Read When Stars Die (The Stars Trilogy) for Free Online

ending for a family with a witch in it. The Seven Deadly Sins break families apart sooner or later.
    “There is no turning back for me. We haven’t spoken with our parents in three years. Who knows if they’re even looking for us?”
    Oliver takes my chilled hand in his icy one. Even on warm days he’s cold, due to a blood problem he was born with. “Some days I think that you and I and your little brother should run away from all of this. Then other days I see the determination in your eyes and have to remind myself this is something you want. But mostly, I just wish there were something else out there for us.”
    The thought of running away with him makes my cheeks bloom with heat. Again, I stamp this out by pressing one of my welts. His words bring bitter tears to my eyes that I manage to hold back.
    “There isn’t, and there never will be. Face it, Olly. This is the way the world is and always will be. People like Ella and Nathaniel, they’ve always been hated, always been a blight upon this world, and we don’t even understand why.” My voice rises with fervor. “Day in and day out, it’s drilled into our heads that Deus works in mysterious ways. We’re not supposed to question what he does for us, only that what he does is for the best in the end. But you can’t say that when you’re suffering until the end of your life.”
    My own cynicism makes me want to cry over the unfairness of what I’ve just said. This would be different if humanity were doing this to us, but it’s Deus, a being we can’t see, a being we only believe in through faith. How can one change something whose image is impossible to picture?
    Oliver squeezes my hand, trying to infuse me with warmth I doubt will ever be there for me again. “We’ll change the world, Amelia. We’ll rise so high in the ranks of the Professed Order that every word we speak will not be questioned, even when we tell people to start accepting witches as human beings. We’ll just have to push through this, and everything will work out in the end. It has to.”
    I almost want to laugh over the enormous amount of hope he has for our futures. But as I look into his gray eyes, I realize he is serious, and a small part of me wants to share in this dream--no, needs to share in this dream. I need a new dream, one that is beyond being professed. Even if this dream isn’t tangible, I need some sort of hope to cling on to, something that will push me to keep going despite insurmountable odds.
    I turn to him, moving in close so that there is only an inch between our faces. “Let’s make a promise then. Let’s promise that no matter what, we will encourage each other to keep going, to keep rising, right until the very end. Even if I’m dying, I want you to keep pushing me, and I’ll keep pushing you.”
    Oliver smiles, his eyes brightening. “How will we seal this promise?”
    I kiss him on the cheek, his scent of winter and ice catching the edge of my nostrils. Like Colette’s clover scent, his wintry scent is not unwanted. “Like that.” He kisses me on the cheek too, and our promise is sealed. On occasion, we will risk daring affections with one another, but nothing ever beyond a light kiss on the cheek. I yearn for more though. “There is no going back. If you break this promise, you’re telling me you no longer wish to continue our friendship, and it is the same if I break the promise as well.”
    Oliver nods, a smile planted firmly on his face. “I like this nightly jaunt. We should have this every night.”
    “And increase our chances of finding trouble? Then we’ll have an excuse to break the promise because expulsion can’t be helped by that point.”
    Oliver holds up his hands. “All right then. Every once in a while. How does that sound? I hate thinking of you locked in that room for most of the day. I know how close you are to Colette, but it sometimes helps to speak to someone outside of all this, doesn’t it?”
    “It does. But only