Page 138 of Fire to the Stars

Claire swallows. “Are you talking to me?”

“Yes, you,” he replies. “That scar isn’t exactly discreet, sweetheart. Remind me where I saw you.”

“At the harbor in Port-de-Chance, last May.” Claire lifts her chin. “I watched you parade my mentor’s daughter, an innocent girl, through the street.”

“It was a dragon, not a girl. Why are you in Varsonne with the Estellio boy?”

I place a hand on her shoulder. “Let me—”

“I’m here becauseIwas a dragon,” Claire reveals.

“Was?” he scoffs.

“Was.I am no longer.”

Murmurs fill the room. Slayers lean forward, each eager to be the one to slay Claire.

This isn’t how I planned to begin the presentation, but damned if seeing her stand up to the man who once terrified her—still terrifies her—doesn’t make me feel brave too.

I bring my journal to the table and open it to page one.

“Let’s start with my journal,” I tell the room.

With Lyle and Marshal Payen’s help, we walk them through the physical evidence: My research. The Immortals’ masks, cloaks, and sickles. Lyle’s map of converging flight paths. Noctu’s silverblood on the moondagger he used to cut himself when he saved me. Marshal Payen presents the investigation reports she gathered from Marshal Bard: confirmation of the slaughter at Ravinfort, and the interrogation records that describe the Immortal’s ice-based healing powers.

Étienne slaps the paperwork onto the table. “How do we know you didn’t falsify this, Monsieur Estellio? You haven’t had the most reliable track record as of late.”

Low laughter echoes through the auditorium. I struggle to maintain a neutral face.

“I was there. I witnessed everything myself,” Marshal Payen declares.

“Who’s to say he didn’t pay you off to say that?” Étienne fires back.

“How dare you insinuate—”

“How dareyousay the scripture is a lie! Seventeen hundred years and you think no one recognized the truth? Heathens, all of you!”

“The Immortals wroteL’Histoire des Étoiles,” I retort. “They invented a ‘sacred relic’ to control Florentian culture from the bottom up.”

“Blasphemy!” a woman yells from the back. Shouts of agreement follow.

“The Gendarmerie do not speak without facts!” MarshalPayen snaps. “The scripture was a lie, whether you like it or not!”

Étienne slams his hand on the table. “If we trust that boy and abandon our hunts, it’ll ruin our reputations. What if that is his intention? He’ll level the playing field. This could be an elaborate hoax to give himself less competition for work.”

“You think I’d let people die for profit?” I snap. “That’s precisely what I’m trying to end.”

“Your suspicion says more about you than it does about Abel,” Claire adds. “You aren’t as knowledgeable as people say you are. To think I almost went to you forhelpwith my curse.”

“I’m not arrogant enough to question the Gods,” Étienne retorts.

“Oh, you’re worse than arrogant. You would’ve killed me without question, whereaswemade the discovery of multiple lifetimes. You, monsieur, are afool.”

Étienne rises, fury on his face. I raise a protective arm in front of Claire.

“Enough.” Marshal Payen steps forward. “My brigade arrested several Immortals before Noctu Ascended. Every one of them disintegrated.” She remains unflinching beneath the scrutinizing glares. “You might remember that you arrived to find this building unstaffed.”

The audience shifts uncomfortably. I leap at the crack in their defenses.