When Stars Come Out (When Stars Come Out 1)

“No,” she frowns, shaking her head.

CHAPTER ELEVEN – SHY & THE TRACKER

I should have known Roth wants the Eurydice.

I do my best to control my reaction but inside, my heart races like it wants to escape the cage of my ribs. The air in the room feels heavy, like someone’s sucked all the oxygen out of it.

The Eurydice inspires war like religion because the Valryn are usually split on how to handle her powers. Sure, it’s our job to train and support her, but does that mean we let her loose in the world, or do we keep her on a tight leash?

“Efforts, Successor?” Elite Abrams asks. Abrams is tall, lithe, and has long black hair. His voice is as imposing as his figure. “Have we confirmed her incarnation?”

Instead of answering, Roth explains, “We believe Shadow Knight Lockwood was tracking the Eurydice before his death.”

Chase Lockwood is the Knight who died in New York a couple months back under mysterious circumstances.

“On what grounds?” Elite Val asks. Valryn around the room exchange looks.

“A journal was discovered among Lockwood’s things after he passed. It included information on a girl who captured souls with a thread that came out of her palm.”

Well, that is pretty incriminating. The Eurydice is the only being who controls the Thread of Fate. She uses it to make resurrection coins. They are her way of ensuring souls pass safely through the Adamantine Gates. Still, there’s something in the way Roth talks about this journal that makes me think he’s not telling the whole truth.

“Why are we just now hearing about this?” Elite Abrams looks around the room, as if someone other than Roth DuPont can tell him. “Shadow Knight Lockwood died two months ago.”

“The case was being investigated, Elite Abrams,” Roth says. “We believe Shadow Knight Lockwood went rogue. He was still training, after all,” Roth’s eyes slither to me. I clench my hands behind my back. “He must have realized he was on the trail of the Eurydice and thought he could bring her in all by himself.”

Something about that doesn’t sit well with me and not just because Roth looks at me as he speaks.

“Are you suggesting the Eurydice had something to do with Shadow Knight Lockwood’s death?” Elite Abrams asks.

“Chase Lockwood, a healthy, teenage Valryn dropped dead out of nowhere, and while the police ruled his death natural causes, the evidence suggests otherwise. Lockwood’s soul was stolen.”

There is heavy silence.

“If this is the case, what of the Eurydice? Have we been able to track her movements?”

Elite Gwen asks. Her pale hair stands out like a white flame amid the black-clad members.

“We’re working on identifying the girl Chase mentioned in his journal, but we believe she’ll make her way to one of the other three Compounds in the United States since the Adamantine Gates once stood at each location before they were destroyed.”

It’s a good guess. The Gates were melted, leaving behind a black lake that gives off high levels of energy, attracting all kinds of things—death-speakers and the dead. Worst of all, it attracts Influence.

“And you would like the Order’s approval to search for her?” Abrams asks.

”It is our job to locate the Eurydice. We should be searching for her. Clearly, she has demonstrated she is dangerous. She took Shadow Knight Lockwood’s life.”

Oh, hell. I see where this is going now and it’s not good.

“If what you say is true, then the Eurydice should face consequences for misusing her power.”

“She is hardly trained,” Elite Val argues. “Indeed, as much as you remember it is our job to locate her, you forget it is also our job to train her.”

”We can’t do that if we do not find her first,” Roth argues.

“There is no doubt we need her,” Elite Gwen adds. “Without the lost passing into Spirit, Influence is becoming stronger. Just this week a plane went down in Switzerland. One-hundred and fifty people killed.”

“I thought Charon opens the Gates for mass death,” says Ezekiel.

“One-hundred and fifty must not have been enough,” another adds.