Page 54 of Lady of Starfire (Lady of Darkness #5)

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.

I hope the winds are wrong about many things, but they rarely are.

Those are the words she had spoken the night they had retrieved her from Alaric.

Her eyes opened, filled with sorrow and tears.

“It will work,” Sawyer said softly. “The winds told you.”

Ashtine swallowed thickly before she nodded. “I did not know when. Only that a choice would be made. A Prince of Water would fall. There were three.” Her hand rubbed at her stomach. “I didn’t know …”

“Then I am glad it is me, Ashtine,” he said gently.

“It does not have to be,” she whispered through her tears.

“I promised him I would keep you safe,” Sawyer answered. “Let me keep that promise.” He lifted a hand, his palm resting on her stomach. “Let me do this one last thing for the people I love most in this world.”

“I am sorry,” Nuri said, her voice thick with emotion. “I cannot wait much longer.”

“Can it be him?” Mordecai asked. Eliza scarcely noticed the hand he brought to Nuri’s lower back.

“It can,” she answered.

“Then step away from her.”

With a shaky breath, Nuri moved from Ashtine to Sawyer. The daggers had barely cleared her when Ashtine dropped to her knees before the Water Fae, clasping his hands in hers. “They will know of you, Sawyer. The realm will know of you.”

“Tell Briar it was duty to serve as his Second, but it was an honor to call him brother.”

A choked sob escaped from the Wind Princess, and she nodded, bringing her palm to his face. “I will, Sawyer. I will.”

“I’m sorry,” Nuri whispered. “I will make it fast. That is the only mercy I can offer.”

Talwyn had moved to stand behind Ashtine. Eliza tried to move closer, but Razik was holding her back. From where she stood, she could see the dagger Nuri had poised at Sawyer’s neck, right where the spine met the skull. The move would kill him instantly and painlessly, just like she’d offered.

“You served this life well, Sawyer Drayce,” Ashtine whispered. “I was blessed by the Fates to know you. Thank you for this gift of life.”

Nuri struck, and the cry that ripped from Ashtine had Talwyn dropping down beside her and pulling her into her arms. Sobs shook her small frame to the point she was gasping for breath.

Mordecai caught Sawyer as he slumped forward. He gently lowered his body to the ground before he carefully pried the dagger from Nuri’s hand as she stared blankly at the blood pooling on the ground.

“We do not belong here, Cai,” Death’s Shadow whispered, pulling her hood up over head.

She said nothing else as Mordecai scooped her into his arms. But before he launched into the sky, he turned to face them. “Know that she is not the monster Alaric turned her into.”

No one spoke when they were gone. The only sound was Ashtine’s gasped sobs as Talwyn held her friend. And when there was a piercing, sorrowful cry and a silver hawk came to rest on the ground between Ashtine and Sawyer, the princess’s cries became inconsolable.

“You need to breathe, Ashtine,” Talwyn ordered softly. “For the babes, you need to breathe.”

“I need Briar,” Ashtine cried. “I need to tell him! I need Briar! I want for nothing else. Only him.”

“We need to go,” Arantxa said grimly.

It was only then that Eliza realized everyone had formed a small circle around them. Arianna. Stellan. Jamahl, Sariah, and Ilyas. All the Shifters were on a knee, heads bowed for the sacrifice made.

“Go where?” Stellan asked.

“The High Witch awaits our return. We have Wards prepared to keep her Highness protected.”

Talwyn looked at Arianna and Stellan. “Thank you. For letting her stay here.”

“She will be safer behind Witch Wards at this point,” Arianna replied, Jamahl helping her to her feet. “But should you need aid, send word. Stellan and I are swift with wings.”

Arantxa nodded, stepping forward. “She needs to ride with me. Your griffin is still becoming accustomed to you.”

Talwyn nodded, then looked back at Stellan. “Can you carry her, please?”

The Alpha’s brows rose at the word, but he moved to lift Ashtine.

“Wait,” Ashtine said, throwing out a hand. A gust of wind made the Alpha grunt when it hit him. “I apologize,” she whispered. Her pain-filled eyes landed on Eliza. “Can you … Your fire? Please, Eliza? I will take his ashes. So Briar can perform his Farewell.”

Eliza nodded mutely, orange flames igniting as everyone stepped back from Sawyer.

How many more friends was she going to have to do this for?

She could feel Razik, a solid presence at her back.

The ashes were gathered and stored in a glass box clutched tightly to Ashtine’s chest as she was set atop a grey and black griffin, a silver hawk at her shoulder.

Arantxa deftly hoisted herself up behind her.

Talwyn was astride a golden-tan creature, and when they were nothing but specks in the sky, Maliq disappeared in a flash of soft green light.

And when she had aided the Shifters in honoring their dead, when the sun had long since set, Eliza still had not said a word.

