Chapter 3

The next demand was even more grotesque, a new low even for Ethan.

He was trying to curry favor with a corrupt local politician, a man whose vote could swing a crucial zoning deal for a future Caldwell development.

The politician' s prize-winning racehorse had suddenly died, just days before a major race that meant everything to him, a race with a huge illegal betting pool tied to it.

Ethan saw an opportunity.

He burst into the small, sterile room I now occupied, his face flushed with a manic excitement.

"Elara, get dressed. We're going out," he commanded.

"Where?" I asked, my voice flat.

"Doesn't matter. Just know this is big. This could solve all my problems."

He dragged me to a sprawling, opulent stable, the air thick with the scent of hay and expensive animals.

In a large, padded stall, lay the still form of a magnificent black stallion.

The politician, a stout man with shifty eyes, wrung his hands. "It's a disaster, Caldwell. Absolute disaster. Pegasus was my champion."

Ethan clapped him on the shoulder, a predatory grin on his face.

"Don't you worry, Councilman. I have a little... miracle worker here." He gestured to me. "She can fix things. Special talent."

My blood ran cold. "Ethan, no. You can't be serious."

He wanted me to use my gift, my life-mending, on an animal.

A horse.

For his business deal.

"Do it, Elara," Ethan ordered, his voice low and dangerous when the politician stepped away to take a call.

"I told you, Ethan," I said, my voice trembling but firm. "I can't. There's nothing left."

"Don't give me that crap!" He grabbed my arm, his fingers digging into my skin, the skin that no longer bore any stars. "You will do this. For me."

He started to physically drag me towards the dead horse.

The politician was watching, a greedy, hopeful glint in his eyes.

This was the ultimate degradation, to be forced to perform my sacred, draining ritual for a beast, for profit, for men who saw me as less than human.

That was it. The breaking point. Something inside me snapped.

"No!" I wrenched my arm free, stumbling back.

The word was louder than I intended, raw with all the pain and abuse I' d swallowed for years.

"My power is GONE, Ethan!" I cried out, my voice cracking. "Do you understand? It's finished! All nine stars, they're all gone! There' s nothing left to give!"

I held up my bare forearm, thrusting it towards him. "See? Nothing!"

Ethan stared at my arm, then at my face, his expression shifting from rage to disbelief, then back to fury.

"You're lying!" he roared. "You're just trying to get out of it! You ungrateful bitch!"

The politician looked confused, then annoyed. "What is this, Caldwell? Some kind of joke?"

Ethan ignored him, advancing on me. "You will do this, or I swear..."

I saw no escape. No future. Only an endless cycle of his demands, his cruelty.

My will, so long suppressed, finally shattered.

If I couldn' t live free of him, I wouldn' t live at all.

I turned and fled from the stable, out into the manicured grounds of the politician's estate, towards the main road.

I heard Ethan shouting behind me, but I didn't stop.

Headlights. Roaring engine.

I ran straight into the path of an oncoming car.