by Kyra Quinn
“No.” I didn’t want to see what condition they’d left Father’s body in. The idea of conversing with his mangled corpse made my stomach ache. “Not unless this plan fails. I’d rather not disrespect the dead if we don’t have to.”
Aster threw her head back and laughed. “Disrespect the dead? Madam, some of your values are stuffy and outdated. You’re not human, remember? Don’t be so determined to cling to their antiquated ideas about life. Their scope of the big picture is rather limited.”
“I know little about what you do, but I’ve read enough books to know the dead don’t enjoy being raised.”
“And I’m sure those books were all written by humans who’ve never encountered a reverent in their lives.” Aster sucked her teeth. “Cool your kettle, I can’t perform the spell without a body. It was simply an idea if this doesn’t work out.”
I admired Aster’s optimism. I couldn’t imagine a world where we lived long enough to raise anyone from the dead if we failed. We were far more likely to join the dead than animate them.
But I bit my tongue, afraid Aster might back out if I mentioned my fears. Instead I asked, “What’s in Starbright? I thought few people lived north of Redwood.”
“They don’t. It’s cold as death’s touch, and the land has trouble sustaining crops with the harsh elements. I’m sure you could count the passive families in Starbright on one hand.”
“Passive?”
“Sorry, human.”
I arched a brow. “Then who lives there?”
“Most of the Fey community refer to it as ‘wolf country.’ There are five—well, four now—shifter clans who dominate most of the physical territory and local government.”
“Shifters? Those are real?”
Aster fixed me with a patient smile. “You haven’t seen enough to understand yet? It’s all real. Every myth you’ve ever come across has a basis in fact. Humans have altered and perverted the stories over the years, but they had to come from somewhere, right? Angels, demons, shifters, mages, monsters, we all exist. Again, the proper term is Feyfolk. But we keep to ourselves and don’t rub elbows with the humans.”
“Why? Why hide out in Starbright or tiny homes in the city? If the monster community pushed back, humans would be powerless to stop them.”
Aster cringed. “Monster community? Gross, no. Don’t call it that again. Most of the supernatural community resembles you or I to the passive eye. You’d never realize we had gifts if we didn’t expose them.”
“Is it because the humans outnumber you?”
“Most of us don’t want a war, Lili. Feyfolk are not so different from humans. We want to have families and find success in life. We have no interest in enslaving the passives or oppressing them. The Feyfolk want to live in peace alongside them.”
My body slumped lower in my chair as I tried to avoid the heat of Aster’s glare. I still didn’t understand why the supernatural creatures hid in the shadows and bowed at the feet of the humans, but Aster’s face appeared one question away from an explosion. I made a mental note to ask Remiel or Viktor later as I shifted the conversation.
“What’s in Starbright for you? Why do we need to go there?”
Aster’s face went blank. When she spoke, her voice was flat. “That’s where my old coven lives. If anyone knows how to perform the spell, it’s the women there. There’s over two centuries of collective magic use in one room in their Grove.”
“Will they be okay with you bringing me?”
Aster laughed, but the sound carried no humor. “I doubt they will rejoice at my presence. But I think they will get over it once they hear what we need. The intrigue won’t be possible to resist.”
I nodded, but her words did little to reassure me. “Okay then, do the spell and let’s go.”
Aster snorted. “I wish. They ward Starbright against outside magic. There’s no way to teleport in.”
“Blast. So how do we get there?”
“Don’t worry your pretty little head about that part. Come, let’s step into the bedroom. We need to find you a new outfit before we go anywhere.”
Heat lit my face at the sight of my torn and soiled shirt. “Do you have anything my size?”
“You’ll figure it out soon enough.” Aster winked. “When you have talents like mine, anything can be your size.”
I thought of the ruby on Aster’s stave, the way it turned black to represent the corrupted parts of her soul. How could she still do such frivolous spells without care? Either she had an extreme amount of faith in our plan, or she figured her soul too damned to save.
