Page 114
Story: Lady of Starfire
And Death’s Shadow was holding both of the blades.
A seraph stood next to Nuri, and this one Eliza recognized. Mordecai. The commander of the seraph forces. “Do not move,” he snarled at Sawyer and the wolf.
Eliza tightened her grip on her sword, preparing to start swinging once more. Mordecai’s grey eyes slid over her in a way that had Razik growling low and tugging her back into his chest. But the seraph walked right past them, his grey wings shifting slightly as he moved.
There were three seraphs left alive. Stellan, Ilyas, and Sariah were near one. Arianna and Jamahl, along with a mountain cat shifter, were near another. The third still had his blade in the chest of a female on the ground, shifted back to her human form when death had claimed her.
Eliza’s mouth fell open as she watched Mordecai draw his own blade. He drew it across the throats of the seraphs faster than Eliza could track, and as the males slumped to their knees, his blade sliced the wings from their backs. He looked over his shoulder at her and Razik. “Some flame.” Then his gaze swept over all the fallen seraphs, and he added, “All of them.”
Not about to argue with him when it would accomplish their own goals, Eliza sent some flames to the nearest fallen seraphs, while Razik took care of the rest. When there was nothing but ash left, Mordecai sheathed his sword, his shoulders slumping some.
He turned to Talwyn and Arantxa. “You were not fast enough.”
“One of the units you warned us of changed course. We barely managed to get away. I still have Witches fighting them in the skies,” Arantxa retorted with a cold violence.
“Ashtine,” Talwyn said, her voice cracking as she took a step toward the Wind Princess.
“What the fuck is going on?” Eliza demanded, looking from the seraph to Talwyn to Ashtine. “Someone start talking. Now.”
Flashes of light had the Alpha and Beta shifting along with their lovers.
“They sent us to warn you. That they were coming for her,” Talwyn said, two tears slipping free. “But we got caught in an ambush. We are too late.”
“Too late for what? How did you know they were coming?” Stellan asked.
Talwyn didn’t say anything else. She just stood with silent tears tracking down her face.
Eliza shrugged out of Razik’s grip, turning to the Contessa. “Nuri?”
There was regret shining in her honey-colored eyes. The first time Eliza had ever seen such an emotion from the female. “The unit you all fought was sent to retrieve Ashtine. Mordecai and I were to come after to speak with the Alpha and the Beta about relations. I was not told until right before we were to leave that should the outcome not be in our favor, I was to kill Ashtine. As a message to Scarlett and to the realm.”
“No,” Eliza gasped, shaking her head in denial. “No. You don’t have to—”
“She does,” Mordecai said solemnly. “It was an order given through the Blood Bond. She has no choice but to obey it.” The sound of his boots in the muddy sand was the only sound as he moved back to Nuri’s side. “We sent word as soon as we heard. Talwyn and the Witch were to get her out before we arrived. If Ashtine was not here, she would have been unable to fulfill the command. It would have been out of her control.”
“So she leaves now,” Arianna said. “No one here will say anything. Unless you two have loose tongues?”
“She cannot let me go,” Ashtine said softly, her hands resting on the sides of her stomach.
From where she stood, Eliza could see Nuri’s hands trembling with restraint as the magic of the Blood Bond tried to force her to fulfill what had been ordered of her.
“There has to be something we can do,” Eliza said, sheathing her weapons.
“Am I to understand the two of you are on our side?” Stellan asked, eyes narrowed on Nuri and Mordecai.
“Yes,” Talwyn said. “They always have been, but they’ve had to work within the constraints of their positions.”
“If a message must be sent, make it me,” Sawyer said from where he still knelt before the Contessa and the princess.
“It cannot be,” Nuri ground out. The dagger at Ashtine’s throat pressed a little harder, a small amount of blood beginning to pool. The princess closed her eyes, her breathing getting shallow. “It must be royal blood.”
“Mine,” Talwyn said, lurching forward. “I am the daughter and niece of two Fae Queens. I have royal blood.”
“It must be powerful. A sacrifice of royal power. That is what Alaric demanded of me,” Nuri whispered.
“Then me,” Sawyer insisted. “Those babes are not yet born. I am the current heir to the Water Court as Briar’s brother.”
Ashtine loosed a shuddering breath, and Eliza realized she’d known. She’d known the entire time that this moment would come.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114 (Reading here)
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 163
- Page 164
- Page 165
- Page 166
- Page 167
- Page 168
- Page 169
- Page 170
- Page 171
- Page 172
- Page 173
- Page 174
- Page 175
- Page 176
- Page 177
- Page 178
- Page 179
- Page 180
- Page 181
- Page 182
- Page 183
- Page 184
- Page 185
- Page 186
- Page 187
- Page 188
- Page 189
- Page 190
- Page 191
- Page 192
- Page 193
- Page 194
- Page 195
- Page 196
- Page 197
- Page 198
- Page 199
- Page 200
- Page 201
- Page 202
- Page 203
- Page 204
- Page 205
- Page 206
- Page 207
- Page 208
- Page 209
- Page 210
- Page 211
- Page 212
- Page 213
- Page 214
- Page 215
- Page 216
- Page 217
- Page 218
- Page 219
- Page 220
- Page 221
- Page 222
- Page 223
- Page 224
- Page 225
- Page 226
- Page 227
- Page 228
- Page 229
- Page 230
- Page 231
- Page 232
- Page 233
- Page 234
- Page 235
- Page 236
- Page 237
- Page 238
- Page 239
- Page 240
- Page 241
- Page 242
- Page 243
- Page 244
- Page 245
- Page 246
- Page 247
- Page 248
- Page 249
- Page 250
- Page 251
- Page 252
- Page 253
- Page 254
- Page 255
- Page 256
- Page 257
- Page 258
- Page 259
- Page 260
- Page 261
- Page 262
- Page 263
- Page 264
- Page 265
- Page 266
- Page 267
- Page 268
- Page 269
- Page 270
- Page 271
- Page 272
- Page 273
- Page 274
- Page 275
- Page 276
- Page 277
- Page 278
- Page 279
- Page 280
- Page 281
- Page 282
- Page 283
- Page 284
- Page 285
- Page 286
- Page 287
- Page 288
- Page 289
- Page 290
- Page 291
- Page 292
- Page 293
- Page 294
- Page 295
- Page 296
- Page 297
- Page 298
- Page 299
- Page 300
- Page 301
- Page 302
- Page 303
- Page 304