Chapter Thirty-Six
Azazel
“Father has been whispering out loud to the stars and wandering around the castle a lot more lately. Maybe a symptom of having the stars’ essence is losing your mind.”
Nova and Desi were taking too long.
At least, it felt too long.
“Az!”
I whipped around, catching sight of Priya’s bright smile as she stepped out of the bathroom. Sighing, I rubbed my hand across my face. “Yeah?”
“What do you do for food around here? I’m starving.”
“I’ll make you something as soon as Nova gets back with the healer.”
Pri squinted her eyes, pursing her lips as she walked towards me. Beads of water dripped onto the floor where she stepped, Death nervously licking it up as she stalked behind Priya.
“What’s going on between you two?”
“Not now, Pri.”
“Why? Now is the least terrified I’ve been in months. Now is the most at peace I’ve been in years. Now is the perfect time.”
Groaning, I stomped over to the sofa, plopping down next to a shaking Zura. She looked at me from the corner of her vibrant green eyes, pulling her blonde hair forward and making it fall between us.
“I’m not going to bite you.”
“It’s not your teeth that I fear,” Zura whispered.
Smiling, I said, “I won’t kill you, Zura. You mean a lot to Nova.”
“Hah!” Priya shouted, snapping her fingers at me as she moved to stand before the small table in front of the sofa.
She’d cut her hair since I saw her last, the black locks now barely kissing her ears and the nape of her neck.
I bet that her mother lost it. “Why would you care about who means anything to Nova? Something is going on between the two of you, that’s why! ”
“Can we talk about this another time?” I asked, slouching back.
Priya only placed her hands on her hips, cocking one to the side as she stared me down. “No. I want to talk about it now.”
“Out of everything you could be asking about—including the rebellion that you’ve just unintentionally joined?”
“Rebellion?” Zura gasped.
“Fuck the rebellion,” Pri said with a scoff. “What is going on between you and Tershetta?”
“I’m in love with her!” I shouted, feeling my anxiety and rage boil over. Quinn stared at me from where he sat at the table, Caleb opening the bathroom door. “Are you happy now?”
Priya only nodded, her face falling. “Yes. I’m glad to know. We all deserve to understand.”
“Understand what?” I asked, scowling at her. Hating her for a moment, because she clearly mirrored who I’d been for so long. Who I desperately tried to dig out of myself. “How I could possibly love her?”
“Yes, for starters. I’ll admit, she isn’t ugly.
And it’s not like the stars didn’t choose her for whatever reason.
Over the last year I’ve had enough time to reckon with the idea that maybe we were wrong about people like her.
” My brows rose, Priya’s smile pained as she continued.
“But that doesn’t mean I think you should be with her, Az. You’re too…different.”
“Nova is better than all of us combined, Pri. She is smarter, kinder, and more loving than anyone we’ve ever met.” I stood, pointing my finger at her. “And if you have anything bad to say about her, then we’re going to have a problem.”
“Woah, woah, woah! Let’s all calm down,” Cal said, gripping his towel with one hand and pressing the other into my chest.
“I need to go find Nova. She’s been gone too long. Grab whatever you want to wear from my drawers. There’s food for you all if you want to snack before I come back and Nova has bandages in the drawer beneath the wooden table in front of the sofa. Don’t go anywhere. It’s not safe.”
“You’re just going to leave us?” Quinn asked, his brow raised.
Zura stood, looking uncomfortable between Pri and Cal. “Can I come with?”
“I’m going alone and I’ll be right back. Cal, keep Zura company and be nice.”
“I’d love to keep you company, gorgeous,” Cal said, wrapping an arm around Zura.
All she said in response was, “Stars.”
Groaning, I shadow walked, a sharp tug in my leg where I’d been hit. Fresh blood trickled down my skin as I passed through the wards, my eyes immediately catching on Maitoza.
What the fuck is she doing out here?
“Nova left already,” she said, crossing her arms. Her voice was softer than normal, her face pinched tightly as she stared at the spot in front of her.
“Where did she go?”
“I assumed back to your cottage, though she was quite rattled. What happened?”
Oh no. Please, no.
“How long ago did she leave?”
“A minute maybe? What’s going on?”
“I’ll be back, please send Desi to my cottage!” Then I turned and took off, running through the wards.
Where would she go? I knew she was upset. I fucking knew it! Why did I let her go? What was wrong with me?
I stumbled in the grass, needing to move. To get to her. But where did I go? Where was she?
Something sharp suddenly pierced me in the head, a violent stab that forced me to the ground. I choked on my own rapid breaths, chest caving in. And then I heard it. Them. A whisper in the wind. A mutter in my ears. A brutal shout in my mind.
“Hurry, Azazel Altair. You’re running out of time.”
Images of fire flashed across my vision, stealing the scene of the island away from me. Again and again, flashes of growing flames, so hot they burned blue in places. I shook my head, willing the sight to become clear, but it was like someone else was in control of my eyes.
