No time to react; Llyran grabbed me from behind and jerked me out over the terrace into midair.

11

Through the wind and the frantic pulse surging through my eardrums, I heard Hank scream my name.

There was nothing between me and the ground, except forty-six stories of air. Oh God, oh God, oh God, oh God …

My mouth hung open in a scream I couldn’t voice. I didn’t struggle, too afraid he’d drop me. I wanted to turn in his arms and scramble onto his shoulders, to hold on, to have some kind of control, but his embrace was bruising and unmovable.

Llyran’s face was against the side of my head, pressed against my hair. His laughter rang in my ears as we shot upward. Higher and higher. And finally into the darkness itself. Into that churning, forty-mile wide mass of primeval Charbydon gray.

Tears leaked from the corners of my eyes as the earth below me grew smaller and smaller, until it was completely swallowed up.

“Beautiful, isn’t it, Charlie?!” His lips moved against my hair.

We slowed, and I was stunned by the thick, dark, undulating mass and the occasional bursts of green zigzagging a thick, random path far out in the distance. Small particles swirled, glowing as though energized, as though somehow giving life to everything around us. The fine hairs on my body stood, and the hair on my head drifted out in all directions as though underwater.

Awareness snaked under my skin. Power. So much power. It hummed through me. My eyelids fluttered. My vision went blurry. My head relaxed against Llyran’s shoulder as I was caught between horror and excitement, a heightened response to the arcane darkness and energy surrounding me. It was there, for me. For the taking. It wanted me to throw open my arms and invite it in. It’d be so good, so easy …

“There is unimaginable power here, and the one who wields it can be a god!” Llyran shouted.

I shut my eyes tightly, forcing away the fuzz, lifting my head and shaking it hard. After a false start, I found my voice. “Take me back,” I barely managed. “Llyran, take me back.”

“Not yet, Charlie! I’ve saved the best for last!”

We shot up once more, the force pulling my insides down. Wind broke hard against my face and those small glowing particles hit my skin like fine grains of sand. My fingernails dug deeply into his forearms.

And then we burst out of the darkness.

Into the light.

Tears erupted behind my eyelids. Too bright, but so warm … so warm. After so long, I had the sun in my face.

A shaft of darkness held us aloft, above the churning mass. The wind whipped at our hair, tangling it together. “Isn’t it a sight for sore eyes, Charlie? Blue skies as far as the eye can see. Tell me you haven’t missed this!”

His arms were still around my middle. The angle at which the darkness held us aloft forced me to lean back against him, my head tucked against the crook of his neck as my face warmed under the glow of the sun. Panic had a hold on my throat, but I forced the words out. “Why are you doing this?”

“Because all this can be yours. Look at it, Charlie.” He gave me a brutal squeeze. “Look at it.”

I did. I did because I was afraid, because I was desperate for the sun, for blue skies. My eyes burned at first, leaving large white dots floating in my vision. But slowly they adjusted to the brightness, and I gazed out over the horizon at the azure sky. Tears slipped down my cheeks, and I couldn’t tell if it was the sting of brightness or just me weeping for something I was afraid I’d never see again.

“I can take it all away. Together, we can bring back the light.” His hair whipped around the edges of my vision, his voice manic and firm in his beliefs. “I’d do it for you, Charlie. We’d be unstoppable. You can bring about a new era, a new age in which Elysia is ruled by its rightful heirs.”

“And who would that be, you?”

“No, not me. The Charbydon nobles. Elysia was once theirs before they were cast out into the dark shithole that is Charbydon, just as Elysia cast me out.”

“Yeah, because you’re a psychopath.”

His arms released me.

I fell, finally letting out a terrifying scream.

He caught me by the ankle, my body whipping around like a rag doll. My entire being trembled as he righted me and held me once again. I had to stay conscious, had to fight against the fear.

Talk. Reason with him. Do something!

His mouth was low against my ear. “Careful with the insults, Detective.”

“I’m sorry,” I croaked, playing his game, and willing myself to breathe even and deep. “You’re doing all this to get back at your home world?”

He thought about it for a second and then shrugged. “Once the nobles are faced with the truth, that Elysia was theirs, they will strike and take it back. And with the star’s power, I’ll help them wipe out every Adonai in existence, save for me, of course.”

“That’s genocide. You can’t mean to wipe out your own kind.”

“I can. They cast me out, turned their backs on me, all because I discovered the proof to the truth they have been hiding for ages …” He squeezed me tighter. I glanced over to see his profile as he rested his chin on my shoulder, a wistful smile on his perfect Adonai face. “Now that I have seen inside of you, I have big plans for you. The truth is more than you could ever imagine, Charlie. You have a great purpose in life, a great value, and I will protect you.”

“Is that why you’re murdering people, to protect me?”

“No. I am murdering people because it’s necessary. Hold on, princess.”

We dropped back. I gasped at the sickening, horrifying sensation of freefalling once more, eyes wide open, my face toward the sun as we fell, suddenly wanting those last few seconds of light before it slowly became swallowed up by darkness.

All too soon, I found myself back in the swirl of primordial chaos and raw power. I couldn’t take it anymore. My heart was losing its battle trying to keep up with the shock and fear. Air was not reaching my lungs like it should. And somewhere in the back of my mind was the thought that all this willing power was mine to use and yet I was too fucking scared to even try.

“Please,” I burst out on a shaky breath. “Take me back. I’ll do whatever you want. Just take me back.”

And then I’d kill the sonofabitch.

“Good girl.” Llyran rubbed his cheek against my hair. “You and me, we shall be a force of nature like the world has never seen. We shall raise the star and feed off the power. Only you can do that for me. You will, won’t you, princess? You want to see the light again, don’t you? The sun, the blue sky … I can give that to you, to your beloved city. Consider it a gift.”

I nodded, swallowing hard and not caring what I had to say to get my feet back on solid ground. “Yes, I will. I’ll do anything.”

“I knew you would see it my way.”

I braced for the descent, turning my face against the sting of those glowing particles, my hair flying across my face and acting as a shield. Through the strands, I saw the entire city below me, lit with millions of lights. And then, as we drew closer, Helios Tower, and its enormous rooftop arboretum. And closer, I could pick out the individual terraces, and finally, there was Hank standing on the terrace, hands curled around the railing and looking up, his blond hair waving in the wind. And though I couldn’t actually see his expression, I sensed it—rage, horror, desperation.

I blinked and he was gone, gone from the terrace as we descended rapidly. My muscles bunched and tensed. Finally after several seconds, the darkness slowed us.

I had to think, figure out my next move. As soon as my feet hit the stone, I’d have to do something because there was no way in hell I was going to be Llyran’s princess, partner, or raiser of dead stars. Not in this lifetime.