Page 214 of Lady of Starfire

Cyrus watched, keeping the barrage of arrows from striking them. More archers had joined the others, and he had no choice but to focus on keeping his shield intact.

“Cass! There’s one running!” Cyrus shouted as the final man on the ground turned and took off down the alley, but they couldn’t take chase with the constant arrows firing. “Travel to the rooftops and fry these fuckers!”

“And leave you down here?”

“I’ll be fine,” Cyrus retorted. “Go!”

Cassius was gone in the next blink, and Cyrus moved into the shadows along the wall, keeping his shield in place. He could hear the screams of those Cass was taking out with dragon fire, and he glanced down at his hand, wondering if he would need to fill his reserves right away or if he could wait. They were still getting a feel for how the whole Source-thing worked.

Another scream echoed.

Only this one was his.

The scent of blood hit him, and he whirled, falling to his knees at the body that was at his feet. Blood pooled around the female. Red hair the color of flames was flecked with mud and gore. There were puncture wounds at her throat, on her arms, on her stomach. Puncture wounds from fangs. Lifeless hazel eyes stared unseeingly at the roof of the cave they were in.

“Thia!” he cried, tears already wetting his face as he reached for her limp body. Blood coated his hands when he slipped them beneath her shoulders, pulling her into his lap. He buried his face in her hair, saying her name over and over. “No! No! No!”

The others were still fighting. Someone was tugging at his arm telling him they needed to go, but he couldn’t go. His entire world was lying in a pool of blood.

“We need to go,” someone said again. Sorin? Rayner? He didn’t care as he jerked out of their hold, clutching Thia to his chest and brushing his lips across her brow, her temple.

“You’re running out of time, Fae of Fire.”

“Cyrus, we need to go,” Cassius was saying urgently, his voice low and coaxing. “Come on, Cyrus. Look at me.”

Cyrus blinked in the darkness. He had no idea where they were, only that he was on his knees and doubled over. His entire body was shaking, fingers wound into his hair and pulling at the roots.

“Cyrus,” Cassius said again, softer still as he closed his hands over Cyrus’s fingers, trying to pry them out of his hair.

“Where are we?” Cyrus rasped.

“I heard you scream,” Cass said. “I found you like this in the alley and Traveled us to an old building in the Syndicate. We’ll be safe here, but we can’t stay.”

“That was really inconvenient timing for Gehenna to send a reminder,” Cyrus muttered, straightening some and shifting so he sat on his ass rather than his knees. He bent one, dropping his brow against it as he tried to steady his breathing.

Cassius had been kneeling before him, and he shifted too, his shoulder brushing against his. They sat in silence for several minutes, Cyrus trying to plant himself back in the here-and-now.

“When this bargain is fulfilled, this shit stops, right?” Cass asked into the dark.

Cyrus closed his eyes, but immediately opened them again when all he could see was Thia lying in a pool of blood. Sure, the Sorceress wouldn’t be able to force him to relive memories whenever she was looking for some fun, but the nightmares she’d already sown? Those wouldn’t simply disappear.

He could lie to him. Maybe he should, but he said, “I don’t think so, Cass, but having the bargain fulfilled should help some.”

“When you’re ready, I’ll Travel us to the Fellowship ruins.”

Cyrus turned his head to look at him, brow still pressed to his bent knee. “What happened to the plan?”

“The plan sort of got fucked when that mercenary got away. He’ll report to Alaric we are here.”

Shit. He’d forgotten about that part of the plan. Not leaving anyone alive who knew who they were. It was his fault the plan was already fucked.

“Don’t do that, Cyrus,” Cassius said, stopping the spiral before Cyrus could dive down it. “You didn’t ruin anything.”

It was another fifteen minutes before Cyrus felt in control of himself again. It was dusk, the sky a darkening grey when they appeared across the street from the burned Fellowship. The last time Cyrus had been here, it had been a towering building of four floors with an impeccably manicured lawn and gardens. Now it was nothing but charred rubble. But even from across the street though, he could still feel the wards around the place.

“Can you get past them?” he asked Cassius in a hushed tone.

“I’ve been training with wards,” he replied. “Studying them as much as I can. These were put in place by Sybil. Since she’s dead, they’ll be weakened enough that it shouldn’t take me too long.”

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