"Yes, I'm a Moonborn. Why would you ask me that?" I answer indifferently while paying no attention to the knowing look in his eyes.

He gives me a flat look. "I told you not to lie to me, Callie. I think we're done here." He stands up and pats the dirt off of his pants.

"Wait," I object, rising to my feet. "You said you'd tell me everything."

He rolls his eyes. "No, I said that I'd tell you everything that I can. If you're going to be dishonest, then I've told you all that I can. I kept my word," he counters, crossing his arms defiantly. 

I block his path when he turns to wander off. "Oh, like you've been honest with me? Do you expect me to believe that what you've told me about Cyrus and Maddox is all true?"

"It is true!" he exclaims in annoyance. 

I cross my arms, matching his stance. "Fine, but it's not the whole story. You're unhinged, I'll give you that, but I don't think you want Maddox dead just because he and Cyrus kicked you out of the group. There's more to it, isn't there?" I inquire in an accusatory tone.

His expression is half impressed, half irritated. "Unhinged, am I?" he deadpans.

"Dolion," I urge.

He sighs. "Well, you're not as gullible as I'd hoped... I'll give you that. And yes, there's more to the story, but like I said, I've told you all that I can."

I grit my teeth in frustration before I finally spit out, "No, I'm not a Moonborn." It's not like he doesn't already know. Dolion is crazy, but he isn't stupid. "Now can you tell me more?" I ask, causing his lips to curve into a smirk.

"So, you're one of them, right? A Starborn? I wonder what your father would think. Or does he already know?" He talks over me just as I open my mouth to reply. "Oh my Moons, the people of Lunaria would call for his head if they knew about this." The fact that he sounds entertained by this is infuriating. 

I grind my teeth in irritation. "Which is why you're not going to say anything. And it's your turn to talk, Dolion," I say barbarously. 

His smile drops, and he sighs again. "Okay, don't hate me for this, but I really can't tell you much more. The treaty has a lot of stipulations to it. If Maddox was actually dead, then I'd be more than happy to tell you everything, but as long as he's alive, I can't disclose too much. I'm sorry, Calypso."

Guilt nags at me when the words dead and Maddox come out of his mouth. He actually could be dead. What if I was the last person to see him alive? His amber-flecked eyes and his lopsided smile are burned into my memory, making my heart swell with worry.

I want to slap myself. Maddox should be fine, besides, he's not mine to worry about. With that being said, I still owe him for saving my life, so I will still make sure he finds his way back to reality.

As for Dolion, I'll have to pay closer attention to what he says and doesn't say. He said he'd tell me everything he can. I should've known that that was his way of sidestepping around the truth. But why? Why hide the truth for Maddox's sake if he really hates him so much? Is the pact he made with him really that dangerous to break?

"Can you at least tell me why you can't?" I plead quietly.

His expression is thoughtful for a moment before he finally asks, "Have you ever heard of mutually assured destruction?"

Memories of Atlas's ramblings of war resurface in my mind as I nod slowly. Mutual assured destruction: the understanding that an attack from one side of the battlefront would result in a devastating retaliation from the enemy that would then lead to the annihilation of both the attacker and the defender. 

Basically, you can't kill your enemy without killing yourself.

"Well, that is why I can't tell you too much."

I contemplate his words for a moment, then ask, "So, you two made a pact to keep each other's secrets or something?" He nods stiffly. I shake my head. "So, what... you tell me something I'm not supposed to know and Maddox will kill you?" I press, still feeling confused.

He lets out a short laugh. "Please. If that was the worry, then I would've spilled the beans a long time ago. Maddox couldn't kill me if both of my hands were tied behind my back," he sneers boisterously. "But I'll tell you what, I could kill him with my hands behind my back."

I ignore his arrogant comment. My curiosity is screaming for answers, and I don't want to risk getting off-topic again. "What will happen, then?"

He shrugs. "If I tell his business, he will tell mine. And if either of our secrets got out, well... it would be a bloodbath. And not just for us Moonborns. The mortals would go feral too. They'd probably all ban together to kill the both of us."

