The tremor moved up my arms, creeping into my vessels and veins. I shook from the inside out. My lungs tightened, and every breath closed them a little more.
Black spots swam in my vision.
I grasped the terrace handrail, the stone like ice beneath my fingers.
In. Out. In. Out.
Light fanned across the terrace, alerting me that someone had stepped outside.
I squeezed my eyes closed, tears escaping my bottom lashes. Gianna, Gianna, Gianna. I tensed and waited for it. I waited for the world to recognize how damaged I was on the inside. To crack me open and see everything my papà had from the beginning. A different part of me, one quiet but strong, wanted to shout, to scream, to let her rule with a steel heart and red hair.
“Do you want to know my favorite?”
My grip tightened on the railing.
In. Out.
“Andromeda.” Allister moved closer. “An autumn constellation, forty-four light-years away.” His steps were smooth and indifferent, but his voice was dry, as though he found my panic attack positively boring.
His attitude brought a small rush of annoyance in, but it was suddenly swayed as my lungs contracted and wouldn’t release. I couldn’t keep a strangled gasp from escaping.
“Look up.”
It was an order, carrying a harsh edge.
With no fight in me, I complied and tilted my head. Tears blurred my vision. Stars swam together and sparkled like diamonds. I was glad they weren’t. Humans would find a way to pluck them from the sky.
“Andromeda is the dim, fuzzy star to the right. Find it.”
My eyes searched it out. The stars weren’t often easy to see, hidden behind smog and the glow of city lights, but sometimes, on a lucky night like tonight, pollution cleared and they became visible. I found the star and focused on it.
“Do you know her story?” he asked, his voice close behind me.
A cold wind touched my cheeks, and I inhaled slowly.
“Answer me.”
“No,” I gritted.
“Andromeda was boasted to be one of the most beautiful goddesses.” He moved closer, so close his jacket brushed my bare arm. His hands were in his pockets and his gaze was on the sky. “She was sacrificed for her beauty, tied to a rock by the sea.”
I imagined her, a red-haired goddess with a heart of steel chained to a rock. The question bubbled up from the depths of me.
“Did she survive?”
His gaze fell to me. Down the tear tracks to the blood on my bottom lip. His eyes darkened, his jaw tightened, and he looked away.
“She did.”
I found the star again.
Andromeda.
“Ask me what her name means.”
It was another rough demand, and I had the urge to refuse. To tell him to stop bossing me around. However, I wanted to know—I suddenly needed to. But he was already walking away, toward the exit.
“Wait,” I breathed, turning to him. “What does her name mean?”