Page 101 of Lady of Starfire (Lady of Darkness #5)
“Because I know how to find what you are looking for,” Nuri said, eyes still closed.
“How could you possibly know that?” Cyrus asked.
“Because I already found it. Sort of.”
“Again, how could you possibly know what we are looking for?” Cyrus repeated.
Nuri finally opened her eyes, reaching over and pulling Mordecai’s half-empty mug of ale to herself. The seraph didn’t appear to care when she took a long drink from it.
“We were sent in to search the Fellowship,” Mordecai answered. “It took days for Scarlett’s flames to finally go out, but the moment they did, we spent nearly two weeks searching through the rubble.”
“If you found it, why doesn’t Alaric have it?” Cassius asked, his gaze also fixed on Nuri, who had shifted so she was angled towards Mordecai now.
“Because my orders were to search for it until I found it. Which I have not,” Nuri answered.
“I thought you said you already found it,” Cyrus said skeptically.
“No. I said I know how to find it.”
“You really have been working against him?” Cassius asked, eyeing her carefully.
And that thing Cyrus had glimpsed in her eyes shifted again, something haunted flickering across her features. She had them schooled again just as quickly. “I am many things. He has made me into many things. But that does not mean I wish to be those things,” she finally answered.
Mordecai’s wings rustled, one lifting and curving around her.
“So where is it?” Cassius asked.
“Better yet, what is it?” Cyrus countered.
“About that …” Her eyes dragged to Cassius. “You’re going to need your mommy’s help.”
Cassius jerked back from the table. “What?”
“Her mother created them. Since it was her enchantment, your blood can find it. Relations and all that. But I don’t know how your magic tricks work, so you’re going to need her help,” she said, fingers beginning to drag up and down Mordecai’s forearm.
“I’m going to need you to cut the bullshit,” Cyrus said. He was tired, hungry, and if she had information to make this whole thing go faster, it was high time she spat it the fuck out, especially if she was on their side as she claimed.
“It is my understanding they are known as the Semiria rings,” Mordecai said, eyes flicking down to where Nuri had started dragging a nail along a vein.
“The rings that let the Fae access their gifts inside the mortal wards?” Cassius asked.
“There are only two Semiria rings,” Cyrus said. “Eliné and Henna each had one. Alaric never had one.”
“But at one time there were three Fae Queens,” Nuri said. “Surely you’ve realized by now the third was a jealous thing and felt slighted for being given the mortal territories to rule over, while her sisters got the powerful Fae Courts.”
“The rings were nothing special when they first came here,” Mordecai said, hand coming up to still Nuri’s fingers. She scowled at him. “They were simple family crest rings, but they were created into something more when they were used to hide a portal key.”
“What the fuck is a portal key?” Cyrus asked, rubbing at his temples. He really was not in the mood for a history lesson.
“They are similar to the mirror gates in a way. They can create portals between the worlds. Deimas had one. It was how he got here,” Mordecai explained.
“I do not know all the details of what happened. Only Alaric’s version of the events.
But from what I can gather, Eliné and Henna became suspicious of their sister before her betrayal was fully revealed.
They somehow stole the portal key and Esmeray’s ring and took them to the then High Witch.
She used an enchantment to split the key into three pieces, hiding them within the rings.
Divided, the power of the stone is diminished, but he was able to use the ring to turn any mirror into a mirror gate to communicate with Achaz. ”
“And if the three rings were reunited, say by a powerful Sorceress …” Cyrus gritted out, piecing together exactly why Gehenna wanted her spell book and this ring so badly.
“The portal key could be restored with the right enchantment. But to fully destroy the portal key, the pieces must be reunited as well. It is why it could not be destroyed with the Fellowship, even with starfire,” Mordecai answered.
“So what you are essentially saying is we need to get all three rings,” Cassius said.
Nuri shrugged. “That’s what I would do.”
“The other two rings that Alaric already possesses,” Cyrus deadpanned.
“Yes. He only held all three for a brief period of time,” Nuri replied, fidgeting in her seat.
“He had planned to have the Sorceress restore the portal key when he freed her, but Scarlett set the world on fire before he could fulfill that part of his plan. It is why he searched the rubble so adamantly for weeks.”
“Anything else we should know?” Cassius asked.
“No,” Nuri said. “Now leave so I can eat.”
As she said it, she slid into Mordecai’s lap, straddling him and brushing aside his shoulder-length hair. He was already tipping his head to the side, his hands landing on her waist.
“You can’t drink from a glass?” Cassius said dryly, getting to his feet.
“Night Children only drink from the throat if they are lost to bloodlust or they are drinking from a lover. I don’t think bloodlust is the case here,” Cyrus murmured, tugging Cass to the window they’d entered through. He often forgot how little Cassius actually knew of the various bloodlines.
They were back on the rooftop before Cassius said, “That was unexpected.”
“Which part?” Cyrus muttered, scanning the street below for a tavern that was open at this time of the night. He also needed to eat if he was going to refill Cass’s reserves anytime soon. Holding those shields against ashwood arrows had been draining.
“All of it, I guess,” Cass answered.
“We’ll eat, sleep, and then go see the High Witch,” Cyrus said.
Cass nodded. He was quiet the rest of the night.