Heavenly Bodies

Chapter Seventeen

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Merissa was tasting pasta sauce in the kitchens when Elara found her.

‘Try this,’ she said, pushing a spoon into Elara’s mouth.

It was delicious—lemon and fresh basil dancing on her tongue. She smiled at the taste, but then leaned closer in to Merissa.

‘I ran,’ she whispered. ‘I tried to get away. And Enzo…let me go.’

Merissa slowed the chopping of her onion minutely, before picking up the pace.

‘And you’re back.’

‘Yes.’

Merissa passed her a kitchen knife and a bundle of rosemary and thyme. ‘Then there’s nothing else to say. Why don’t you help me chop?’

Elara took it, something in her chest loosening. Merissa gave her a smile, before turning her attention to the simmering pot. Elara gathered her herbs. She didn’t tell Merissa how growing up she’d begged Cook Daphne to teach her every dish she knew from around Celestia. She didn’t tell her that the scent of rosemary made her want to weep. Or how terrible her argument with Enzo had been—how even more terrible the look in his eyes had made her feel. She didn’t say that being around Merissa was the closest to home that Elara had felt in weeks.

She just chopped.

That night, Elara was too exhausted to dreamwalk. Her own dreams haunted her with memories, though the fear had ebbed. When she woke, she padded to the balcony, for the first time realizing that she had chosen to stay in Helios. That this place didn’t feel quite like a prison any more.

Force of habit urged her to look across the way to Enzo’s balcony and she stopped short.

He was stood there, on the balcony, watching her.

Did he ever sleep?

She didn’t wave. Didn’t call across. She just stood there, watching him watching her.

His eyes seemed to glow like dying coals in a fire, before he turned and retreated to his room.

When a smart rap woke her up the next morning, and it turned out to be Leo at the door bearing fruit, she could have almost believed that the day before had just been a dream.

But as they descended the grand staircase as usual, there was no Enzo pacing below. Instead, Leo turned to her. ‘You’re training with me today.’

She mastered her surprise. ‘And why isn’t His Highness gracing me with his presence?’

Leo gave a tight smile as he bit into his fruit. ‘He believed you would benefit from my tutelage from now on. Since your magick is now fully awakened.’

Elara’s stomach turned. As much as Leo was growing on her, she hadn’t chosen to stay here to train with anyone else. It was Enzo who would help her kill a Star.

She followed Leo into a dusty training ground that splayed out of the back of the castle, empty but for the two of them. Straw dummies were lined up, various weapons hanging from stands.

‘We’ll be working on those shadows you unlocked yesterday,’ Leo said. ‘I thought it best we have a private practice.’

Elara nodded. ‘I know you wield the Light too.’

Leo raised his hands to face each other. Elara heard a crackling noise. ‘You could say that,’ he replied.

Pure lightning writhed between his palms, bright white and lethal. Feeling the power rolling off him up close was far removed from when she’d watched him spar with Enzo. This…This was like no power she had ever seen.

Leo gave a quietly confident smile. ‘I didn’t rise from the slums of Apollo Row to the Palace of Light because of my good looks, you know.’

‘I’ve never heard of anyone else with that kind of magick,’ she whispered, as Leo expanded his hands, lazily rippling the lightning through his fingers.

He shrugged. ‘It’s far more draining for me to use than Enzo’s rays. But it’s useful. I can char an enemy to death in minutes.’

Elara gulped, willing her shadows to surface. To her relief, they tumbled out of her—though still not solid as they had been. Even they seemed to shy away from Leo’s lightning, curling around her protectively. He noticed, laughing softly.

‘Yes…you’re going to need those. Otherwise, this is going to sting.’

Hours later, Elara groaned as she ascended the stairs, her muscles protesting after the gruelling training session with Leo. For all his manners and the small kindnesses he had shown her since she’d arrived in Helios, he had certainly kept them far away from the training ground. He’d been unrelenting as she attempted to wield her shadows, but try as she might they wouldn’t take form, instead just evaporating in translucent strands. Leo had commanded her to do a hundred press-ups when she had complained about it and five laps of the training ground when she had tried to rest, or remarked on how hot it was.

Her leg twinged from where the general had shocked her with his lightning, the spot still pulsing. Utterly spent, she half-heartedly thrust her door open. Merissa was sitting on her bed, her eyes alight.

‘Well, don’t you look like you’ve been run through the hay?’

Elara only groaned. ‘Leo is a sadist,’ she muttered.

Merissa laughed. ‘He’s the general of our army for a reason. But don’t worry, your warm bath is already drawn.’

‘Did I ever tell you that I’m in love with you?’ Elara replied and Merissa laughed loudly.