But with no money in my pockets, I had no other viable alternatives to offer. I followed Aster towards the closed bedroom door without a word. For the moment I buried my concerns about the condition of Aster’s soul. If things went to plan, one tiny spell would be irrelevant after the god cleansed her soul.
And if it didn’t? Something told me she wouldn’t live long enough to miss it, anyway.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
City of Stars
I look like a harlot. I shifted my weight between my feet and tugged on the hem of the borrowed skirt. The tight leather fabric cut off only inches above my bum. A half-corset hugged my torso over a ruffled burgundy blouse. Aster swore the outfit fit with no magical alterations, but the icicles in place of my legs begged to differ. What woman with an ounce of modesty would dress in something so tawdry?
Aster kneeled over a book on the floor to my left. She hummed under her breath as she flipped through the pages. Her eyes flickered across the pages as she pursed her lips in concentration. When she found the page, her face split into a smile.
“Here.” She jammed a finger in the center of the open book. “This spell should put us outside of Starbright. The walk from there is manageable.”
“Do I have to wear this?”
“Oh, quit your bellyaching. It’s a great look for you. I love it.”
“Glad someone does,” I grumbled. “I’ve seen whores dressed with more humility.”
Aster threw her head back and howled with laughter. “Seriously? The corset makes you that uncomfortable? I thought all the proper ladies in Faomere still wore them.”
“The corset is fine. But what is wrong with these shoes?” I held up my foot to draw her attention to the sleek boots laced up to my knees. The soles sat several inches from the ground, the heel sharpened in a painfully tall point.
Aster shrugged a shoulder. “Beauty is pain. No one admires a lady for how intelligent she is or sensibly she conducts herself.”
The accuracy of her statement hurt almost as bad as the realization that even the most beautiful woman I’d ever encountered suffered from insecurities. I wanted to reach out and hug her, but the situation had enough complications without me making things awkward.
Instead I shook my head. “That can’t be true. I’ve met plenty of people who respect a woman’s mind as much as her figure.”
“They claim.” Aster scoffed. “How many men who say that marry a plain girl with a brilliant mind? I’d wager none. Besides, there’s nothing wrong with becoming a double threat. It makes me that much harder for a man to stop.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “The gentlemen here in Carramar must love you.”
“They think they do.” She winked and blew a kiss. “The ones worth having, anyway. The others have already discovered my preference for the fairer sex.”
My chest swelled with awe as Aster rose to her feet and sashayed across the room to her alter. In that moment I would have given almost anything to have half of her confidence. I tilted my chin to match hers and tried to mirror her proud stride. Whatever the secret to her success was, I wanted a piece for myself.
“Have you ever traveled by magic before?” Aster didn’t glance up from her work as she spoke. “What am I talking about? Of course you haven’t. I should warn you, this adventure comes with a few side-effects.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Such as?”
But Aster contin
ued as if I hadn’t spoken. “The worst of it fades within a few minutes. So long as you stay close and don’t talk, we should be okay.”
“Can’t we take the train?”
Aster smirked. “Loosen your corset, Lili. I wouldn’t have asked you to come along with me if I didn’t have a plan. Embrace the magic. Trust it to keep you safe.”
But I trusted no power that required a blood sacrifice to activate. As Aster tossed unmarked ingredients into her bowl, I had to question how much I trusted her. How much of her soul did she have left to burn off? What would happen to her when she ran out of soul to barter for power? Her causal relationship with the magic threatening to destroy her left me dumbfounded.
I didn’t ask any of my questions. Aster snatched the knife from the table and sliced a deep gash into her wrist. She held her arm over the bowl and clenched her fist as her blood dripped onto the ingredients below. She flashed me a weak smile at my open-jawed expression.
“You poor, sweet child. If this shocks you, wait until we reach Starbright and you see the rest of the coven.”
I swallowed back the urge to ask if I could pass on the opportunity. “What’s it like?”
“Starbright or the coven?”
