When Stars Come Out (When Stars Come Out 1)

Chase Lockwood is dead.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE – SHY & THE LAKE

My chest aches.

But this is unlike the feeling that connects me to Anora. This is something angry and primal and raw. Halfway through her story, I can’t sit still anymore. When I get to my feet, Anora’s eyes meet mine, her gaze is like an arrow through my heart. Her eyes are haunted, her face pale.

Even Nat is affect by Anora’s story, leaning forward in her chair with her fingers pressed to her lips. Jacobi’s set aside his computer and can’t even look at her. None of us expected this. It’s a betrayal of our Oath as Shadow Knights. We’re supposed to protect humans, we’re supposed to protect the Eurydice.

I’ve never wanted to comfort someone so much in all my life, and yet I’m sure that’s the last thing she wants—comfort from a Shadow Knight, comfort from me. There’s an ugly feeling associated with that thought as I observe Thane standing behind Anora like some dark guardian and I stuff it down quick. I’m no better than Chase if I act on this...connection I have with Anora.

I pace, hating Chase with every word she speaks.

“I stayed at Mount St. Mary’s for one more month before Mom got a brochure about Nacoma Knight Academy. She thought I could start over in a place where people wouldn’t recognize me.”

“So, when you got here and encountered Vera...” Nat starts. Her words aren’t vicious anymore, but full of understanding.

“She followed me. She said they would find me. It scared me and the thread reacted,” she pauses. “I didn’t mean to...I didn’t want—”

“We know,” I say as gently as I can. She meets my gaze. “It was the day you ran out of art?”

She nods. I found her near the tree line. She looked hysterical but I assumed she was just suffering from the effects of walking through Vera’s soul. Even now I shudder at what that must have felt like.

“But how did Vera’s soul end up in Lily’s body?” Natalie asks.

“I lost the coin,” Anora admits, looking at her feet.

“Are you sure it was lost?” Thane asks. “Isn’t it possible someone stole it?”

“Either way, whoever has it knows how to use it and they practiced,” Jacobi says.

“Practiced?” Anora asks.

“We found several dead animals at the train yard,” Nat says. Anora looks paler than before. Her lips stand out, red like a rose.

“The coin was at the train yard tonight,” Thane says. “That’s why Anora and I were there.”

I grind my teeth together so hard I think my molars will crack. Every time Thane opens his mouth about what happened tonight, I want to throttle him even more. “You mean when you let her wander off alone?”

“I can take care of myself,” Anora argues.

“Oh yeah? With what? The thread?” Nat snaps.

“Do you need a reminder of my skills?” Anora asks, her eyes alight with fire.

“How did you know the coin was at the train yard?” Jacobi asks quickly, easing the tension rising in the room.

Thane and Anora exchange a look, and I sort of hate that they have secrets.

“A witch told us.”

I glare at Thane and he glares right back. I know him well enough that I can practically hear his thoughts. What? She wanted answers, so I took her with me. It’s more than you’d do for her. And he’s right. I’d never introduce the death-speaker world to the Eurydice. There are too many people in the Underworld who want her powers and know ways to get them.

“What about you? What's your excuse?” Thane asks.

“I tracked Lily’s phone there,” Jacobi says. “But after our encounter with the Cercatore, I lost the trace. It must have died.”

We’re all quiet, realizing we’ve hit a dead end—all of us, except Anora. “Well...can’t we just go back to the witch?”