Page 60 of Star Bringer
Chapter 21
Kali
My new boots are a little uncomfortable and not great to run in, but I do it anyway. I run as far as I can, as fast as I can, until my lungs are burning and there’s a sharp pain in my side.
Finally, I spot a doorway close by. I duck into it and bend over, catching my breath.
Don’t fucking puke.
I can taste the bile, bitter in the back of my throat.
Ian gouged that man’s eyes out, and then he killed the others. Three on one, and he just dove right in like it was nothing.
Maybe to him itwasnothing.
It’s a terrifying thought. From the beginning, I sensed that he was dangerous. That he wouldn’t let anything stand in his way. But there’s a difference between being dangerous and being a cold-blooded killer. The last man was turned away from him, not even going for him anymore, but Ian killed him anyway. Sliced his throat even after the guy was already down from the knife in the back.
I can still smell the sickly-sweet stench of the blood—so much blood—clogging my nostrils.
I can’t live like this, can’t be like this.
For a little while, I got caught up in the excitement of everything and forgot who and what I was. I forgot my duty. But that fight was a wake-up call I won’t soon forget.
I swallow and wrap my arms around myself. I don’t belong here. With him. With any of them. I have nothing to give any of them and could never truly live in this world.
I have to get away. The only problem is I’ve only got one other place to go—and I’m no longer sure I want to go there. I’ve seen too much here in Rangar: poverty, desperation, violence. And my mother knows about it all? More, she might be responsible for it?
Calm down. Make a plan.
But what can I do, who can I trust, other than myself? I’m the first to admit I’m completely out of my element here in Rangar. Where would I even go, if not back to the palace or the ship?
I take another deep breath and try to quiet my rioting mind. And decide that I should probably start by getting out of this doorway.
Except, when I peer at the street, my heart sinks. I seem to have run from bad to worse. This area looks run-down, with many of the buildings boarded up and falling apart. Plus the streets are empty of people, and the setting sun is casting eerie shadows. Now that I know just how dangerous this system is, every shadow seems like a threat.
I push my hood up—just enough to see without uncovering my whole head—then, when the area seems clear, I step out.
I pass some sort of notice board with flyers pinned to it. I almost walk straight past it without looking, but then I remember the paper the man in the bar showed Ian. I scan the board and stare at the poster right in the middle.
Wanted dead or alive. The words are written underneath a picture of Gage.
Which doesn’t make sense. Why would anyone want Gage dead?
Or Max? Or Merrick or Rain or Ian? There are posters with each of their faces on them, rewards offered for every single one of them whether they’re brought in dead or alive.
But it’s the one at the bottom that holds my attention.
I reach out and tear it down. Look at it closely. There’s no mistaking who the picture is of—me, dressed in the Imperial Regalia. I’m guessing the picture was taken on theCaelestis,before the explosions. But why am I on a poster? More importantly, why am Iwanted dead or alive?
My mind is whirling.
I scan down and read the small print. I’m wanted for impersonating a princess of the Ruling Families? But…but I am a princess. I’mtheprincess.
It’s like the world has gone upside down. And, somehow, I’m not even me anymore. Impersonating a princess? Dead or alive? Who would do this—and why?
A door opens across the street, and light spills out as four men exit.
I go still, like a drokaray caught in a beam of light. I don’t know whether to run or to act normally. The last thing I want is to bring attention to myself—no, actually, the last thing I want is to get caught. I try to shrink back, but the white robe makes blending in more than a little difficult.
