Essence of the Angels (The Starlight Chronicles #2)

Chapter Five

Valarie's POV

I barely noticed anything when I sat back down. I didn't see or hear the steady trickle of Court Leaders filing into the room—I only heard my own thoughts, echoing over and over through my head.

Demi-goddess...Shade's daughter...

Suddenly, a lot more things made sense. The fancy guest room as opposed to a dungeon. The whole 'bring you home' thing.

At the same time, I couldn't fathom it. I already had a father—and even if he was gone, he was still my father.

Secondly, I'd been told not long ago that I was a

Starlight princess like Lucy. That I was the real heir to the Starlight Throne, then in a chaotic turn of events that had turned out to be a total lie.

Now I was being told that I was a demi-goddess . . . and at this point, I just didn't even know who or what to believe.

There wasn't even any proof that I was actually a Shadeow, aside from the burn my shoulder they told me served as evidence. But how did I know they were telling me the truth?

How could I possibly believe them after everything they had done?

It wasn't long before everyone was seated—all twelve of the Court Leaders, their respective associates, as well as Devian and myself—and Reina cleared her throat and began the meeting.

"Let's not waste any more time," she said briskly, clicking her tongue. "After all, it's not something we have a lot of."

My head was starting to swim. Didn't she say earlier that time was slower here? How could they possibly not have a lot of time?

I was analyzing every word, every movement now— looking for a sign that something was wrong, that someone was lying to me. I had to get to the bottom of all of this . . . I had to be sure.

Reina looked over to the man with dark hair who Devian had said was named Benjamin. "How's the situation regarding the implosion of Urenphia?" she asked, deadly serious.

Benjamin shook his head before answering her. "It's getting worse. I can't predict for certain how much time we have left, but I can assure that it is not very much."

Reina tapped her fingers on the table before turning to the rest of the lords. "We need to move fast. The people in our kingdoms are counting on us—if we don't act now, we may never get another chance. The First Wave is already preparing a safe path for us. They will protect us against any oncoming attacks, but nothing will protect us from our impending fate if we don't leave this world."

There was nodding, as many people agreed. I was struggling to follow Reina's words, and exchanged a subtle frown of confusion with Devian. He raised his eyebrows knowingly and inclined his head for me to listen further.

"Our sun grows smaller every day. Our temperatures decrease, becoming colder and colder. The little space we have is already brimming with people, and those who can't find shelter in houses often freeze to death living on the streets. This is the world that Titania forced us into, knowing that we would not survive. It is only because of our Zareina, who bravely devoted her life to grant us passage into the other realm, that we have survived this long."

Reina's eyes and a dozen other eyes fell on me. My cheeks flushed at the attention and I dug my nails into my dress to avoid shrinking into my chair further. I only half understood what she was saying.