His words make me want to know what Maddox and him are hiding from everyone even more. What kind of secret is poisonous enough to make people want to kill their own leaders? A small part of me thinks that it may be best that I don't know what they're hiding, but my inquisitiveness gets the better of me, as always. "I wouldn't tell anyone," I whisper. My eyes flicker around the camp to make sure none of the Moonborns are too close.

He cocks his head to the side and grins. "Oh, Calypso, don't you know that's what anyone would say? I can't trust you, unfortunately," he declares with a loud yawn.

This all makes so much more sense now. Trivial rivalries aren't why Dolion wants to kill Maddox. He wants him dead so that he won't have to worry about anyone finding out whatever it is that Maddox knows about him. But, what could be so bad that he doesn't want me or anyone else to know?

"You can," I encourage impatiently. "You know that I'm not a Moonborn, and I'm sure you know that I don't want anyone to know that. Why not make a pact with me? You keep my secret, and I'll keep yours," I suggest.

He laughs loudly, startling me. "Now, why would I do that when I could use the fact that you're a Starborn as leverage to get whatever I want out of you?" he muses in a significantly quieter tone, causing something volatile in me to ignite. 

I catch his arm when he starts to turn away. 

His smirk only increases as I step closer to him, but my next words instantly diminish his smugness. "If you do tell anyone, I'll tell the mortals that you attacked Maddox. If they were willing to storm your camp and start killing Moonborns just because he went missing, what do you think the humans would do if they knew that actually you killed their leader?"

He pulls out of my grasp and glowers. "I thought he wasn't dead?" he spits out harshly.

"He's not here to prove that, now is he?" I ask rhetorically.

His eyes shoot daggers at me, and he looks like he wants to say something but he doesn't. When he finally does respond, he merely says, "Remind me not to underestimate you again." With that, he turns on his heel to retreat again.

"Where are you going?" I ask.

"I'm going to do this thing they call sleep. You should try it sometime."

"Wait!" I shout. I have so many more questions for him, but I know that he no longer has an interest in sharing now that he's gotten what he wanted out of me. He's got lockjaw when it comes to Maddox, but there is another thing that's been bothering me that I need answers to. "I have one more question."

He doesn't bother turning to look at me as he waves me off. "We can talk later! Go babysit your brother or something!" His reply is followed by an exaggerated yawn as he stretches his arms above his head.

My fists tighten with determination. The worst he can do is ignore me. "Why did you help me?" I call out. To my surprise, he stops walking after a moment.

He's still for a moment before finally turning to face me. "What do you mean?" he asks in a surprisingly serious tone, taking a few steps forward to shorten the distance between us. 

"You didn't tell Maddox who I was. You didn't tell him that I was a Van Blake. You covered for me, but you barely even know me. And you could've attacked me when I tried to stop you from killing Maddox too, but you didn't do that either. Why?"

His brows knit together in both confusion and frustration. "You didn't do anything to me. Why would I hurt you?" I give him a flat look and he frowns. "Believe it or not, I don't just go around killing people for the fun of it, Calypso. Besides, I told you my people would turn on me if I even so much as thought about hurting a Van Blake anyway."

He could've fooled me about the killing part. He seemed to be enjoying himself when he tried to kill Maddox and when he was facing off against Cyrus, but I don't bring attention to this. I won't get answers by antagonizing him. I shrug and reply with, "Your people didn't even know that Juniper and I were on the island yet. Orion didn't know either. You could've gotten away with it... with killing us, I mean... if you had wanted to."

"I guess I missed an opportunity then, didn't I?" he mocks with a dark chuckle. I cross my arms and finally decide to silence my own curiosity. Talking to Dolion is useless. He doesn't take anything seriously for more than five seconds.  I start to make my way over to Orion, but Dolion blocks my path, his expression suddenly solemn. "I didn't hurt you because it was you."

