Page 222 of Fallen Stars
“It’s done,” Ophelia breathed. “Piscea has stopped scraping at our door.”
“We did it,” Elara breathed, nodding. “The coffin is sealed.”
“Oh, thank gods,” Isra breathed.
Sagitton and Lias were both watching from a wall. “Thank you,” Sagitton said. “For saving us from her.”
Enzo shrugged. “It was nothing.”
“Who let you into The Graveyard?” Leo asked. “Was it Sofia?”
Enzo noticed Elara flinch slightly before recovering. “No,” she replied. “It was Lukas.”
“What?!” Merissa and Isra asked in unison. “And Enzo didn’t kill him?”
“We actually…made peace.”
Isra let out a low whistle. “You’re a more forgiving woman than me.”
“What the fuck took you so long?” Eli finally growled. Enzo looked over where the Star had been silent, nearly forgetting that he was there.
His Elara only grinned as she slung her arms around his neck, hugging him.
Enzo smiled. “After we’d sealed the coffin, we got a little preoccupied. And decided…well…that there’s going to be a royal wedding.”
Chapter Seventy-Six
Sagitton led the way throughthe still-mad streets of Bacchus. As he weaved, anyone caught by his charm began to laugh or cry hysterically, as though the god was no longer in control of his magick.
Elara had thrown a blanket of illusions upon them. With three Stars amongst them, the group would have been far too noticeable exiting the city.
Adrian tailed the group, his mind elsewhere. He was relieved of course for Enzo and Elara to not only have succeeded in sealing Piscea’s coffin, but also in arriving safely back to them. And yet, he couldn’t stop thinking of Cancia, every mortal dressed as a mermaid catching his eye.
He scanned the crowds and finally caught on a flash of silver hair. He staggered as he saw Cancia being pulled along by…Scorpius?
Anger boiled in his veins at seeing the two together. The goddess had made love to him only hours before, and here she was now, hand in hand with her consort? She turned, and Lias’s arrow may as well have gone through his chest. She was so beautiful, her unusual eyes scanning the crowd and seeming to land right on him. Her face fell, and he stopped, wondering how it was she could see him through Elara’s illusions. Scorpius turned then, and Adrian cursed, ducking. He waited with bated breath, wondering if Scorpius had spotted him, but Scorpius merely looked through the crowd before frowning and turning to Cancia to ask what she’d been looking at. She shrugged, shaking her head, and didn’t look back again as she disappeared with Scorpius into the crowd.
“Everything okay?” Leo asked, falling into step beside him. Adrian felt as though his chest was on fire. She hadn’t even looked back.
“Fine,” he said hurriedly. “Just thought I saw someone I know.”
And he knew with utter certainty as they retreated further and further out of Bacchus that he was going to kill Scorpius.
“This is where I leave you,” Ophelia said as they all reached the gates.
Eli pushed a cigarette between his lips, frowning as he searched for his matches.
“Here,” Enzo said, pointing his forefinger at the roll. A flame ignited, catching light before smouldering out.
“Thanks,” Eli said.
“You’re not staying?” Elara was asking Ophelia.
“I will for a few weeks, with Sagitton. I want to learn what I can of this world before I return to my own. But I’m no longer needed. Piscea is gone, my purpose complete. Perhaps though,” she said, glancing at Eli, then the others, “I’ll worldwalk back some other time. I am a Star now after all.”
Eli was glad she was going. As he’d said before, Eli liked order, and Ophelia was anything but. It was best she returned to her own world.
He inhaled deeply, honeyed smoke drifting from his nostrils as he exhaled.