Chapter Fifty-Two
Nova
“No one knows, but I’ve been studying forbidden magic.”
Jonah’s hand tightened around my forearm as he practically dragged me through the castle, my shouts of protests and flying fist apparently not enough to slow him down.
“Where are you taking me? Where is Az? Where is my sister? Where is everyone else? Bring me back! We need to help the rebels and the cores!” I was screaming, belligerent as I twisted and yanked my arm.
It was no use, Jonah only continued to pull me through winding corridors with stone walls and gold-framed portraits.
I couldn’t convince my eyes to focus on any of them, though I could feel my interest piquing the further we went.
Still, I willed myself to continue fighting, if only to say I didn’t give up.
By the time Jonah had grown annoyed enough to stop and throw me over his shoulder, I was already beginning to lose my voice. It crackled as I slammed my fists into his back, both begging for and demanding answers that I wouldn’t receive.
That was, until a set of guards in silver parted the double doors before us, mumbling something too low and quick for me to make out.
Jonah tossed me to the ground, letting me land on my back.
Air whooshed out of me, my spine aching as tears sprouted in my eyes.
Rolling, I tried to convince my gaze to focus, catching sight of Desi’s wide, brown eyes from where she knelt nearby.
“Nova, are you okay? Stars, Jonah, why did you have to throw her like that?” Desi asked, her hands pressing into my cheeks, magic buzzing through me. Celeste’s scraped and bruised face came into view after, her shaking hands stroking the crown of my head.
Mama used to do that.
“She was hitting me and screaming. What else was I supposed to do?”
“She’s scared. Give her a bit of grace!”
“The only grace is him. I don’t bow to her, and I surely don’t offer her kindness she doesn’t deserve.”
I followed his gaze, my eyes landing on a burly man with golden silk draped over his heavy torso, perfectly straight, black locks traveling down his back. He had the same markings on his face as Desi, but atop his head he wore a crown.
“You’re…you’re the Dremly heir, aren’t you?
” I asked, disbelief straining my voice further.
Desi grimaced, her face tightening as she helped me sit up.
Zura was just behind her, Death eyeing me from her hands.
Not even Celeste’s soft humming could hold my attention as Desi’s tattoos once more stole my focus.
I had recognized the markings on her face, but not from personal experience.
Rather, I’d seen them depicted in a book once.
The Dremly line utilized those markings to symbolize milestones and family lineage.
They marked their faces for the world to see their hard-won accomplishments and to show the strength of their bloodline—the might of the royal family.
“Desiree, explain yourself,” the king said, his eyes hard and his lips turned down, his perfectly sculpted beard and mustache framing the frown.
At my side, Desi sighed, nodding. “The rebel base was attacked, Father. We had no other choice but to come home. The commander betrayed us. She planned to kill all shaytan.”
“Interesting. And who does the Commander expect to put on the throne?” King Amori asked, his voice oddly calm. Almost indifferent. Maybe he’d already guessed?
“Seeing as Nova killed her, no one. Though, maybe she’d have let Stefan or Kaleel rule. Either way, it doesn’t matter now.”
I cringed, wishing I could turn back time. Celeste, who I feared would hate me for what I did, only continued to stroke my hair, her eyes watering.
“Well, perhaps that’s for the best.” The king stood, his arms lacing behind his back.
Slowly, he made his way down the pale steps of the dais, his shoes clicking and his eyes locked on mine.
I waited with baited breath, my heart loud in my ears.
When he stopped above me, I bowed my head, so many thoughts swirling in my mind that I felt dizzy.
“Hello, Nova Tershetta. I’ve heard a lot about you. ”
“Hopefully at least half of them are positive,” I said without thinking. The king chuckled, his brows rising as he nodded.
“Most of them were, actually. Your sister is quite fond of you, and so is my daughter.” Suddenly, he dropped to his knees, reaching his hands out, palms up.
Tentatively, I placed my hands in his, feeling a burn in my eyes.
Stars, I missed Dad. “I think I’ll like you too, Nova.
You’ve reminded me of something that I forgot long ago. Something worth believing in.”
“What’s that?” I asked, my voice a crackling whisper—a burning fire.
The king drew closer, his lips lifting in the faintest grin. “That I don’t have to be a coward just because the world wants me to be.”
A startled laugh bubbled out of my mouth, my eyes blinking rapidly as I nodded my head. “Yes, I think that’s a good thing to remember.”
“Now, Jonah, I think you and I should speak privately about your part in the rebel commander’s plans.
” Above us, Jonah dipped into a bow, his eyes closing as he did.
