Sun’s light exposes the darkness within us,” Orra murmured. “Forces it out until none remains. It’s not that we have no darkness—it’s that the Sun removes it.”
Reyna’s light flickered, but Orra couldn’t tell if it was from anger or if the Star was considering her words.
Orra turned to the rest of the Stars. “The Sun does not want you aiding Mayvus,” she shouted. “Even if it’s temporary.”
The Stars with Andreas all exchanged nervous glances.
“And what would you know of what the Sun wants?” Reyna shouted back, those behind her calling out their assent. She pulled on Orra’s short hair, forcing her head back and chin up. “You’ve disgraced yourself in a number of ways, the least of all shearing a source of the power given to you by the Sun. You’re an embarrassment to the Stars.”
Tears filled Orra’s eyes as Reyna pulled harder, the reminder of why she’d cut her hair stinging far more than the pain of Reyna’s grip.
“Give her to Mayvus,” one of the Stars shouted. It sounded like Telnar, but Orra couldn’t turn to look.
“Yes,” another shouted. “We’ve offered our sacrifice, but giving up Sheen would be better.”
The heat of Reyna’s presence suddenly burned hotter as Orra’s skin grew cold and clammy.