I blink at him, bemused. "What are you talking about?"

His eyes soften, and I'm taken aback for a brief second. There's a pain in his eyes that I've seen before. "You... I saw you. At my family's Moon Gathering last year. I remember seeing your face."

I shuffle awkwardly as the violent images of him murdering his own siblings resurface. "My dad wanted me to go. Said I needed to see what it was like since Atlas's twenty-second birthday was coming up."

His eyes widen. "Oh, that's right. Atlas is of age now, isn't he?" I nod with a frown. He takes a hesitant step forward. "Everyone at my Moon Gathering was looking at me the same way. Like I should be proud. Like what was happening wasn't wrong; it was honorable. And yes, I know I was killing for my country and my family... for our people... a-and I should have felt proud, but I just didn't. I couldn't." He stops to clear his throat. He doesn't cry, but his eyes are clouded with a strong melancholy that makes my chest ache. "I couldn't feel proud. I was terrified, and I hated every second of the ceremony. I hated what I was doing, and I hated that nobody tried to stop it. Even my parents held their heads high with so much admiration... and that made me feel even worse. Lonely, somehow."

My leaps to my throat. This will be me and my family soon. "Dolion, I'm sor—"

He cuts me off. I don't even think he's fully aware of our surroundings anymore. "And the whole time there was this voice screaming at me in my head— it was screaming, 'Why isn't anyone stopping me?" He stops to take a deep breath, and I can see the same fear I saw in his eyes last year. He's traumatized. "I'm getting off-topic, I-I'm sorry. The point is, I didn't hurt you because when I looked into the crowd last year, you were the only one not looking at me like I was a coward for showing regret."

I swallow. "I think anyone in that situation would be upset, Dolion. You're not a coward for not wanting to hurt your own family."

He shakes his head, smiling humorlessly. "You'd be surprised. Most Moonborns go into the Moon Gathering with very little remorse. I couldn't though. Because, instead of drilling laws into our heads and forcing us to view our siblings as competition, my parents let us all love each other." His jaw clenches, and his gray eyes darken. "And I hate them for it," he says through gritted teeth.

"I'm sorry." That's all I'm able to say. His words have sent my worries for my own family into a spiral.

"Don't be. You may put on a tough act, but it's obvious that you care about your family, at least. Your parents must've let you grow up alongside your siblings too, so you'll know how it feels soon enough when we all get to go home."

An uneasy feeling seeps through me. His sadness has turned into an icy bitterness, making me regret my original question. "I shouldn't have asked. You didn't have to tell me that," I say apologetically.  

His gaze is gentle when it meets mine again. "No, but I wanted to tell you. I know that you didn't actually mean to, but when you looked at me with just as much emotion as I was feeling at that moment, I felt... less lonely. So, to answer your question, I helped you because you helped me. So, thank you for that."

The desire to run to the tree house and hide with Orion is a strong one. Offering comfort and accepting compliments aren't in my area of expertise, so this is awkward for me. "You don't need to thank me," I mumble, averting my eyes.

Luckily for me, he doesn't push anything and changes the topic. "I actually have one more question for you too." I gesture for him to proceed and he obliges. "Are you actually going to Cyrus's camp tomorrow?"

I nod. "I have to."

Disapproval mars his immaculate features. "If you're only going because you're worried about them attacking us, then don't bother. Us Moonborns can hold our own—especially against those brainless mortals."

"No, it's not just that. I have to save Maddox. He saved my life countless times both in and outside of the second dimension. I have to make sure he's—"

"You don't owe him anything, Calypso. If he saved you, it was for selfish reasons. He will betray you eventually if you let him. You've gotta trust me on this, alright?"

I scoff. "Why would I trust you when you haven't even told me the full truth about everything?"

He purses his lips in contemplation, remaining silent for a long moment. "Does Maddox know what you are?" he asks.

He's the reason I found out that I'm a Starborn in the first place, I think to myself dryly. "Yes, he knows," I answer honestly. 

