Page 225 of Lady of Starfire

He lifted his head to find Juliette making her way towards him.

“Is there word on Drake and Tava?” he asked.

Juliette studied him in that unnerving of hers. She’d come to a stop directly in front of him. He often forgot she was raised the same way Nuri and Scarlett had been. She seemed so much…more sane, even if she did speak in odd riddles at times now.

She called to a nearby woman and asked her to bring warm water and a cloth.

“I am fine,” Callan said. “Tell me an update on Drake and Tava.”

“I do not believe Balam will harm them, Callan. However, the other Lords are growing impatient with their prince. You are bleeding.”

“What?”

She lifted a hand, touching it to his head. When she pulled it back, there was red staining her fingertips. “You have a cut on the back of your head.”

“No. What do you mean the other Lords are growing impatient?” Callan said, nodding in thanks to the woman who had brought the supplies to clean his wound.

“They were sent here with purpose,” Juliette answered, moving behind him. “They either succeed or face repercussions for failure, whether at the hand of Scarlett or another. Alaric is not the only one with something to lose in this. Tell me what happened at the Necropolis.”

While she tended to the wound, Callan filled her in on everything that happened, and as he was finishing, Mordecai and Nuri returned along with two others.

Arantxa and Drake.

Callan shot to his feet. “Where is Tava?”

Drake met his gaze, his features tense. “There was a deal made between Balam and the other Lords.”

“Where is she?” Callan repeated.

“She is at the castle.”

“How are you here?”

Drake ran both hands through his hair, tipping his head back and pushing out a long breath. “We suspected Balam was becoming suspicious. We had talked about lying low. Not coming out here as often. But he was not the only one who had taken notice. Mikale shared concerns with Alaric. The other Lords confronted Balam about it at their meeting, accusing him of working against them. As a show of good faith, Alaric demanded a deal. We could be released from the Lairwood house, but we had to stay at the castle.”

“Then how are you here?” Callan demanded.

“Ezra,” Drake answered. “They transported us to the castle. Ezra has connections to the castle guards. It was too risky for both of us to come, so Tava stayed behind. As long as she remains there, she is safe. But…” He dragged a hand down his face. “I learned the cost of taking down the wards. It was why he sequestered us when the other Maraan Lords showed up. I cannot go back. Not now.”

“You cannot leave her there alone,” Callan said in outrage.

“I did not know the cost when she agreed to stay behind. The fact that I learned it at all was purely by chance.”

“Or fate,” Juliette said calmly from where she had taken a seat next to Arantxa.

“I do not give a fuck if it was chance or fate,” Callan said sharply. “What is it? What is this cost?”

“Taking down the wards bound our lives to the Maraan Lords on the thrones respectfully,” Drake said.

“You mean if Mikale is killed, then I die too? And vice versa?”

Drake nodded.

“Then doesn’t that mean we are safe?” Callan asked. “If they kill us, the Maraan Lords die.”

“Yes, but it also means they want us kept close. Locked in cells to ensure we do not find a way to end ourselves and thus them,” Drake said. “It is why I cannot go back.”

“Why would we end ourselves?”

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