Read And All the Stars for Free Online

thrown her away, blasted her–
    The mirror
shattered, and Madeleine was tossed forward, bouncing off the basin and falling
to her hands and knees. Fragments of
glass and tile rained down around her as she cowered, hands over her head, but
none of it touched her, and she was aware of strength flowing out of her in a
way which felt as uncontrolled as a throat wound. She was doing this, destroying everything
around her even as she shielded herself.
    Madeleine pulled it
back, an effort which left her limp, barely able to lift her head to survey her
handiwork in a room suddenly dim, lit only through the open door. Shards of glass and ceramic lay
everywhere. The mirrored wall, ceiling
light, the basin, shower screen, even the tiles – all looked like someone had
taken a sledgehammer to them. But she
wasn't injured at all. Not even the
smallest fragment had reached her, though she would now have to find some way
to move without cutting herself to shreds.
    The television was
still on. Madeleine could hear a voice
with a British accent, talking about death tolls. About 'blues' and 'greens', a mandatory no
travel order, and the possibility of person-to-person transmission.
    She was hungry
again.

Chapter Four
    Tyler's inadequate pantry finally drove Madeleine
outside. It was Saturday morning, four
days after the arrival of the Spires, and she no longer felt like she would
keel over if she walked any distance, but she might if she didn't find
something to eat soon. Whatever else being
blue meant for her, it made skipping a meal a major problem.
    Overnight rain had washed Woolloomooloo clean of obvious
dust. High white clouds studded a
ceiling of dazzling azure, and the sun's warmth tempered a fresh wind. She could hear some kind of electronic music,
but it was too faint and distant to identify the source. Otherwise, silence. The long row of boats bobbed lazily in
unshrouded water, and high fencing hid the lower apartments' patio gardens, so
it wasn't until she reached the restaurants, their outdoor eating areas still
in disarray, that Madeleine had any reminder of disaster beyond the clean black
shaft of the Spire dominating the cityscape.
    She'd hoped to find the restaurants – well, not open for
business, but perhaps one or two of the dozen with doors ajar. But a line of shutters and solid glass doors
greeted her, and she'd collected too many cuts in awkward places making her way
out of the wrecked bathroom to be eager about breaking in. There was, however, something unexpected where
the wharf widened and curved around to its second mooring. A café table set with a brilliant white
tablecloth. Seated very upright beside
it was a girl, pouring herself a cup of tea.
    And eating scones. Scones with jam and cream.
    The girl looked around as Madeleine approached, providing a glimpse
of starry blue streaks marking her throat. She was short, curvy, her eyes and light brown skin suggesting Asian
heritage, though her hair was a wild mass of spiral curls, held back from her
face by a red tartan bandanna. Her eyes
were swollen, but she managed a crooked sort of smile.
    "Table for one?"
    Madeleine laughed, and then stopped because her laughter
worked as well as the girl's smile. "I'm having to hold myself back from mugging you for your little
pot of jam."
    "Ha." This
time the smile worked, warm with wry edges. "I could tip you into the bay before you got so much as a
spoonful. Sit down, I'll bring some more
out."
    Hunger overrode any pretence of restraint, and Madeleine
swallowed the remaining half-scone before the girl had taken two steps, then
quickly emptied what was left of the little serving pot of jam and cream,
running her finger around the interior to catch the last traces. The tea was sugarless, but Madeleine drank it
anyway, and finished off the milk. Then
she pulled off her backpack and sat down, embarrassed, staring at her sandals
poking from beneath the hem of the green maxi-dress she'd liberated from
Tyler's closet. Her toes