Starkissed

Chapter Thirty-Five

All that I could do is stare.

I couldn't do anything but take in my older sister's frantic expression, a face clearly plagued with distress at the situation at hand. A face that was staring straight at me, that conveyed the confusion that likely mirrored my own. Sam. My Sammi. She seemed so lifelike. I bit down the sob that wanted to escape my lips and focused on eyeing Rainier with stony indifference instead.

But... how was this even possible? I watched her die. I had gone to the funeral. I had watched them all die, helplessly pinned in my seat unable to do anything to help them as our car caught fire. I had lost consciousness and when I woke up, I had been told they had all died on impact, which had always helped me cope a little with the trauma. That they hadn't suffered.

She's not real. The voice inside my head screamed, begging me to see that before I was overwhelmed with heartbreak all over again. But... there she was. Right in front of my eyes, looking just as shocked to see me.

My mind flashed back to the funeral, where three caskets sat in the front of the room as I was left alone in the world. I had suffered an entire year, where I had mourned their deaths countless times in my head, recounting their painful demise as a way to punish myself for surviving them. For my life somehow being more important than theirs in this painful universe.

I had done some healing since being evicted from our family home... and had slowly begun the process of forgiving myself; to allow myself to live again after meeting Kade. I had finally started to feel happiness again... finally felt like I deserved to enjoy life.

I couldn't allow Rainier to mess with my head like this. Clearly, this wasn't real. It wasn't even remotely possible. It didn't make sense.

"I knew Selarians were heartless creatures... but this? How does this possibly benefit you? How do you even know who my sister was?" My voice was raw and I was vibrating with rage. I could feel whatever hold he had on my powers slipping the angrier I got.

Rainier looked perplexed as he cocked his head to the side to study me. "Is there a reason you are using past tense in regards to your sister?"

In that moment, I could feel my blood actually boiling. I was envisioning slicing his handsome head clean off of his shoulders with the fire poker precariously placed near the crackling stone hearth.

"Because she is dead." I hissed, having had enough of being a pawn in his game. The hologram behind me made a strangled noise and I ignored it. I was tired of being a pawn in everyone's game. Another sound from the girl in the mirror caused me to look over once more, distracting myself from the dance Prince Rainier and I had been performing around the room. I felt his stony hand grasp me tightly and I could have slapped myself for my lapse in judgement but I was fully entranced in the image of my sister.

She was crying now. "Emily, is that really you?" She whispered through the reflection.

I pressed my lips tightly together and ignored her as I scowled up at Rainier. "You can cut the act now, it's not funny. Let's talk about what's really going on here and what you went to all of this trouble for, shall we?" I refused to look back at the painfully real image of my older sister.

A slow smile spread over his face. "I see you don't believe me. It's unsurprising considering how little you knew about your father." He stared down at me as he waited for my reaction.

Good lord, now he was bringing my father into this!

I stared back at him bitterly, trying my best not to let the words pass my lips, but failed. "You sound a lot better with your mouth closed." My voice was cold and dead to my own ears.