Page 19 of Star Bringer
“Get down!” someone yells.
Too late. The whole shuttle explodes. The force knocks me off my feet, and I’m flying backward through the air. I crash into something behind me, the air leaving my lungs in a whoosh.
“Fuck.”
Chapter 8
Rain
“High Priestess? Rain. Rain! Talk to me.”
I blink my eyes open at the sound of Merrick’s panicked voice and immediately see stars. Am I floating in space? Panic starts to take me over, too, but then I realize I’m breathing. Which means my space hypothesis is pretty unlikely.
I blink again, and the stars clear. I blink once more and realize I’m lying on my back, staring up through thick black smoke at the high curved ceiling of theCaelestis’ landing bay. My nose hurts, my throat is raw, and my ears are ringing—I’m pretty sure I hit my head—but underneath all that, I can hear screams from somewhere far away.
“Rain? Are you okay?” Merrick asks again.
Okayseems like it’s asking a bit much, considering everything hurts. But I’m hanging in there.
I sit up slowly, shaking my head to clear it, and the screaming becomes louder and not so far away. My whole body is trembling, and my heart feels like a trapped faconal trying to pry its way out of my chest.
Life in the monastery did not prepare me for this.
Merrick is looming over me, face concerned, a large, rough hand held out to me. I grasp it, and he pulls me to my feet.
“Areyouall right?” I ask because he still doesn’t look well.
“Of course. I was just worried about you. You were out cold.”
“I hit my head, I think. But it’s fine.” I pat his arm to reassure him. “You won’t have to go back to Sister Grinor and tell her you’ve failed and she has to wait for the next high priestess to awaken.” At least not just yet.
He shudders, his tan skin going sallow. “Don’t even think that.”
See, he cares, even if it is just about keeping the high priestess safe. I know it’s not exactly the same thing as caring about me, Rain the person, but at least it’s more than the nothing I used to have.
I peer through the smoke and spot the princess. She’s with the guard who helped us—Ian—and they seem to be having a…contentious conversation. “Come on,” I say to Merrick, “let’s join the others.” Before the two of them kill each other.
“Just keep your hands to yourself,” I hear the princess snap as we draw closer. She’s looking a little frayed at the edges. Literally and figuratively.
Ian snarls. “I was just helping you.Again.”
“I never asked for your help.” She draws herself up, then catches sight of us and neutralizes her expression. “Rain, I’m so glad you’re okay.”
“Thank you, Your Highness.” I smile as I realize I got it right.
I glance at Merrick to see if he noticed, but he just shakes his head at me, which makes me smile more. We’ve been together long enough that I even know why he’s shaking his head—high priestesses are supposed to be concerned withlessworldly things.
But then my short-lived pride in myself dies because there are peoplescreamingsomewhere, and they clearly need help, and the space station is collapsing around us, and there’s a very good chance we’re all going todie.
And despite the reassurances that, according to the scriptures, I’ll be reborn, Ireally,reallydon’t want to die. Especially not here on some cold space station in the middle of nowhere.
“Where’s that screaming coming from?” the princess asks, beating me to it.
Ian gives a jerky nod toward the end of the docking bay. “From there.”
“Where?” I frown as I look around. There’s a ship parked at the far end of the docking bay, close to the airlock. It’s considerably bigger than the shuttles, and—at least for now—it’s in one piece. It is lying on its side, though, and doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere anytime soon.
“There are people in that big ship all the way at the end?” the princess asks. “Why?”