His face falls and he sighs, dropping his head. After a moment, he looks back up to survey our surroundings. I follow his gray gaze. Most of the Moonborns have retreated into a tree house or the big tent for the night, and more are currently following suit. Besides Dolion and myself, the only other people not turning in for the night are an old couple watching the bonfire's flames slowly shrink. 

"What's wrong?" I ask warily.

Wordlessly, he grips my arms and walks forward, pushing me along with him. I protest quietly, but he doesn't let go of me until we are unnecessarily far, far away from the tent and the couple. He stops walking when we're just outside of the clearing. 

The forest is nearly pitch black because of the canopy of green splayed out above it, but I can still make out his somber expression beneath the moonlight stretched across the field to our right.

"I'm going to tell you something, but you have to swear that you won't tell anyone that I told you. Not the Moonborns. Not the mortals. Nobody. I'm going to tell you the secret that Maddox doesn't want anybody to know, and if he finds out... or if anyone else knew this at all, a lot of people could die, Callie."

I match his level of noise and whisper, "I won't tell anyone anything, as long as you promise not to tell anyone about my magic."

He holds out his hand. "I won't tell anyone that you're a Starborn, and you won't tell anyone about what Maddox did."

I shake his hand, but I know that my promise might not be an honest one. Depending on what he tells me about Maddox, I might have to tell my siblings. Yes, I am personally curious about Maddox's and Dolion's feud, but I'm mostly eager to find out the truth for the sake of keeping my family and myself safe. I need to confirm that his and Maddox's hatred for one another won't come down on everyone else in some way.

And he'll only tell people that I'm a Starborn if he knows that I told someone else. If I have to tell, I'll swear my siblings to secrecy. But hopefully, it's not as serious as Dolion is making it out to be, and I won't have to break my word.

"I'm trusting you with this, " he says as he releases my hand. "And I'm only telling you this because I don't want you to get yourself killed."

"Mutual assured destruction, remember?" I counter slyly. 

He grins for a second, then drops his smile, stepping closer to me. His proximity is too close for comfort, but I ignore it. "Everything I told you earlier is true, but I didn't just get kicked out of the group for trying to kill Cyrus," he says quietly.

"Okay, well what else happened?" I press.

He clears his throat, lowering his voice even more, if possible. "You aren't the first Starborn that Maddox and I have met. And I'm not talking about the guards that threw us all here. His name was Leo, and he didn't agree with what his people were doing to us. He tried to help us all escape the Autolycus Cage."

"How?"

"Star magic built this place, so we all figured it could destroy it just the same. I don't know what Leo was going to do exactly, but he said he had to go back to that blue tree out there." He points a finger at the dark forest to our left. "The tree is the linchpin of this place... like an anchor, I guess. If it goes, this whole place goes."

My eyebrows shoot up in surprise. "Leo said that?" I ask.

He nods. "Yes, he said the tree is our way out, but it can't be brought down with anything other than Star magic. Believe me, I've tried destroying that thing with everything under the sun. It won't budge." He peers over to the camp cautiously, worried that someone might be listening. The old couple is slipping inside the tent now, leaving just Dolion and myself outside. "So, Maddox and Cyrus got along with him just fine, er... well, Cyrus hates everyone, so Maddox and I got along with him, I mean. But anyway, I genuinely wanted to help Leo free all of our people, and I thought Maddox wanted the same thing, but..." He trails off, looking uncertain.

"Maddox didn't want to free everyone?" I beseech. 

Stress twists his face into a  frown, and he pinches the bridge of his nose. "My Moons, you can't tell anyone this, Callie, okay?"

Anxiety squeezes my chest. What is he so afraid of saying out loud? "I already told you, I won't tell anybody," I say reassuringly. Guilt prods at me because I don't know if I actually mean it. "Tell me what happened."

