Page 8 of Lady of Starfire (Lady of Darkness #5)

“You would only allow yourself to— how did you phrase it? Irrationally rage? You would only allow yourself to appear irrational with someone you trust implicitly. That is a vulnerability that you do not give to others.”

“Shut up,” she muttered, stalking through the doorway.

She found herself in a decent-sized sitting room, but Razik brushed past her, striding to a door on the other side of the room.

He disappeared through it, leaving the door open, and Eliza huffed in irritation before she followed him because what else was she going to do?

Stand here and stare at the wall? She’d never admit it to him, but it did feel damn good to be out of the castle.

She’d love to get into the city and walk around a bit.

When she stepped through the next doorway, she froze.

He had told her he had a study here with books, but she had not expected to find a small library.

The walls of this room were lined with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, all packed full.

This room was bigger than his bedchamber had been, and he had disappeared somewhere inside.

Off to the right was a fireplace with a group of armchairs arranged in front of it, and beyond the chairs was another door.

If this was a study, where was his desk?

She had taken a few steps further into the room when the door near the hearth opened, and Commander Tybalt came striding into the room. Eliza stilled again, unsure if she was supposed to be here. They had always stayed in the guest wing of the Greybane manor. She had never been in the private wing.

The Commander smiled warmly at her. He looked nearly identical to Cassius, only his hair was cropped short. Deep brown eyes met her own. “General,” he greeted. “What a pleasant surprise.”

“Commander,” she replied with a small bow. “Razik came to pick up a few things and allowed me to join him.”

“Did he now?” Tybalt asked, and she forced herself not to squirm at the way he was studying her.

She cleared her throat. “Yes. He is in here …somewhere.”

“Upstairs, I am sure,” Tybalt replied, a knowing smile filling his face.

“Upstairs?”

Tybalt chuckled lightly, gesturing toward the back of the room and indicating for her to follow him. “How are you feeling?”

“Better, thank you. Niara cleared me this morning.”

“That is good news,” the Commander said, leading her through the room.

They rounded a corner and, sure enough, there was a spiraling iron staircase that led up through an opening in the ceiling.

The stairs were cold on her bare feet, but she was curious just how many books were up there yet.

She started climbing, the Commander’s boots sounding behind her.

“Is this your study then?”

Tybalt huffed another chuckle. “No, General. This is all Razik’s. I never understood why he needed to keep every book he could ever get his hands on, but he would spend days holed up in here when he was a child. I finally had it renovated, letting him design it however he wished.”

For the briefest of moments, she wondered about his childhood and why his uncle had raised him instead of his parents, but she quickly shoved the thought from her mind.

She didn’t care about anything that involved him.

When she found herself on the second floor, she blinked against the brightness.

The lower level had been dark and lit by various sconces and candles, but this level had one solid wall of windows letting in the daylight.

The Nightmist Mountains rose up on the horizon, and she didn’t know where to look first— at the stunning view or the additional bookcases everywhere.

“The upper level of his study spans the entirety of his space— his bedchamber, sitting room, and lower level,” Tybalt explained from behind her.

This was …

There weren’t words for what this was.

“How does he know where everything is?” Her voice was soft and hushed, as if she would disturb something sacred up here.

“I have no idea,” Tybalt answered. “But he does.”

Then something else occurred to her.

“Can I ask you something?” she asked, turning to face the Commander.

“Of course,” he replied, another one of those warm smiles filling his face.

“Do you know what mai dragocen means?”

Tybalt’s eyes went wide, and he blinked a few times before he said, “Where did you hear that term?”

Suddenly feeling like she had revealed something she shouldn’t have, she shook her head in dismissal, turning back to the windows. “Just a phrase I heard in passing. I am not familiar with the Avonleyan language and was curious as to the meaning.”

“That term is not Avonleyan,” Tybalt replied.

She knew that. Razik had told her it was a language not found in this world.

But he’d also told her he wouldn’t tell her what it meant until she told him what the Mark over her heart meant.

Which was something she would never discuss with him.

But Tybalt clearly knew what it meant, and she couldn’t decide if his reaction to the term was good or bad.

Eliza shrugged indifferently. “Like I said, I heard it in passing and was curious.”

Tybalt hummed some sort of acknowledgment that told her he didn’t believe her in the slightest.

Razik appeared then, three books held in one of his large hands.

He looked back and forth between her and Tybalt once, not appear ing surprised to find them here, but he faltered at the look Tybalt gave him.

The male was always emotionless and apathetic, except when Tybalt was around.

When he was with his uncle, there was a respect he offered no one else, not even Cethin.

“Magdalena told me you were here,” Tybalt said. “I wanted to check in with you.”

How had Magdalena known they were here? They had Traveled directly into Razik’s rooms.

“Now is not the time,” Razik answered, passing one of the books to her.

“You are going to need to make some time, Razik.”

Eliza tried to focus on the book he had given her, feeling rather awkward at being here for this conversation.

She flipped open the cover and then gave another frustrated sigh.

The book was in Avonleyan. Another book she couldn’t read.

If he seriously thought she was going to spend more time with him so he could read this to her, she needed to reevaluate his intelligence.

He reached over without looking at her and flipped a few of the pages while he continued to speak with his uncle. “Tonight perhaps.”

“Normally that would be acceptable except that we have received news from the Water Court.”

Eliza had been studying the page he had turned to, realizing this was a lesson book. He had given her a book that would allow her to begin learning to read the Avonleyan language. But the mention of the Water Court blessedly distracted her from the warm feeling that was growing in her chest.

“Sawyer made contact?” she asked.