“Both, I suppose.”
“Starbright is pleasant enough. One of the few cities in Astryae where the Feyfolk can live in the open.” When my expression didn’t change, Aster continued, “Feyfolk, monsters, paranormals, supernaturals, whatever the passives have branded us. It changes depending on where you are and how the humans feel about magic.”
“Why are the opinions so varied? You said most people in Carramar know what you are and don’t mind. I’ve never seen magic in Faomere outside the carnival.”
Aster pinched the bridge of her nose with her uninjured hand. “It’s complicated. Not all Feyfolk are alike. Gods know, as you must’ve overheard during my confrontation with your angel friend, not all blood mages are, either. We’re as varied and complex as standard humans. Passives forget that though. Some of them blame all Feyfolk for the few who feed on their kind for survival. To complicate matters, we didn’t always have a treaty in place to protect them. Some towns were almost hunted into extinction. Not all the passives have forgiven and forgotten. Fetch me a towel from the bathroom?”
Her errand spared me the trouble of a response. I bolted down the narrow hallway and into the washroom. A heaviness pressed down on the center of my chest as my pulse raced. Had Father known about the Feyfolk? Had he chosen to live away from them in Faomere for a reason?
I snatched the thin cotton hand towel from the side of Aster’s sink and raced it back to her. She wrapped the towel around her wound, her complexion pale. “Ready?”
“If we must.”
Aster’s head fell towards her chest. “And Lili? I’m sorry about what happened to your father. I know it must sound hard to believe from where you’re sitting, but most Feyfolk are not monsters. The angels and demons are different. They answer to other powers outside of Astryae. But the rest of us have rules against harming passives. Almost every species of Fey has found a way to feed without kidnap or murder.”
“Almost?” I arched a brow. “Does that mean some still prey on humans?”
“That’s complicated.”
“It’s a yes or no question: do any of the Fey still feed on humans?”
Aster wiggled her hand from side to side. “I suppose, yes. Some poach humans for sport. Others buy them on the dark market to curb their appetites while they search for a long-term solution.”
My stomach twisted in knots. “In other words, yes.”
An exasperated sigh climbed from Aster’s mouth. “Honestly, Lili, what did you expect? Humans are the weakest on the food chain, which renders them the easiest meal. It enrages no one when a lion chases a gazelle in the wild. Guess what? Humans are the gazelle. Welcome to the lions.”
She meant her words to bring comfort, but I couldn’t find any. I bit my cheek and forced myself to remain silent, afraid of what might come out of my mouth next. Aster didn’t understand. The more she spoke, the more obvious it became. She’d never known a life as anything but a blood mage. An affinity for humans had to strike her as strange.
Aster bent over the bowl. She swirled her hands in a circle around the rim as she chanted in a foreign tongue. A chill filled the room. Goosebumps covered my arms as my heart pounded against my chest. I opened my mouth to ask Aster to stop, to tell her we’d take our chances on the train. But I didn’t have time to say more than ‘stop’ before a blinding light erupted from the bowl to fill the room. My vision swirled as my legs turned to pudding. I opened my mouth to scream, but no sound escaped my lips. I squeezed my eyes shut and prayed Aster’s spell wouldn’t leave me disoriented in the void for all eternity.
* * *
The moment my feet stopped spinning, Aster’s voice cut into my thoughts. “You can open your eyes now, dork.”
“Are we there?” My voice quivered as I opened my eyes. My stomach sat in the base of my throat, my head woozy.
Aster chuckled. “As close as I could manage. We’re somewhere between Redwood and Starbright now. If we travel north, we should find Starbright within a few miles.”
I bit back a groan. I’d hiked much further with Remiel and Viktor to reach Carramar. But I’d made the journey in the comfort of well-worn boots. Aster’s bulky stilts, however, made each foot weigh an additional five pounds.
“Say, think you can fix this up?” Aster held out her injured arm.
My stomach churned as I reached for the gash. “How?”
