Chapter 28 Vale

"No," Cypherion argued immediately, dropping to a knee. The others in the room fell away, only him before me. "Vale, I won't leave you."

Call it intuition, but I'd known walking in here I wouldn't leave with him by my side. Perhaps it was the stars giving me time to prepare, so I could send Cypherion away with confidence rather than letting him see my distress.

Titus had welcomed me home today, but home was no longer a place. It was the man on his knees before me now, his pleading stare searing my spirit.

"I'll be okay," I promised, taking his hands between my own.

"I swore to you—" He stumbled for the words, his voice low but jagged. "I swore you would never be at his mercy again."

"I won't be," I corrected, though the thought of staying here wrenched through me like a poisoned root tearing up the soil of my dreams. "No one owns me, Cypherion. But I am choosing this. I am choosing to stay here both to find the answers he says he can offer about healing my readings, but also for you."

"You can't do this for me," he rushed out.

"You need the information in those scrolls, Cypherion."

"Stargirl—"

"Your family needs this information." It was twisted of me to pull that string. Pitting his love for me against the love for his family, for the people who had been at his side for a decade. But I didn't care. It was the one card he couldn't refuse.

"I don't want to choose them over you." Resignation roughened in his voice. He was losing this battle.

"You're not," I assured him. And truly, I didn't feel like he was.

They were the pillars of his life. Cypherion wasn't himself without the people he loved. If they were gone, he crumbled.

Me? I was simply standing on that platform at his side, greedily leaning into the strength they gave him. Place me somewhere else, and we would still exist.

We would. I was certain of it.

I allowed myself one moment. One moment to sink into the sadness staring back at me from his blue eyes. One moment for despair at this decision—at being within these walls—to wrap around my gut.

Then, I shut it all down and put up the guard we both needed.

"You're not choosing them over me," I repeated, willing Cypherion to hear the truth beneath my words. "And I am deciding my fate this time. I'm staying here of my own free will. I will heal, and I will become a bigger asset in this battle with the Angels."

And then, I would free myself of Titus's clutches for good. I would rip the chains from his hands and wrap them around his throat, crumbling his rule with them.

Cypherion swore I would never be at Titus's mercy again, and I wouldn't. The Chancellor of the Starsearchers would be at mine .

"I'll be back for you." A pang went through my heart—through both of ours, I thought, judging by the crack in his voice. "I'll be back with a way to break the bond in that tattoo, too."

There was no way—tattoo bonds went soul-deep and could not be undone—but the determination in his voice almost convinced me there was.

Cypherion looked over his shoulder at Harlen, and it wasn't a question when he said, "You're staying here."

Harlen nodded, committing to remain with me in this manor, no matter what it meant. Cypherion took a breath as he faced me again, convincing himself that was a small comfort and not misplaced trust. Stretching up, he pressed his lips against mine, sealing that promise between us.

"It's okay," I swore. I brushed his hair from his eyes, my hand landing on his cheek and his head shaking ever so slightly. "It's okay."

Cypherion stood, pulling me to my feet and into his arms. He looked over my head, fingers curling into my back. "I swear to the Angels and Spirits, Titus, if you harm her in anyway, you will be drawing your own death. I know your secrets, and I'd thoroughly enjoy making it a long, torturous end fit for the crimes."

I didn't turn to see how the chancellor blanched. Didn't need to with the chill from Cypherion's voice seeping into the air.

And I had to curl my fingers into my palms, dig my nails right into my very flesh to stop them from trembling against his chest, because he'd notice. Those little hints of fear, Cypherion would notice them.

He'd know I was not entirely okay remaining here. That my chest was cracking, my heart strangled by fear.

But I was staying regardless, even if it took years for this war with my magic and hunt for the emblems to end. I was not okay returning to my cage, but I would do it to claw my way to fair freedom. One without fear shadowing me as it had since I'd stepped back into this territory.

"You go to them, now," I said. Cypherion's heart broke in his eyes, but I swallowed back my tears. "You go, and then come back for me."

When he kissed me, I savored it. Memorized the taste of him, the way his lips commanded mine expertly, and the feel of his heart hammering beneath my palm. Remembered how it had felt to be with him one last time in my bedchamber and how he'd held me.

"I'll be back for you, Stargirl," he whispered. "I promise. Not even all nine of your Fates could keep me away."

"I love you," I said.

"I love you, too. Guard up, Stargirl."

And then, he grabbed the scrolls and left, not looking back, because we'd both buckle if he did. As he disappeared, a hollowness filled my chest. A chasm his presence had repaired, one that fear sank its claws into once I no longer had to maintain a front to force him away.

And a sob fought out of my throat as the bars of my cage slammed shut once again.

But this time, despite my dread, they rattled. Fissures pierced their iron reign over me in the shape of a captor's lies, an ally's schemes, a warrior's love, and the absolute power of nine Fates.

"Come, Vale," Titus said, turning to the table. "Let's eat."

Harlen eyed me warily.

"As we must," I muttered.

Now that I'd been out—now that I'd experienced the truest form of desperate, all-consuming love—the weaknesses in this enclosure were evident. I noted each, and I began to plan their demise.

Titus might have shattered every promising bit of starlight within me—might have broken me—but now, I'd return the favor.

Now, I would become the breaker.