Stardust and spells

the fight

“Ms. Vale. Open the door.”

That voice again. Calm. Patient. Like a teacher talking to a child.

Mr. Voss.

Mom shot up in bed. “Selene?”

“Stay down,” I whispered. My voice was shaking but my hands weren’t. Not anymore.

The jar was warm in my palms. Half-empty, but not empty.

The glow in my skin was back. It hurt. It felt good.

Another knock. Louder.

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way, dear. You’re hurting yourself by running.”

Easy way = they take me.

Hard way = they take me and Mom.

I looked at Mom. She shook her head once. Don’t.

But I was so tired of running.

I walked to the door.

Took a breath.

And I didn’t open it.

I blew it open.

Starlight exploded out from my hands. White and silver and sharp as glass.

The door blew off its hinges and slammed into the hallway.

Two men in suits went flying.

Mr. Voss was still standing. Unharmed. Shield in his hand. Some kind of tech.

He smiled. “There she is.”

“Get away from my mother,” I said. My voice didn’t sound like mine. It sounded like wind.

He tilted his head. “We don’t want her. We want you. Star-Weavers are rare. You could make us billions. Fix the power grid. Win wars. Imagine what you could do if you weren’t wasting it on hospital bills.”

“Not like this.”

I threw another bolt. He blocked it. The light hit the wall and burned a hole straight through to the next room.

People were screaming now. Fire alarms.

Mom was coughing from the smoke. “Selene, stop”

“Then help me!” I yelled at her. “Tell me how to stop them without this!”

She just looked at me. Sad. “You can’t.”

Mr. Voss took a step forward. “Last chance, girl. Come quietly.”

And that’s when the window shattered.

Glass everywhere.

A figure dropped in from the fire escape, 6 stories up. No rope. No harness.

Damian.

He rolled, came up fast, and put himself between me and Voss.

No security. No team. Just him in jeans and a black hoodie. Breathing hard like he’d run the whole way.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I whispered.

“Saving you,” he said without looking back. “Again.”

Then louder, to Voss: “Touch her and I’ll make sure every news outlet on Earth knows the Cross Foundation is k********g teenagers.”

Voss laughed. “Mr. Cross. This isn’t your fight.”

“It is now.” Damian held out his hand to me. “Come on.”

I should’ve been scared he’d get hurt.

Instead I was angry. At him. At Voss. At myself.

So I did something stupid.

I grabbed Damian’s hand.

And I poured starlight into him.

It wasn’t to heal him.

It was to use him.

The light shot up his arm and out through his chest. He gasped, but didn’t let go.

And for 3 seconds, he glowed. Like he was made of stars.

The force knocked Voss and his men back into the wall.

Damian stumbled. “What... what did you do?”

“I’m sorry,” I breathed. “I didn’t I just needed”

But Voss was already getting up. Blood on his lip. Mad now.

“Enough.” He pulled something from his coat. A gun. But not bullets. Darts.

Tranquilizers. For Star-Weavers.

He aimed at Mom.

“No!” I screamed.

I moved without thinking. Jumped in front of her.

The dart hit me in the shoulder.

Cold. Then fire. Then nothing.

The last thing I saw was Damian catching me before I hit the floor.

His face. Panicked.

“Selene? Selene, stay with me!”

And then the world went black.