Tybalt glanced at her, nodding. “Prince Azrael just informed the Royals. They are planning to send a unit in a few hours. Scarlett has asked if you would be willing to Travel with the unit again,” he answered, returning his attention to Razik.

Razik rolled his eyes. “Again? Can the Earth Prince not Travel them?”

“He is going as well. They would prefer two Travelers go for peace of mind. Until Cassius’s Source situation is figured out, Scarlett cannot go, nor can he,” Tybalt answered.

He glanced at Eliza again. “Additionally, as you have acquired a new Source, you would be the strongest member of the unit. You know our kingdom’s best interests are aligned with theirs. ”

“I will go, but I need more than a few hours.”

“And Eliza?” Tybalt asked, gaze flicking to her once more.

“Will go with me.”

“I will not,” Eliza sputtered.

Razik turned to face her fully, his brows rising. “No?”

“No.”

“My apologies then, Milady. I thought since Niara had cleared you, you would be ready to go on a mission; but if you do not feel up to the task yet, I understand.”

She wanted to punch the male in the throat.

Razik smirked at her, as if he knew exactly what she was feeling, and Tybalt was looking back and forth between the two as though he was trying to work something out.

Something she didn’t want anyone to figure out. Ever.

“Either way, I will need to refill my magic before I go,” Razik said, turning back to Tybalt. “But when I return, we can have that check in you wish for.”

“Razik—” Tybalt started.

“Either you want me to go on this mission, in which case I need to prepare, or you want to have this conversation, in which case I need to return my Source to the castle before we do,” Razik interrupted.

Return her? As if she were a possession?

As soon as they were alone, he was going to learn all about her rage—rational and irrational.

Tybalt’s features hardened, a muscle feathering in his jaw as he stared back at his adopted son. “As soon as you return, Razik,” he finally relented.

Razik nodded as he moved to place a hand on her lower back, gently guiding her deeper into the study. “You have my word.”

Tybalt watched them for a moment longer before he moved back to the spiral staircase. She glanced over her shoulder to find his gaze still lingering on them. Waiting until she could no longer hear his boots on the steps, she said, “He seems worried about you.”

“A decent father worries about his children,” Razik replied, not looking at her. He still held the other two books in his other hand.

He had a point there, she supposed. The male she’d known to be her father had only worried about her power, not her.

Tybalt reminded her of how Sorin’s father had been.

A parent who actually cared for the wellbeing of their child for no other reason than that they loved them.

Razik clearly loathed his father, but at least he’d had Tybalt growing up.

“If you need to speak with him, I can wait here while you do so,” Eliza said, eyes dropping back to the book she still held open in her hands.

“As I said, I will speak with him when I return,” Razik replied. “But you may remain here as long as you wish. I can let Magdalena know to have food delivered to you while I am gone.”

She nearly tripped over her own feet. “What?”

“You said you were not going with me.”

“By the gods,” she muttered, snapping the book shut.

They stepped through an archway, and Eliza found the desk she had been wondering about.

It was large, papers and books neatly arranged atop it.

Two chairs sat before it, and along the opposite wall was an overstuffed sofa in front of a hearth.

The windows continued behind the desk, the other two walls containing more books.

His hand fell from her back, and he moved to the desk, beginning to rummage through drawers while she just … stood there.

“Why did you bring me here, Razik?” she finally asked after a full minute of silence between them.

“I told you. I thought you would want to get out of the castle,” he answered, shutting a drawer and grabbing a small satchel. “But since you are here, I can refill my reserves before I leave.”

She pressed her tongue to her cheek because godsdamnit. Of course she wanted to go on this mission, but that meant she was going to have to admit her brash reaction to him earlier.

He tossed the satchel onto the desk, pulling a dagger from his belt as he made his way back to her. She narrowed her eyes at him when he took the book and placed it on a chair before taking her wrist and pushing the sleeve of her tunic up. “Something to say, mai dragocen? ”

That damn name again.

Her gaze darted to the windows when she said begrudgingly, “I will go on this mission with you.”

“I know.”

Her eyes snapped back to his at the same time he slid the blade across the Mark on her forearm. There was no smirk or vindictive look on his face. He just held her stare while he placed his cut palm onto the Mark.

She tried—gods, did she try—to hold in the gasp at their power merging again, but it escaped her lips anyway. His sapphire gaze dropped to her mouth at the same time she heard a light thump.

The dagger hitting the floor.

His arm looped around her waist, tugging her into his chest as her flames fed his dragon fire.

She knew she shouldn’t do it, but she breathed deep, taking in his smoke and spice scent.

She should stay behind simply because they shouldn’t be spending any more time together than necessary, but she also knew she would go anyway.

He knew it too.

“It will be a fast mission,” he said, his voice a low rumble in her ear, as though he knew the inner conflict she was having. “We will be back within a day.”

“I am not worried about being gone for an extended period of time.”

“No. You are worried about spending an extended period of time with me,” he replied. There was nothing accusing in his tone. Just a blunt statement of fact that she couldn’t argue against.

“I will not apologize for that.”

“I am not asking you to,” he said. His hand slipped from her arm, and he brought it up to cup her cheek. She expected to feel the warmth of his blood on her face, but his palm had already healed.

“Then what are you asking?”

He searched her eyes for something he would never find there before he leaned in a little closer. His breath danced across her lips when he said, “I am asking you to please learn to read the Avonleyan language so I no longer have to hear you whine about it.”

Her hands came up, shoving him hard. “Take me back to the castle,” she demanded, stomping over to the book in the chair.

He held a hand out to her with exaggerated flair. “As you wish, Milady.”

She flipped him off before she placed her fingers in his waiting palm, his deep chuckle skittering along her bones and heating her skin as he tugged her through the air.