Page 194 of Starside

“Dead,” I say. At the crack in my voice, his eyes narrow. They are searching, and brutal, studying me as if he can see into my deepest thoughts and emotions. As if that one word could tell him even a fraction of the memories Stellan and I had together.

I don’t drop that piercing, clawing gaze. I stare into his eyes, the way Stellan would have wanted me to, unflinching.

It’s he who looks away. He curses.

Then, just when I think he’ll leave me here, or cut me down, he outstretches a hand.

Warnings still echoing through my mind, I take it. It’s cold as ice and smooth as bone.

“Leave him,” he tells the guards that have begun spilling in from the forest, out of nowhere, wearing the same crest that is carved into the hilt of the blade now sheathed behind this immortal’s back.

I rip my hand away. “No. I’m not leaving him here.”

He frowns, as if disgusted that I’ve spoken back to him. “I am not allowing an unknown warrior with a sword like that into my castle.” He looks over at me and my own sword. “The only reason I’m allowing you entry is because of Stellan.”

Panic spikes through me. “Fine. Don’t let him in the castle. Keep him in the stables for all I care. But I’m not leaving him here.”

Vander’s eyes narrow at me. At my nerve. Finally, he sighs, as if deciding that the struggle isn’t worth it.

He motions his warriors toward Raker. It takes five of them to lift him to his feet. His head lolls, as he’s still unconscious. I wince, hoping he’ll last long enough for me to find him medicine or a healer.

Vander reaches for his own blade, which glows bright violet. A godsword.

He digs his blade into the ground, and the forest vanishes.

34

I land on my knees. My bones rattle, and my stomach drops. I clutch the dirt for purchase, then look up at massive gates and the castle behind them. We were in the forest a moment ago … and now we’re in front of a sprawling estate. I blink.

“You—you portaled us?” It isn’t a word I’ve ever used outside of the context of my mother’s passed-down stories, or when my sister and I would imagine opening a door and entering another world entirely.

“The blade did,” he says sharply, before walking through the gates, which open at his approach.

I look around. Raker is nowhere to be seen.

“He’ll be in the stables, as suggested,” Vander Evren mumbles from up ahead. I swallow. He’s going to be really fucking unhappy about that when he wakes. If he does.

Panic is like ice through my blood.

Raker needs medicine. This immortal I was warned never to summon is our best bet. I just have to convince him to give it to me.

Vander Evren’s castle is crafted of glimmering light gray stone, with tall arching windows, and over a dozen gray-blue turrets with blade-sharp points. It sits like a beast, taller than that massive bear in the skyquill forest, with spires that brush the lowest clouds.

I can imagine a ball taking place here just as much as I can imagine it becoming a fortress.

I follow Vander down the pine-lined path, through a courtyard, up stone steps, and past towering silver doors.

The ceilings are impossibly high, sculpture carved into the corners. There’s a front room, then a glorious double staircase, hewn from pure marble—white, infused with silver veins like bolts of lightning.

Vander looks over at me, gaze snagging on my dirt-crusted clothes and still-bloody hand. “Attendants will see to your needs. Then dine with me.” He turns and makes to go upstairs. I know I’m supposed to wait here, for his attendants. But I take a step after him.

It’s a risk. He could kick me out of his estate for disobeying him, or—more in keeping with the fact that the hunter seemed to fear even his name—slay me where I stand. But Vander just sighs. He grips the marble banister so hard that his already-pale knuckles get whiter. By the tense set of his wide shoulders, he looks one moment from either cutting me down or simply snapping at me.

Luckily, he picks the later.

“What—”

“I need medicine,” I say quickly.