Page 130 of Lady of Starfire (Lady of Darkness #5)

It took another few excruciatingly long minutes, but Eliza sucked in a breath when the mist began to lessen. The peaks of the Nightmist Mountains far off in the distance began to take shape, and then Cethin was standing there.

Razik was passing Kailia to him as quickly as Sorin had dropped to Scarlett’s side.

“All is well, Tiny Fiend,” the king murmured into Kailia’s hair, and a small sob escaped from her. Razik clapped Cethin on the shoulder, the two of them exchanging looks of relief before Cethin turned to Scarlett, taking Kailia with him.

“You are free?” Scarlett asked, lifting her head from Sorin’s chest to look at her brother. Her hand was pressed to Sorin’s forearm, taking power from him to ease some of the strain of giving so much.

“We’re all free, Scarlett,” Cethin said, lowering to his knees before his sister. “Because of you, the Fae? Avonleya? The realm? We are all free.”

She turned the page in her book as she sat snuggled on the sofa before the fire in the cave. They had Callan and Tava’s coronations to attend tomorrow. Hale’s and Drake’s had already happened over the past week. One more day of celebration, and then they could all take a nice long break.

Razik was reading his own book beside her. One she couldn’t read, of course. He promised to teach her more once things settled down, but it still bothered her she couldn’t read most of the books here. Or in his study at the Greybane Estate. Or in his rooms at the Aimonway Castle.

“You are restless,” Razik commented, turning the page of his book.

“I am not.”

“You are.”

She huffed a sigh, snapping her book closed. “What are you reading?”

“A book on runes and Marks.”

She hummed something in response before she got to her feet and made her way to the small kitchen. Opening the icebox, she found some dried meat and grapes. When she turned back around, he was leaning against the counter. Shirtless. Obviously.

“What?” she demanded, setting the food on the counter.

“I have been searching for days trying to figure out how Balam transferred that life bond. It should not be possible.”

She gave him an incredulous look. “You are still on this, Raz? Does it matter? It worked.”

“But at what cost?”

“That seems pretty obvious,” she answered, popping a grape into her mouth. “His life was the cost.”

He made a noise of contemplation. “Maybe, but I came across something else.”

“Okay …?”

“If there was a way to remove that Mark atop your heart, would you want to pursue it?”

The grape she was about to eat dropped from her fingers, rolling across the ground. “We had an agreement not to talk about this again. Ever.”

“I never actually agreed to that.”

“We are not discussing it, Raz.”

“Eliza—”

“No.”

Then he was sweeping her off her feet and setting her on the counter, caging her between his arms. He brought his brow to hers, his voice low, as he said, “Hear me out, mai dragocen . After that, if you never wish to speak of this again, I will agree.”

Her lips pursed. “Fine.”

“There are other worlds out there. Worlds these books came from. Worlds more advanced than our own. There is a chance that someone out there knows how to remove this curse, Eliza.”

Her mouth nearly fell open. “You want to go to other worlds for this? Absolutely not.”

“No,” he countered. “But Scarlett can now control the mirror gates. I am suggesting we not discount an obvious resource: those in other worlds. If I can find something in a book and figure out which world it came from, we could contact someone in that world.”

“Do you even know how to do that?”

“No, but anything can be learned, mai dragocen . That is the joy of books.”

“Is this that important to you?” she asked, trying to swallow down the tears welling in her eyes. They had talked about this. She thought he was fine with her not being able to have children.

A hand came up, cradling her cheek in his palm. “I would pursue this no matter what Curse Mark adorned your skin. It is not the type of curse, but the fact that it is a curse to begin with. But if this is not something you want, I will let it go, Eliza.”

She stared into his sapphire eyes, getting lost in everything she found there. She moved first, closing the distance between their lips and kissing him slowly. He broke the kiss after a time, a finger tipping her chin up to look into her eyes.

“If we find a way, it does not mean we have to have children, Eliza, but I want you to have that choice. If we decide not to, then that is because we decided, not because of some Curse Mark from a dead Fae fucker. I cannot promise we will find an answer, but if this is something you want, I need you to tell me.”

“It is something I never thought I could have,” she whispered. “It is something I have taught myself not to want. But so were you.”

His lips lifted into a small smile. “And now, mai dragocen? ”

“And now you have ruined me.”

“In the best way possible, if I remember correctly,” he said, lips drawing closer to hers.

She huffed a small laugh. “It terrifies me to allow myself to hope,” she admitted.

“I will say nothing else of it unless I have found an answer, but I want your permission to look into it.”

She searched his eyes, his lips hovering above hers. “Maybe hope isn’t such a bad thing.”