“Do whatever you did to your arm back at my place.”
My voice shook as I agreed. I closed my eyes and traced my fingers over the open wound. Acid rose into the back of my mouth. I tried to picture Aster’s arm healed and healthy, but the memory of her knife and the blood sliced through my thoughts. After a moment, I dropped her arm and sighed.
“I don’t think it will work. My apologies.”
She shrugged. “It was worth a shot. I can take care of it when we reach the Grove. Come on.”
Aster’s spell had shot us out in thick woods on what appeared to be the side of a mountain. The trees around us stood bare for the winter. Icicles dangled from the thick branches. A thick layer of fluffy white powder dusted the ground beneath us. My knees quivered beneath the tiny skirt as I trudged behind Aster.
“Stay behind me and don’t talk to anyone,” Aster said as we hiked through the icy trail up the mountain. “Starbright is home to a few different covens. Any of the mages can see you for what you are. We must keep a low profile between here and the Grove.”
A cold breeze blew against my cheeks. The icy ground complicated my already awkward movements. I wrapped my arms around my waist and shivered. “Why did you leave?”
“Differences of opinion.” Aster’s tone was sharp, a curt warning not to press any further. “Besides, sometimes the only way to figure out if you can fly or not is to jump from the nest. A vast world awaits with my name on it. I couldn’t turn my back on fate and leave it unexplored forever.”
Her explanation made enough sense to be plausible, but the way her hands fidgeted in front of her suggested there was more to the story. I tried to imagine Aster as a rebellious teenage mage, her hair styled in some neon-colored fashion statement. Perhaps she’d hated her coven as much as any teenager resents their family. I pacified myself with the image as the slope of the mountain leveled out. I squinted into the darkness to find a small town nestled near the top of the mountain.
Aster’s hometown was aptly named. The stars above our heads shone twice as bright as I’d ever seen. An uncanny roseate glow hung over the small city. I peeked up at the full moon, a massive red glowing orb above the tops of the trees. An owl hooted somewhere in the branches above us, hidden behind clusters of leaves. Mountains towered around us on either side around the domed brick and plaster buildings. Fresh white powder covered the streets, the snow undisturbed by footprints or carriage
wheels.
The silence made my skin crawl. A year ago I might have thought it the perfect night, but I didn’t know the truth then. After Aster and Remiel had made me aware of all the monsters in the shadows, a silent night felt like an omen.
“Where is everyone?” I asked, my tone hushed as if they might hear me. “Does the dark make the Feyfolk skittish?”
Aster chuckled. “Patience. This is part of the passive sector of the city. It shuts down at sunset.”
“Is that when the Fey come out to hunt?”
“Refrain from questions.” Aster pressed a finger to her lips. “They’ll hear you.”
A shiver ran down my back as panic flashed through her eyes. For the first time since we’d met, Aster looked almost nervous. I gave a small nod as I tried to imagine what sort of creature Aster might be afraid of. After the way I’d seen her fight, it seemed impossible she would fear anything.
I stood a little taller as we meandered down the beaten path, afraid to let my guard slip. I tensed up at the slightest sound of movement, my breath short. Without a weapon, my empty hands felt useless and weak. I said a small prayer of thanks to Cimera for Aster. As terrifying as my life had become, at least I didn’t have to face it alone.
A tree branch snapped somewhere behind us. I whirled around so recklessly I almost knocked Aster to the ground. My hands balled into fists the second I moved, my legs locked in place. Aster and I swept the area for signs of danger as my heart pounded like a battle drum in my ears.
“Demon?” I whispered.
“This is Starbright. It could be any manner of hungry Fey.”
Two seconds later, a creature stepped out of an alleyway between a ginhouse and the cobbler’s shop. Thick white fur covered his body from the top of his head down to his hooves. His eyes glowed amber as he stomped towards us, the ground shaking with each step. Curved horns sat on either side of his head. He opened his mouth in a snarl to reveal a jaw full of pointed fangs.
