The Girl Who Called The Stars
Page 25
“It’s a star,” Xander said quietly.
I jumped at his nearness and it took a moment for his words to register.
“A star?” I blinked at him, brows rising. “You can’t be serious.” My mouth quirked at his horrible joke.
But he didn’t smile. “I know it sounds crazy, but we all saw it.”
“Saw what?” I looked from him to Dominik and then Eamon and all the others. None of them spoke up to disagree with Xander.
“This.” Xander pointed to what I would have pegged for a meteor, maybe. But a star? “It fell from the sky when you… I watched it fall. It burned bright like a star and then it just… hit. And everything exploded.”
“You hear how this sounds, right?” I couldn’t let this be real. It was too crazy. Too much. Even for me. “A star fell out of the sky? And what? I called it here or something?”
Xander stared at me, his expression unyielding. “I know how it sounds. Believe me. It looked just as insane, but I saw it. And to be honest, it’s not any crazier than what you did before it hit.” He waited a beat, probably to see if I’d ask him to describe it. I didn’t. But he went on anyway. “You shot fire from your ears, Alina. You breathed it. For a split second, you were it. Calling a star down wasn’t the craziest thing I’ve seen here today.”
I hated that he was right.
I also didn’t want to talk about this. Guilt was like a monkey on my back. The more he told me about what I’d done, the heavier it got.
I looked back at Xander and took in his bleak expression.
“I’m so sorry,” I said, my voice breaking. “I didn’t mean to. I just… I saw you get hurt, and I lost it.”
“It’s okay. We’re all okay,” he assured me. “The fire was concentrated on the house so I dragged Peter out of the circle and waited with him behind you. The wolves were protected by the shield until they could get clear. They’re fine too.”
“They’re not fine,” I said, shaking my head as tears ran unchecked down my cheeks. “They’re burned. So are you,” I added, running my fingers over a large burn mark already blistering just below his collarbone. His shirt was gone, probably burned off. I didn’t want to know.
“I can’t even feel it,” he assured me, but it wasn’t enough.
“I was… It happened so fast. I just wanted her to stop trying to hurt you.” I didn’t even know what I was saying anymore. My grief had taken over. I knew I was babbling, but I couldn’t make the right words come. “And then I got so hot, and it was so big. I couldn’t stop it. I couldn’t control it. It just took over.” I stopped only when my voice broke and my tears threatened to drown out my words.
“You did it, though. You stopped her,” Xander said, and I knew he was right, but I couldn’t let go of the guilt or the fear. I’d stopped Taryn, but I’d also nearly killed everyone else. And the fact that they’d survived wasn’t a tribute to me so much as it had been luck.
The worst part was that I’d gotten my memories back right along with unobstructed access to my full power, and no way to control it. My mother hadn’t thought of everything after all. How could she have known though? What she did for me had been a huge risk. She’d said so herself.
And now? I’d called down a freaking star.
There was no other way. I had to tell them.
“Listen, the reason I was able to do that,” I began, but a yell cut me off.
“Alina!” The sound of Ben’s voice—high-pitched with panic—made me jump.
I twisted in time to see him round the corner of the only house left standing. One look at his eyes, wide and round with horror and grief, and I knew something horrible had happened.
“What is it?” I asked, my throat constricting.
He ran up and stopped before me, panting. I spotted the blood on his hands even before he’d uttered a word. By the time he’d started speaking, I was shaking my head as if to stop what had already happened.
“Nightingale… Archer…” Ben’s eyes squeezed shut in agony. He drew a shallow breath and then said, “I think the Ngili got to them.”
“Got to them?” I repeated blankly. But the look on his face, the storm I’d just come through. Taryn. The sacrifices she’d mentioned. Her power…
It had come through sacrifice.
Isn’t that what Xander had told me about the Ngili? The dark magic?
“No.” I shook my head harder, but Ben’s eyes welled with tears, and I knew. The reason Taryn had fled into the forest last night and then returned this morning. The reason she’d been so smug when she’d predicted I would do what she wanted and give her my power. She’d already known everything I was capable of—including telepathic communication.
I hadn’t even noticed how silent Nightingale had been today. I should have realized.
“They’re dead,” Ben finished.
My mind rejected his words, and I pushed at the line of communication Nightingale always left open.
My thoughts met only empty space.
Gravity slipped sideways, and I sank to the ground, guided by Xander’s strong arms suddenly around my waist.
