Page 43 of Born of Starlight
The fire danced and seemed to grow brighter. “And what did the whispers tell you?”
“Foolish, damned, traitor, murderer.”
His shoulders deflated with each word.
“All of that is true. There you have it.” There was no underlying charisma in his voice.
And despite his confirmation that I should fear him, I wasn’t afraid. Thatwas the more frightening fact.
I felt the tug of something—the wants and needs of another being calling to me. To roam, to stretch. My eyes met the ink on Fenris’ arm…I was feelinghiswants.The beast.
Then something else snapped into place like a tugging on a harp string. I feltit—the connection Fenris was so confident about at the riverbed. When plucked, he and I would bend within our confines and make a beautiful, sweet sound.
I wanted to be near Fenris,neededit.Sources, this couldn’t be a good omen.
It wasn’t rooted in logic. There was no way we could be connected. We couldn’t be more different—born on opposite sides of the realm, of different Source magic, and in different centuries. But it was undeniable.
“Are you going to keep staring at me like I have multiple heads now?” Fenris’ levity returned.
“No,” I answered. “You can let him out.”
I nodded to his arm, welcoming the distraction.
“Come on out, boy.” As soon as Fenris spoke the words, a quick burst of dust and wind kicked up before the beast took form. The first thing the creature did was stretch dramatically with a yawn. Then, the beast let out a low whine. “Yes, you may go out.”
The beast sprinted out of the cave joyously. He was in a smaller form than what we had seen in the woods and Fenris’ cabin—still larger than a wolf.
“Does he have a name?” I asked.
“It’s Vangard—I call him Van. He’s like family.”
“Vangard. That sounds familiar.”
He eyed me as though he was contemplating something. “Do you have any family?”
I thought hard about that, and moments passed.
He cracked a smile. “It’s a simple question.”
“Not in a true sense, no. You know about my Sisters. But they are more like…colleagues. Except for Amara. I suppose she is somethinglike family.” For some reason, I kept sharing. “I will spend my life serving the Sisterhood. I have no natural place in this world, no family and no friends. I was meant to die as a child but was spared for this purpose alone.” As they left my lips, the words felt hollow.
“Who says you have no other purpose?”
My stomach dropped. I’d been fed those words my whole life.If I was meant for no other purpose, why did leaving my tower make me feel so alive?“Well, I suppose the Order dictates that.” My voice wavered.
“You suppose, or you know?” When I leveled a glare at him, he conceded with rolled eyes, “And Amara—she’s your family?”
The thought of Amara’s warm voice singing hymns at her piano in the drawing room of the South Tower filled my mind and made my lips turn up at the corners.
“She was the one who took me in as an infant and saw my potential. I didn’t call her mother, but she felt like the closest thing. I seek her advice more often than the others.”
He hung on my every word as he rose to his elbows before pitching onto his side. It closed the distance between us, making the conversation feel more intimate than it should.
“The others.” His voice grew slightly hoarse and strained. “What are the others like?”
The weight of his burning stare unnerved me, but I didn’t dare look away. I answered, “When I was young, they were skeptical. But they accepted that I could be an asset. Firose led my education—she can be intense, but it helped me become sharp-minded. My Sister Cassidee taught me how to wield a sword and protect myself in battle, should it ever come to that. And I learned my way around potions from Wyeth, who is a talented healer.”
Fenris seemed haunted by my words as he looked away from me and into the fire, offering temporary reprieve from the heat of his gaze. “And they’re all family too? You call them sisters.”