She trudged through the palace to her rooms. Not wanting to dirty any of the furniture with her soiled clothing, she went straight to the bathing room. She did not undress. Instead, she climbed into the dry porcelain tub, curled in on herself, and finally let the tears come.

It wasn’t long before she heard the door of her room open, the muffled footsteps on the ornate rugs.

He did not bother undressing either as he climbed into the tub with her.

Large hands pulled her to him, and she buried her face in his bare chest as he pulled the tie from her braid and unwound what was left of the plait.

“I am sorry, Eliza,” he murmured.

“This is war,” she said, her voice hard as she wiped angrily at her face. “Death is part of our duty during these times.”

“Death still hurts, even when met with honor.”

She wiped at her tears some more, hating that he was seeing her like this yet again. No one got to see her like this.

A finger hooked under her chin, forcing her face up to his. “You do not need your armor with me.”

“I need my armor with everyone,” she whispered harshly. “Especially you.”

“You can grieve, Eliza. You need to grieve. You do not need to do so alone.”

“Ashtine is the one who has lost yet again. Ashtine and Briar. The Water Court.” Razik reached to wipe her tears this time. “I should be preparing to go to the Fire Court. I should be planning and preparing. The sooner this is over, the fewer sacrifices to be made.”

“The grief will still be there. You cannot outrun it. Their loss and heartache does not diminish your own.”

“I do not need the words of a sage right now,” she snapped, pushing his hands from her face.

“Then what do you need?”

She ground her molars, lips pursing. She needed to not think about Ashtine or Sawyer. Her gaze flicked to him for a heartbeat. “Do you believe Nuri and the seraph? You don’t know them like we do. As an outsider, do you believe them? That they are on our side?”

“It is hard not to believe them after what I witnessed today.”

“I guess,” she murmured, looking out the nearby window. “I never know what to make of Nuri. She is like Scarlett, but different. I think Alaric truly loves Scarlett in some twisted way, but Nuri? She has always been a true means to an end for him.”

“That sounds plausible from what I have seen and been told.”

It took a moment before she realized he was slowly undoing all the buckles and straps of her fighting leathers and carefully setting aside weapons. She was too tired to fight with him anymore tonight.

“Did it seem like she and Mordecai were …something?” she asked when he gently tugged on her foot so he could get at the laces of her boot. She shifted, sliding back some.

“Only someone who has been forced to commit the same atrocities she has could see her for what she is,” Razik answered.

“More profound wisdom,” she murmured, propping her chin on her hand. He reached for her other boot. “What are you doing here anyway?”

“That is a rather broad question,” he answered, and she shoved at his chest with her now bare foot.

“In Siofra. Your power was clearly not drained when you arrived.”

“I was sent.”

“By Saylah?”

“By Cethin,” he said, plopping her other boot onto the floor outside the tub.

“Why?”

“To aid in whatever way I can. Since they cannot leave the Wards yet.”

“Soon?”

Razik shrugged. “In theory.”

Eliza rolled her eyes. A comfortable silence settled over them, and she couldn’t help the snort of laughter that escaped her. What a sight this must be. A grown-ass female and a broody dragon sitting in a dry tub covered in blood and grime.

“I need to bathe,” she finally sighed after several minutes.

“And then?”

“And then I need to sleep,” she replied, gripping the sides of the tub and pulling herself to her feet. She stepped out, and Razik did the same, not looking back as he left the bathing room.

She took a long, hot bath, and alone among the steam of the water she kept heated with her remaining power, she let the tears come. Not the shaking sobs of earlier, but the tears of loss at yet another she had called her own crossing the Veil. What would Nakoa think of her now?

She let out another sigh as she dried off before tossing the towel in the corner and heading to her bedchamber. She didn’t stop moving when she saw him waiting for her, sitting on the edge of her bed. He went unnaturally still. She’d known he was out here, had scented him.

Had felt him down this stupid bond.

She moved straight to his pack that he’d set on a settee. Pulling one of his shirts from it, she slipped it on, the hem reaching her knees, before she climbed under the blankets.

There was a long, tense silence before he said with a low growl, “You are not wearing pants.”

“You’re too fucking hot at night.”

“You’re going to make me sleep beside you when you are only wearing my shirt?” he ground out.

“No one said you had to sleep beside me. The scent of your shirt will be enough for me to sleep just fine.”

Another bout of silence before he huffed loudly. “If I sleep beside you tonight, this will not be like other times, Eliza. This will not be something we never speak of again.”

“I know,” she whispered.

“We will discuss everything in the morning.”

“I know.”

“I am going with you to the Fire Court.”

She sighed loudly. “I know, Raz.”

There was another long stretch of silence before she heard him move, and the bed dipped. He didn’t reach for her, didn’t touch her at all as he settled in. Then he said quietly, “Only Cethin and Lia call me Raz.”

“Sorry,” she muttered.

“No. I … No one else ever cared enough to call me by a nickname.”

She went still, letting his words settle into her soul, before she said softly, “Good night, Raz.”