“I’m sorry,” Ben said sadly. He dropped down beside me, defeated and lost. He cast a glance into the crater beside us, but if he was confused or surprised, it wasn’t enough to sway him from his grief. Or mine. “I did what I could but they were already gone when I found them. I… I’m sorry,” he said again.
A sob rose in my throat, but I swallowed it. Grieving in front of Xander and the others was one thing, but I would not lose it in front of Ben. Not when he needed me to be strong.
I reached for his bloody hands and wrapped my own around both of his. “You did everything you could,” I said in a wobbly voice. But I held it firm and added, “I couldn’t have asked for a better friend for them. And I appreciate everything you did.”
“It wasn’t enough,” he said, tears cutting tracks down his soot-covered cheeks.
“It was everything,” I assured him, my heart hurting so much it constricted my breathing. “None of this is your fault.”
“She sacrificed them,” Xander said quietly. “This is on Taryn.”
I swallowed back another sob. “Thank you, Ben. For thinking of them in all this. For going to find them. For being there.”
Ben nodded, his tears rendering him silent.
No one else spoke either.
Beck came forward and wrapped her arm around Ben’s shoulders. He leaned into her, unashamed in his grief—and that broke me even more. Xander leaned into me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders, and I curled against him.
Any feeling of victory I might have had at destroying Taryn was gone.
I hadn’t won nearly as much as I’d lost. And the real battle hadn’t even begun. I just hoped everything my mother had done for me would be enough—and that the people I loved wouldn’t see it as an evil to be destroyed like I’d done to Taryn.
The real fear wasn’t in facing Tharos, king of the galaxy. The fear was in facing Peter and Xander and the others. In telling them the truth about what was inside me. And then accepting whatever came next.
Slowly, I shrugged off Xander’s arm around me and stood to face the gathered crowd. One by one, I made sure to look at their faces. To remind myself that even though Nightingale was gone, they were here. And they were looking to me now. I couldn’t turn away from that no matter how hard it got.
“The war has begun,” I called out. “Our enemy has tried using one of our own against us. He broke her mind and, after succumbing to the darkness, she tried to break us.”
A few murmurs went around. I couldn’t tell if they were for or against me, and I didn’t wait to find out.
“But the first victory is ours,” I called. A couple of people whooped, and I could have sworn one of them was Jalene. I scanned for her, but my eyes landed on Kent. “Tharos will know that. We cannot give up now, and we can’t afford to remain comfortable here any longer. He knows where we are, but he doesn’t know what we can do. Today,
we begin working together. It is time to go home.”
Beside me, Xander tipped his head back and gave a long, low howl. All around us, the wolves joined him and so did most of the men and women. This time, when the cheering and howling began, I joined them.
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Want to know what happens next with Alina and Xander?
The Girl Who Ruled the Stars is coming in Sept 2018!
Pre-order now!
I know exactly what I am. A weapon.
Tharos and his army of Shadows have infiltrated every corner of the galaxy—including my new home. They don’t want war; they want our total annihilation. And if I’m not ready, the ones I love most will be the first to fall.
My people think the light inside me will be enough to save us. They don’t understand how big it is. How uncontrollable it feels when I let go.
But my enemies have left me no choice. I’ll unleash my power and burn down every star in the sky to kill the Shadows.
The only question is: will my people still be standing in the ash of my aftermath?
Coming Sept 6, 2018
Pre-Order Now!
About the Author
Heather Hildenbrand was born and raised in a small town in northern Virginia where she was homeschooled through high school. (She’s only slightly socially awkward as a result.) She writes romance of all kinds with plenty of abs and angst. Her most frequent hobbies are riding motorcycles and avoiding killer slugs.
You can find out more about Heather and her books at www.heatherhildenbrand.com.
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Other titles by Heather Hildenbrand:
Remembrance: She’s the cure that could save him… if only she could remember how. “Witches, Werewolves, and WTF?!” Get it for Kindle now.
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Dirty Blood: A Young Adult Paranormal Romance about a girl who falls in love with a werewolf, only to find out she’s a Hunter, born and bred to kill the very thing she means to save. To get it for Kindle, click here.
Imitation: A Young Adult SciFi Romance with life or death choices and a conspiracy so deep, even a motorcycle-riding bodyguard can’t pull you out. To get it for Kindle, click here.
O Face: Is Summerville’s most eligible bachelor hot enough to melt the ice princess herself? Find out!
For a complete list of titles, visit Heather’s website.