The king patted my cheek, standing after and waving for Jonah to follow.
Just as they reached a door at the far end of what I assumed was a throne room, the king turned and said, “You know, Nova, you remind me a lot of a story I read once. One about a boy in a forest.”
With that he left, and suddenly, I understood.
“It’s always been there,” I mumbled as my thoughts flew forward, passing by each memory at record speeds.
“What has?” Celeste asked, her hand still in my hair. I didn’t respond. Couldn’t, really.
The boy in the woods.
Planet nine-three-four.
Dad’s journal.
Stories of magic before the stars’ gift.
The pulsing. Vibrations and pulls.
“It comes from below,” I said, my eyes suddenly coming back into focus. I turned to look at Celeste, my mind a rapidly growing storm. “The stars even said it! They said it wasn’t solely their fault magic was here!”
“Nova, I don’t understand what you’re talking about,” Celeste said, shaking her head.
I realized then that I was tearing at my lips, and I pulled my fingers away to press my hands into the cold marble floors. Once again, I closed my eyes, speaking directly to Dajahim itself. To the earth below.
Where are you?
There, faint but surely pulsing, was magic.
That was what the old stories had said, wasn’t it?
That magic existed within the very planet?
That was why I’d felt the pull beneath the ground on planet-nine-three-four.
Perhaps that was the real reason the cores had begun traveling to other planets.
Offer the planet’s magic so the stars didn’t take ours.
I opened my eyes, reaching for Celeste’s hands and pressing them firmly into the floor. Her grey eyes were wide, flitting between my face and Desi at my back. Desi had a hand on my shoulder in an instant, protecting her love.
How beautiful that was. My sister was so deeply loved.
“If you could have magic, right now, would you want it?” I had to ask first. To, for once, give her the choice I’d stolen from her for so long. The free will I’d robbed my family of by forcing them to drink haya.
If it was possible, Celeste’s eyes grew even wider. She looked only at me now, her lips jutted out and her short curls swinging as she shook. In the end, it wasn’t me who swayed her, it was the moment she glanced at Desi.
“Yes, I’d take it,” Celeste answered.
“Then pull,” I ordered her, refusing to let my joy at knowing she’d be with me for as long as I lived distract me.
“Pull what?”
“Close your eyes and feel the ground. Picture what magic looks like. The bright, silver tint of it. Imagine it swirling and coagulating beneath the earth. Picture your consciousness reaching down and snatching it. Reeling it in like a fish on a hook. Pull, Celeste. Pull it towards you and command it to spread all across your body.”
As she closed her eyes, I urged the magic alongside her, pulling and tugging, demanding the magic obey us. After a few seconds, the pulse beneath the earth began to rise. It swam up as if seeking air.
Or maybe it sought a host. Because that’s what magic really was. A living, breathing thing. Something that invaded us. Fed off us as we did it.
I knew the second Celeste felt it too, because she let out a startled yelp. Desi appeared at our sides, looking frantic as she attempted to touch Celeste.
“Don’t!” I hissed, trying to concentrate.
“What are you doing to her?” Desi asked, her hand hovering over her mouth as she stared at the way Celeste’s face began to redden, every one of her muscles tense as the magic commenced its intrusion. Zura looked terrified behind Celeste, her skin ashen as she watched.
I let go, leaning back on my heels. “Watch.”
Seconds later, Celeste’s eyes flew open, her breaths ragged as she looked up at me. “Tell me I’m not crazy. Tell me I’m feeling what I think I am.”
“You’re not crazy, Heavens. Call to it. Order it. Demand it make light upon your palms. Picture the heat of the orb. Conjure its perfectly round shape. Imagine its shade and strength. Think of how it will grow and rise.”
Celeste immediately did as she was told, raising her palm and staring at it. Almost instantly, a small, warm-tinted sphere of light appeared above splayed hands. She shook her head, whispering, “Holy stars.”
I stared at my sister, watching as she gaped at the ball of light, shadows being cast across her face.
I’d always been able to do it. At any time I could have saved all three of them.
Pain at the loss of my parents kissed the joy at my sister’s long life ahead of her.
A win and a loss, all at once. A bittersweet moment that burned my chest and brought tears to my eyes.
But I wouldn’t let them fall, not when we still had so much left to do. Someone else to rescue.
Desi leapt around me and tackled Celeste, her tears eagerly falling while they kissed, Celeste’s magic fading as her focus slipped.
“Nova, do you know what you’ve just done?” Zura asked from behind them, her voice shaking.
As I twirled the snake ring on my finger, feeling it thrum, I let my lips rise. “I just evened the playing field.”