Smoke burned my lungs, a strange whistle ringing in my ears, my skin scorching hot. Hands came into view as the angle changed, showing thin shadow marks across tawny olive skin, the fingers pressed firmly against the marble floors. And then, as if a final blessing, Nova looked up.
I was calling to my shadows before I consciously thought of where I’d go. The grass changed to stone, the path surrounded by harsh, black smoke. Before me, the Ether Cathedral burned. Screams came from somewhere behind me, but all I saw were the open doors, left ajar as if in the midst of escape.
But it wasn’t Nova who ran. I knew because I could see her through the rising smoke, her body kneeling at the altar.
“Little Void?” I screamed, pushing myself to stand, running before I was fully upright. She didn’t turn, didn’t so much as flinch. “Nova!” Again I received no response. When I neared the last ten feet, I watched in horror as she collapsed. “I’m coming, baby! Hold on! Please, hold on!”
Fire raged all around me, the entrance forcing smoke into my nose and mouth. I coughed, pumping my arms, trying to call to my shadows but struggling with the storm in my mind.
“Nova!”
A great boom sounded from above me, the ground shaking.
Another crack, and then the glass ceiling shattered.
It rained down on me, my magic refusing to work when I attempted to shield myself with a ward.
My leathers split, my body taking hit after blazing hit, brutal cuts leaving me bloody.
I screamed in desperation, leaping over a pew to avoid the bulk of the now melting shards.
Nova was still on her side, face not visible from my angle. I jumped over another wooden bench. Then another. Another fire caught, and I was forced to run the opposite way of her, a bone-deep scream tearing my throat to shreds as I ran faster.
Moving too quickly to stop, I slammed into the wall, using the momentum to push myself back in her direction. I took the outer aisle all the way to the front, turning and leaping over a fluttering set of flames. On the balcony, the organ caught fire, statues and murals melting around me.
A wall collapsed to my left, more screams echoing off the sky from outside.
I felt like I was suffocating, every breath more painful than the last. The flames grew too dark to see through as I neared where I knew she was.
All around me the sounds of the flames grew louder, mingling with the sound of more glass breaking and the building beginning to collapse.
We’re going to die in here.
Right as the doom-soaked thought came to me, I tripped over something, my hand and knees hitting the ground hard. I nearly gave up, feeling my body begin to refuse to move. I slid my hand forward, and there she was.
My Nova.
My fingers gripped her boot, my knees slowly sliding.
I could have cried if it wasn’t so stars-damned hot.
I dragged her towards me, panic coating my tongue as her face came into view.
She still wore her mask. Ripping it off, I hastily checked her pulse, struggling to see much through the smoke that coagulated around us.
A faint, slow rhythm. Alive.
She’s alive!
I pulled her into my chest, her body limp. Desperate beyond explanation, I called to my shadows, begging them to take us home.
But nothing happened.
I tried again, feeling the dark tendrils wrap around us, but again, they seemed to flutter out. My head was growing heavy, body swaying. I was going to pass out. I was going to faint and we’d both fucking die here.
And maybe that was best. Maybe then I’d at least go with her in my arms.
“Not today, Azazel Altair. Take our catalyst home,” came the ominous, reverberating voices of the stars.
Abruptly, my body collapsed, my head landing not on glass and ash, but on the cold wooden floors of my cottage. I turned my head, seeing Nova’s unconscious body beside me. Reaching for her, I gripped one of her scorched curls, the newly clean air igniting my throat.
“Az! Fucking stars above!” Cal was on me in seconds, his hands moving to my clothes and tugging on them.
I screamed, the sound like crackling flames. My skin. You’re ripping off my skin. The words didn’t leave my mind, my lips unmoving. Cal continued to pull, Zura kneeling on the ground by Nova and doing the same.
Stop. Please.
“Stop!”
Was that me? I could barely make out the voice. My ears were too full of wind and flames.
A cold hand touched my jaw, moving my head and forcing me to face the ceiling. And there was Desi. She looked terrified, her dark eyes wide and tattooed cheeks damp with tears.
“If you remove their clothes you’ll tear off their skin.
We have to be careful but quick. Az, I’m going to help you, okay?
I’m going to help you both.” I wanted to thank her, but my lips still wouldn’t move.
If they could, the first thing I would say would be help Nova first. “Everyone listen to my every instruction! I’m going to need all of you. First, let’s get him to sleep.”
She uncorked a vial, tipping liquid into my mouth that seemed to reignite the fire in my throat. My chest shot up, my back arching and my body shaking.
“Hold him down!” Hands gripped me, the pain making bile rise up my throat. It came out in choppy spurts, choking me. “Get him on his side! Az, it’s going to be okay. Sleep. Let me fix you.”
When they turned me, I had the perfect view of Nova. She lay there, her skin bubbling and hair singed. Despite the horrible state of her, I watched as her chest rose and fell. It was those movements that soothed me to sleep.