He still looks doubtful but continues anyway. "Leo used a sword, like that one that Maddox is lugging around now, to open some kind of rift in the blue tree. It was like the sword sliced into the atmosphere itself. It was definitely something to see. But the whole island became unstable. Everything started shaking. The ground, the trees, the ocean. Everything. I couldn't even stand up straight, but I think I felt my magic return to me for a fleeting second."

Hope jostles me, and I suddenly feel more alert. Maddox was right about me. I can save everyone, including my family. "So, it was actually working? Star magic is the key out of here?" I question eagerly.

"I'm pretty sure, yes, but Leo didn't get to finish what he started, so I don't know if it would have worked, or not."

A lump forms in my throat, and my shoulders sag. "What went wrong?" I whisper wearily. 

"Maddox killed him before Leo could destroy the tree. He waited until his guard was down and then stabbed him with his own sword."

I stare at him in astonishment. There's no way Maddox would do that. Ares and Vivian even said that Maddox has been trying to find an escape every day since he got here. And besides, I can't picture Maddox killing someone in cold blood like that. I definitely think that he's hiding things, but this can't be it. "Why would he do that?" I challenge, arching a doubtful brow.

"Remember how I said he wanted to be the leader of the group? Well, he likes power, and he didn't want to lose it. He likes being in charge of things, and he thought Leo's life was less important than his ego," he grumbles resentfully. I shake my head in disbelief and Dolion gives me an impatient look. "Maddox killed Leo, Calypso. He killed him so that he could keep everyone here and stay in power."

"Why would he do that, Dolion? Why would he keep his own people from going home? Why would he want to stay trapped here?" I ask in disbelief. 

"Because he doesn't have a home to go back to. He will have nothing to go back to if this Autolycus Cage falls." I clench my fists at his words. Maybe Dolion is telling the truth. Maddox did say that he left his home to learn more from other healers. And he said that he was in a fire when he was younger. Did the fire destroy his home, and that's why he has nowhere to go now? Dolion pulls me from my thoughts when he says, "He loves that the mortals admire and trust him, and all of that would've gone away if Leo had saved everyone, so he killed him. He's selfish, Callie."

I stumble back, feeling disoriented all of a sudden. I was right. People are only kind to you for selfish reasons. Maddox has been manipulating me into trusting him from the start. It makes sense. Why would someone go out of their way for a stranger as many times as he has?

I knew I should've trusted my instincts. I knew he was the bigger threat between him and Cyrus since day one! I knew it!

Maybe his kindness could've been genuine in the beginning, but Maddox definitely went out of his way to help me after he found out that I was a Starborn. I mean, I knew he was keeping me around for my Star magic, but I didn't know that it was because he saw it as a threat.

There's a small, pathetic voice in my head that refuses to believe Dolion until I hear Maddox's side of things, but I know that I can't ever actually ask him about it. Because if Maddox did kill Leo for being a Starborn and I tell him that I know that, he could lash out and kill me.

But what if Maddox didn't do it? I knot my fingers into my hair and against my scalp. Don't be a fool, I chastise myself internally.

"Are you okay?" Dolion murmurs regretfully.

I don't realize that I'm biting my tongue as hard as I am until I taste rust. I glare at the ground, sucking in a deep breath. 

Everything Maddox has done since he found out that I was a Starborn was to get closer to me so that he could kill me like he killed Leo. This is the cold, hard truth, and I can't let my emotions cloud that. 

My head snaps back up. "Who else knows?" I ask through a clenched jaw.

"Cyrus might if Maddox told him. But nobody else that I know of. It was only me and Maddox at the tree with Leo that night."

I narrow my eyes. "If you're lying to me..." I warn.

"I wish I was lying," he says with a frown. "He was my friend too, Callie." He's telling the truth. I can see it in his eyes. There's no humor. No smugness. Just... pain.

"Well, I wasn't his friend," I say coldly, then ask, "What did you do after Maddox killed Leo?"

"Well, Maddox got away before I could do much, but as I told you before, I stormed their camp to try and kill him and Cyrus. But it wasn't just because I got kicked out of the group or because I had some childish rivalry with Maddox. I went in there to avenge Leo, and I was lucky that the Moonborns had my back, or I would've died too."

