My panic started to rise as I listened and I feared being discovered here so I hurried back to the stairs, jogging silently down them and moving between the stacks towards the exit.
A creak sounded as my foot pressed down on an old floorboard and my heart galloped harder as I ran faster, remaining as silent as I could before making it outside and darting around the side of the building to hide.
I pushed my feet into my shoes, clinging to the shadows as I kept moving, trying to decide what to do. And I knew I only had one choice.
I brought up my uncle’s number, forwarding him the video and leaning back against the wall as I waited for a reply. It came a minute later as he called me, and I answered in a whisper.
“Hello.”
“Good work, Diego. You are proving of some use at last,” he growled. “I need you to use the amulet I gave you tonight. Place it in the ground at the eastern fence and meet me there when I message you.”
“Okay, what are you going to do?” I asked, fear lacing my words at the idea of my uncle coming here, but the line went dead.
I sighed, pushing my Atlas back into my pocket and adjusting my hat over my ears as I decided to head back to Aer Tower to fetch the amulet before I went to the party. And as I stared up at the darkening sky, I wondered if the stars truly hated me like my mother believed they did.
The memory changed to later that night, and I was thrown back into Diego’s body as he slipped out of The Orb and started running towards the eastern fence.
Adrenaline fuelled my limbs as I ran as fast as I could across campus, my smart jacket flapping out behind me as I tore along the dark paths and tried not to panic about what my uncle planned to do tonight.
As I made it to the fence, he stepped into view among the trees beyond it with my mamá at his side, the two of them wearing all black apart from the knitwear my abuela had gifted them.
“Hurry up,” my mamá snapped and Alejandro pointed to the ground at my feet.
I took the amulet from my inside pocket, pushing it into the ground and feeling the dark magic imbued within it. It snaked out into the dirt and the magical boundary in front of them crackled and shrouded in shadow. The two of them stepped through it and Alejandro used the heat of his fire magic to bend the bars so he and my mamá could climb through the fence onto campus.
My breaths came unevenly as I stared at them, fearing what they were going to do now and knowing that I was responsible for it. But as Alejandro stepped closer, his upper lip peeling back as he looked at me, I knew I’d had no other choice. He grabbed the back of my neck, swinging me around and shoving me ahead of him.
“Take me to Astrum,” he snarled.
“That old man’s been avoiding his fate far too long,” Mamá purred excitedly and a shiver of dread ran down my spine.
“What do you mean?” I asked, looking to her and her eyes dripped over me in disdain.
“He’s old enough to know,” Alejandro said as he shared a look with his sister.
“He worked at the palace when we killed the royals,” Mamá said with a twisted smile on her lips that made my stomach knot with dread.
“You…what?” I breathed, sure they were just messing with me.
“Where do you think I got all of my power, idiota?” Alejandro smirked, playing with flames in his palms and making my throat tighten. “I’m the strongest Nymph in Solaria.”
“That’s because you didn’t share,” Mamá sniped at him. “Though the queen tasted oh so sweet when she died. I can’t say I’d have wanted to miss that.” She grinned evilly and I found my feet unable to move any further as I stared at them, realising what they were saying.
“You killed the Vegas’ parents?” I rasped.
“Yes,” Alejandro said with pride in his voice. “Thanks to Lionel Acrux.”
“He loved watching them kick and scratch us as our friends held them down for us, didn’t he?” Mamá said, the image making bile rise in my throat. “I think he enjoys death more than you, Alejandro.”
“No one enjoys it more than me,” he said darkly, grabbing my arm and shoving me along again. “But look at your son, he can’t even stomach the thought of blood.”
“He’s the spitting image of Miguel in every way,” Mamá said in disgust, but I didn’t know how I could resemble a man who rarely spoke and seemed to be void of all emotion.
My legs felt numb as I kept walking towards The Orb where I’d last seen Astrum, wondering if there was some way I could alert everyone to the Nymphs being on campus without unveiling myself. I could deal with them just like that, my troubles gone forever, and I could stay in this world pretending to be Fae for as long as I could get away with it.