Page 248 of Lady of Starfire

“Yeah. Yeah, I do,” he agreed, and the way he said it had this air of almost awe to it. As though he couldn’t believe he’d voiced the words.

They fell silent after that, letting Cassius steadily work his way through the wards. It took hours, and dawn was breaking when he announced he was done. He looked utterly exhausted, and Cyrus shot to his feet.

“Are you all right?”

“I’ll be fine,” Cass said. “It took longer because I had to be careful not to set anything off while I worked, but we’ll be fine to go in.”

“Maybe you should wait out here,” Cyrus said.

“No.”

“Cass—”

“No, Cyrus,” he repeated, and Cyrus sent Sorin a look as he got to his feet.

“He can Travel out if needed, right, Cassius? Your reserves are fine?” Sorin asked.

They should be. Witch gifts shouldn’t drain his magic like his dragon gifts would. This was more mentally taxing.

Cass nodded, and Cyrus looked like he wanted to argue, but begrudgingly kept his mouth shut.

“The front foyer?” Sorin asked.

“No better place to start,” Cassius replied with a shrug.

They both knew the house well. Cassius had been to the estate a handful of times, and Sorin had studied a makeshift map of the place for hours on end before he’d come here to rescue Scarlett.

Sorin Traveled them in. They were prepared to take out guards the moment they appeared, but the house was oddly empty.

“Shouldn’t there be…people?” Cyrus asked, looking around the stately foyer.

“There used to be, but maybe with Veda and the true Lord Lairwood gone, he didn’t need as much staff?” Cassius said, his eyes having shifted to see better.

“Let’s just take the gift,” Sorin said.

They searched the main floor fairly quickly, only seeing a few maids bustling about. They were quiet enough with their Fae abilities to move unseen, and they made their way to the second floor. This level would have the wing with Mikale’s rooms as well as his study, so Sorin wasn’t surprised to hear movement.

“Once we have the ring, you two can Travel out,” Sorin said. “Mikale and I have business to discuss.”

“Here? Wouldn’t it be wiser to take him somewhere else for said discussion?” Cyrus asked.

“Eliza has a room prepared for me,” Sorin answered darkly.

Cyrus slowly turned to look at him as he uttered a low, “Fuck.”

Eventually, they would all be meeting up at either the Fire or Earth Courts, depending on how things fared for all of them. It was a nightmare trying to incorporate the Witches’ and griffins’ travel time with the ground forces that needed to march or be Traveled. Traveling that many drained any Traveler, but the Avonleyans could Travel, which helped.

“Ready?” Cassius asked.

Sorin and Cyrus nodded, and Cass led the way down the hall. They found Mikale in his study, seated behind a desk, going over some papers. He heard them sooner than Sorin would have liked, but seeing as Mikale was also immortal, it was to be expected, he supposed.

Mikale shot to his feet, reaching for a dagger, but Cyrus already had bands of flame shackled around his wrists, snapping them together.

“A lot of good that dream-walking nonsense will be now,” Sorin said calmly, leaning against the doorjamb with his hands in his pockets. “For aking, you’d think you’d have better security in place.”

“How did you get past my godsdamn wards?” Mikale demanded, his wings ripping free. Gold. Like his sister’s had been. He snapped them away from the manacles that Cyrus made flare brighter, embers flying.

“Seriously,” Cyrus said. “Why don’t you have any guards?”

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