Page 7 of Fallen Stars
“Hello, my love,” she replied. She rushed towards him, the worry in her chest fading with every step she took nearer to him. As she brushed her lips against his, she felt the familiar, intangible air she had come to know over the last week. She swallowed, trying to brush off her frustration.
“I could have sworn you were here only a few hours ago,” he murmured into her hair, his touch like gossamer.
“I’ve told you before, remember?” she responded brightly, turning so that he couldn’t see the tears that had lined her eyes. “Time works differently in dreams.”
Enzo stiffened, and she peered up at him, at his golden eyes, now burning.
“Do you think me a fool, Elara?”
Nausea swept over her, from head to toe.
“Wh-what?” she stuttered.
“You are half of my soul. Do you think I can’t feel when you’re lying to me?”
Elara took a step back. “I’m not—"
“Don’tinsult our soul-tie like that, El. I know you better than I know myself. And I’ve tried to give you the chance, these last few nights, to be honest.”
Elara’s dreams felt like they were closing in on her, the dreamscape shrinking around her.
“Enzo, I—"
“I can see through your illusion. The purple beneath your eyes. You’ve been using hypnom, haven’t you?”
Elara took another step back, but Enzo closed the space easily. He crooked his finger under her chin, the touch as light as a feather as he tilted her head to meet his.
“Elara,” he said more gently. “Just tell me the truth.”
“Yes,” she whispered, shutting her eyes, unable to take another moment of his truth-searching stare. “Yes, I have, all right? It’s the only way I’ve been able to sleep.”
“And finding a way to wake me? When have you had time to do that?”
She screwed her eyes further shut, shaking her head.
“I-I haven’t. I tried, the first week here. I listened in pubs, in the markets, trying to hear any tell of where Eli may be. But I kept seeing your death. I kept feeling utter pain, and I just… I couldn’t—" She was wheezing now, trying to suck air into her lungs.
“El—”
“No,” she whispered. “Don’t pity me. I don’t deserve it.” She blinked, looking to the copse of trees blankly. She heard Enzo curse and still didn’t meet his gaze.
“Fine,” he said, his voice hardening. “I won’t pity you. Instead, I will ask you this. Where is youranger,Elara? Where is yourfire?”
She frowned as the words landed like small thorns in her chest. “The Stars took it. They tookyou.”
Enzo gripped her face as best he could, her head snapping towards him.
“Thenrageabout it,” he hissed onto her lips. “Pluck them from the sky like you promised you would. You turned the world to darkness for me and then got lost within it yourself. Your tears will do me no good. Neither will your grief. What I need back ismy Elara. The one who burned down Leone’s temple and choked Gem with her shadows. The one who swore and fought and defied me at every turn. Because without your rage, El, without your vengeance, I will be lost. That is the truth of it though you won’t dare admit it. I will waste away in here. SohuntEli. Give him a warning. Andmakehim seek you out, no matter how much blood you need to spill.”
She tried to look away, but his eyes pinned her there, burning—always burning.
“I gifted you the last drop of my fire for a reason. And you think this hurts? That you hurt?”
“Enz—”
“I’m like a shade, Elara. I can’t eat, but I’m hungry. I can’t drink, but I thirst. I can’t sleep, even though my soul is so very tired. This place is a never-ending torture. I’m suspended between life and death, unable to do a thing about it.”
Darkness took over his eyes, and Elara felt ill. She pondered what she had been avoiding and how little she had considered Enzo’s feelings while being trapped in here.