I run my hand through my hair in exasperation. "Okay, well why didn't you tell your people what happened? This was before you and Maddox made that treaty, right?"

He gives me a guilty look. "Yes, but he already knew things about me that I didn't want anyone else to know. Honestly, we were in each other's debt before the pact was ever made."

"What could you possibly have to hide that's worth covering up your friend's murder?" I demand, eyeing him incredulously. 

"I'm trying to keep my parents safe!" he bursts out defensively. "If my secrets got out, they'd be killed. That's why I can't tell you any more than I already have. I shouldn't have even told you any of this, but I can't just let you chase after some idiot who wants to kill you!"

"How could Maddox possibly do anything from here to hurt your parents?" I ask. 

"Not him directly, but... I-I can't tell you. I can't risk telling you anything else, alright? Just please don't tell anyone about this. If Maddox finds out I told you anything, my parents will die. And as angry as I am at them for the Moon Gathering, my parents are all I have left. I can't lose them too."

I still don't see how Dolion's parents correlate to any of this, but I won't pry any further. I can already tell that he is afraid of what might happen because of what I already know. "I understand," I say, offering him a softer look. "I just... I can't believe this. Maddox was kind to me. He helped me so many times—"

"He helped Leo too. Gave him food, clothes, shelter—you name it. Maddox is loyal to his people because he knows he can control them, but it's all an act when it comes to anyone else. And yeah, I'm sure he's been more than kind to you. Hell, he'd charm your pants right off of ya, if you let him."

I cross my arms. "You say his people, but the mortals aren't really his people. Why does he insist on helping them when he's a Moonborn like us? Er, well... you."

"Because humans are easier to control. Us Moonborns may not have access to our magic in here, but we're stubborn as can be," he comments with a small smile. 

I tangle my fingers together behind my back anxiously. What am I going to do tomorrow? If I don't help the mortals save Maddox, they'll attack this camp. And Orion is in no shape to run. My eyes widen. 

Orion! He still needs help that I can't give him. But Maddox can help. With the lack of antibiotics around here, Maddox's healing spell is my little brother's only hope.

"Do you understand why I told you all of this?" Dolion continues, desperately tugging at my arm to gain my attention. "You can't meet up with Cyrus tomorrow. If he doesn't kill you out of spite first, then Maddox will do it for him later. I don't know what you and Maddox went through in that dimension, but he will kill you when the time is right. Just like he killed Leo. My advice? Let the bastard rot over there."

"Even if all of that is true, I still have to go tomorrow," I say resolutely as I picture Orion's wounds getting worse by the second.

He gawks at me. "What? You can't! Do you hear what I'm telling you, Calypso? You'll be signing your own death sentence if you go."

"Cyrus and his people will kill more Moonborns if I don't follow through," I say tersely as images of Maddox's past generosities flicker through my mind. None of it was unalloyed, and I didn't realize I had any sort of soft spot forming for him until now. 

I cared for him, but with his true intentions revealed, my heart now stings resentfully.

Dolion curves his lips in disappointment. He was hopeful that his truth would deter me from saving Maddox, but all it's done is fuel my desire to find him—for both the right and the wrong reasons. But Orion is the most important one. 

"Calypso, please—" he tries to argue.

"And I need something from Maddox," I announce, cutting him off sharply. "After that, I don't care what happens to him."

--------- author's note

Hey, all! To anyone who actually reads these, this book did not make the shortlist in the Watty's, unfortunately. I was kinda sad, but I'm also relieved that I can just write without stressing over deadlines now. Phew!

So, with that being said, my updates won't be every Wednesday like they have been. It'll range sometime between (almost) every Tuesday-Thursday. It just depends on how busy I am during the week. 

But anyway, I wanted to also say thank you to all of you. I may not have placed in the contest, but it means a lot you guys return again and again for the next chapter of this story. I appreciate you all! Have a great week! xo