Page 47

“Rayner needs to speak with you,” Azrael said after a moment. “I came to stay with her so you could go to him.” His eyes darted to the door of the bedchamber. “I assume Sawyer is in there.”

Eliza nodded. “Last I checked he was sleeping on the sofa.”

“Go. I will stay. Rayner is in his rooms.”

Eliza closed her book, tucking it under her arm as she got to her feet. She snagged her boots from near the door, carrying them with her rather than putting them back on. Trudging down the hall in her stockinged feet, she did not bother to knock when she came to Rayner’s rooms next to hers.

He was standing before the fire, a glass of amber liquid in his hand. He glanced up at her before flicking his wrist. A swirl of ashes carried a glass of wine from a side table to her. She dropped her boots by the door and sent her book to a pocket realm in a burst of flames.

“Tula?” she asked, taking a sip of the wine.

“Sleeping in the bedchamber.”

“You let the tiny child sleep in the giant bed while you take the sofa?” she asked, arching a brow.

Rayner simply shrugged and took a drink of his liquor.

“Are you going to the Fire Court?” she asked, moving to stand beside him while she swirled her glass of wine.

“Not until Tula is back in Avonleya, across the sea with Sorin and Scarlett.”

Eliza looked up at him incredulously. “Rayner, we need to know who we are dealing with.”

“I know this, Eliza,” he answered. “But most of my connections are in hiding. I will need to do this myself.”

“So go do it.”

“I will not leave her here alone.”

“Stellan and Arianna will not hurt her,” Eliza said, rolling her eyes.

“No, but they will fight to keep her.”

Eliza’s lips pursed as she watched his fingers flex around his glass, swirling eyes fixed on the fire. He was always quiet and stoic, the voice of reason, but she never forgot what prowled beneath his skin.

“They will not do anything while we are here,” she tried again. “This is necessary—”

“What isnecessaryis keeping her safe,” he snarled, rounding on her. “Stop being naïve, Eliza.”

She bit her tongue to keep from snapping back with a scathing reply. The last thing they needed was division among themselves right now. They were both worn out and on edge.

“You know as well as I do they have people watching our every move. It is the same thing I do when visitors come to the Fire Palace,” he finally went on, his tone terse as he worked to keep control. “The moment they have an opportunity to claim her, they will.”

“Arianna will not alienate herself from Sorin,” Eliza argued.

“She will not give a fuck. Not when it comes to protecting one of their own. You know they have their own charters here. I want Tula out of this territory before they can invoke them.”

“Rayner,” she started slowly, knowing that she was toeing a very dangerous line. “Maybe it would be better if—”

“I swear to Anala, Eliza. If you are about to say it would be better for her to be raised among her own kind…” He trailed off, leaving the threat open-ended.

“For fuck’s sake, Rayner! She is not Breya. She is not Aravis,” Eliza said, exasperated with this entire conversation.

Ashes fluttered from his hand as he slowly raised his glass to his lips, holding her stare. He didn’t say a word, and she knew she had lost him. He would not discuss this further. Not anymore tonight.

She set her half-empty glass of wine off to the side, wrapping her arms around herself. “If Ashtine cannot leave the continent, someone needs to stay with her. Sawyer will not be enough.”

“Agreed.”