Hunt the Stars (Starlight's Shadow #1)

I blinked at the strange wording, but the ever increasing bloodstain held most of my attention. “Of course I’m asking you to stop the bleeding. What did you think I was doing?”

Havil sagged in relief and rushed forward. At his direction, I peeled back the impromptu bandage, and Havil gripped Torran’s hand. As I watched, the deep gash in Torran’s wrist knit itself back together until only unblemished skin remained.

And through it all, Torran knelt silent and still.

Once Havil was done, he ushered everyone else out of the room, leaving Torran and me alone once again.

My heart thundered in my chest, and I took a moment to just breathe before I spoke. “Explain.”

“You were right that my previous promises conflicted with my promise to keep you safe,” Torran said, his voice quiet but firm. “Now we are a single unit by Valovian law and custom. Anything I know, I may share freely with you, prior oaths notwithstanding.”

“What do you mean ‘a single unit’?” I waved at his now-healed wrist. “What did you do?”

“I offered you a life debt and you accepted.”





Chapter Twenty-Five




I held up a hand as if I could physically push Torran’s words away. “I did not accept. I don’t know what a life debt is, but I don’t want it. I release you.”

Torran clasped my hand and pressed a gentle kiss to the pads of my fingers. “Thank you,” he murmured.

My eyes narrowed. “That didn’t do anything, did it?”

He shook his head, expression unreadable. “No, but I appreciate the sentiment.” He rose and returned to his seat. Only the bloody napkin and the stained arm of his tunic indicated that anything unusual had happened.

Torran’s hands rested on the table and his fingers slowly curled into fists. “The day after Cien was taken, Empress Nepru summoned me to the palace. The kidnappers had already been in contact, and the empress suspected that the FHP was involved. I was tasked with retrieving one of several prominent FHP heroes. I refused, but I was not given a choice. You happened to be in the right place at the right time—and you seemed like you might be able to find my nephew. You were my top pick.”

“So you knew I was going to be in danger but promised me safe passage anyway.”

“It was a promise I made with every intention of keeping. The empress has her agenda and I have mine. I want Cien found. I don’t want another war.”

I leaned back in my chair. So I wasn’t the only one who thought war was on the horizon. “How do we stop it?”

“We can’t, not if they’re determined, but we can find Cien and get you off Valovia. They’ll have to find something else to fight about.”

I pivoted the conversation without warning. “What is a life debt and why was your team so shocked?”

Torran steadily met my gaze. “It is a very old custom. When vosdodite isn’t enough or when honor demands more, a life debt is offered. If accepted, the two individuals are bound.”

“How did I accept without knowing?”

“You stopped the bleeding.”

I spread my hands in a gesture of helplessness. “So I was supposed to just let you bleed to death without doing anything about it?” I frowned. “This system seems rigged.”

Torran smiled gently. “The bleeding would’ve stopped on its own, eventually. Deaths are rare, unless the cut is careless.”

Realization dawned. “You tricked me. How do I release you?”

“You don’t. Life debts are freely offered and withdrawn only once the debt is paid. It is up to the debtor to determine when that is.”

I relaxed. “Okay, so you can just tell me everything I need to know and then withdraw the offer.”

“I could,” Torran agreed, something odd in his tone.

“Don’t tell me you intended to do more than that? What else does a life debt entail?”

“The reason that a life debt binds two people so tightly that they are seen as one in Valovian law is because I became your shield the moment you accepted.” He put his left wrist over his heart and met my eyes, his expression searing in its intensity. “I will put your life above my own until the debt is paid. I will protect you from dangers seen and unseen, from every quarter, until I prevail or my body fails. Your happiness and safety are my singular goals.”

I swallowed the wave of emotion that rose at his words. My heart, being the soft thing that it was, attempted to leap out of my chest and straight into his arms. It didn’t care about betrayal or lies or impossibility. It knew what it wanted—and it wanted Torran.

“How long do you think it’ll take you to feel like you’ve paid the debt?” I asked.

“Once I’ve regained your trust and returned you safely to human-occupied space, I will reevaluate,” Torran said with every indication that he was serious.

“That’s a lot to do this afternoon if you still think I should leave tonight.”

“I will travel with you.”

My mouth popped open. “But what about your nephew?”

“My team will search in my absence. Putting your life above mine wasn’t just words, Tavi. A life debt supersedes all other ties.”

I sighed and pressed my fingers together. I wanted to trust him, but he’d burned me before. “If you’re doing this just to manipulate me, then I’m going to make your life debt literal and kill you. You know that, right?”

He flinched and bowed his head. “I am sorry that I’ve given you reason to doubt my honor so thoroughly. It is an error I intend to fix, starting now. Ask me anything and I will answer.”

I didn’t even hesitate. “Did you know the empress planned to kill me when you asked me to take the job?”

“No. But after we arrived, Nilo informed me that he’d been hearing whispers about something happening in less than two weeks, which is why I urged you to work quickly. I did not know the full extent of those plans until yesterday morning when I spoke to Empress Nepru. Chira and I both tried to talk her out of it.”

I did the mental math. Yesterday morning was after we’d investigated the garage and the route the kidnappers had taken. The tight knot of hurt unclenched in my chest. He hadn’t known that the empress was going to kill me when he’d kissed me.

“How did you get her to promise to let me go if I found your nephew?”

Torran gave me a grim smile. “I have a few levers of my own, things she would not like to be made public. I will not say more than that.”

I drummed my fingers on the table. “If I ask you to do something, do you have to because of the debt?”

He shook his head. “It doesn’t work like that.”

“What if it’ll make me happy?”

His expression softened. “Your happiness is my goal, but the debt doesn’t require me to do anything against my will. I might choose to do something that will make you happy, but it’s still my choice.”

I let out a slow breath, relieved. I could deal with the debt as long as I knew that he was free to make his own choices. “What did you say after you recklessly cut yourself?”

“Cho wubr chil tavoz. My life is yours.”