Page 21 of Fallen Stars

Elara waved a hand through the air. “Anyway, I began to realise that Eli doesn’t want to be found. And that we would have to force him out of whatever hole he’s hiding in. So I followed the crowd to an underground fighting den.”

“Fighting den!?” Merissa wailed.

“Merissa, I swear to gods…”

“Okay sorry, sorry,” the demi-Star said, raising her hands.

“There were three grown men in the ring…fighting a wolf.”

“Oh no,” Isra breathed as though she already knew what Elara would say next.

“I couldn’t just leave her, Iz. She raised her head, and it wasAstra. Remember the wolf Enzo and I saw in the woods after the execution?”

Merissa was looking at her, eyes wide as Isra nodded.

“And I needed three bodies or—”

Merissa leaned forward. “Forwhat?”

“They were pieces of shit, Mer,” Elara began hastily, cursing herself for revealing too much. “And I wanted to send a message to Eli. One he wouldn’t be able to ignore.”

Isra gave a long sigh. “So you killed the three men torturing Astra and carved the letters of Eli’s name into their bodies.”

“How do you kn—”

“Know? I’m a seer,” Isra replied.

Elara cringed. She thought it best not to mention the near-hundred people inside that she’d ended up killing too.

“Look, I was just soangry. What they were doing was barbaric, and…”

“And you finally had an outlet,” Merissa finished.

Elara’s eyes widened, unaware it was so obvious that this was a channelling of her grief.

“We know you well, El,” Isra smiled, kissing her on the head. “So what? You need our help running from Eli now?”

“No, not that at all.” She waved a hand. “My trick actually got Eli to invite me to his club tomorrow night.”

Merissa’s eyes widened. “El, that’s fantastic. We finally have an opening to help Enzo.”

Elara nodded as Isra regarded her shrewdly.

“What I need your help with…is saving a life.”

“Fucking hell, El,” Isra breathed, standing next to Merissa in Elara’s doorway. “You brought the wolf home?”

“Okay, less time processing, more time helping her into the bathroom please.”

The two stood frozen for a moment as Elara clicked her fingers. “Hurry.”

They finally moved, Isra walking tentatively around the wolf.

“Is she…tame?”

Elara shrugged. “To an extent.”

“Gods, Elara,” Merissa admonished.