Page 261 of Lady of Starfire

“Delivered to you as promised,” purred a voice of darkness as Scarlett stepped into view, the spell book in her hand.

Gehenna straightened, her nostrils flaring. She took a step back from the bars. “You smell like…stars and deceit.”

“You would know all about that, wouldn’t you?” Scarlett said, beginning to slowly flip through the pages of the spell book.

“I do not deceive,” the Sorceress said in outrage. “I make bargains. It is no folly of mine if one does not understand the terms when the bargain is made.”

“Agreed,” Scarlett said, snapping the book shut. “Now, since your business with Cyrus is completed—”

“It is not!” she sputtered, hands gripping the bars once more. “I do not have my spell book or my ring!”

Scarlett waved her off. “That is between you and Cyrus. I am here to make a bargain of my own.”

That had the Sorceress shifting to face the queen fully. “Unless you can offer me a way out of this cell, I am not interested in a bargain with you or anyone else.”

“But that is exactly what I can offer you.”

Back to the bars, her face pressed against them, feet braced against the bottom. “You lie, Daughter of Saylah. You are not Fae. Only a Fae Queen can free me.”

“I have one of those.”

“Lies,” she hissed.

Scarlett shrugged. “If you do not wish to step outside that cell, then I will take my leave and let you two finish up.”

She took one step towards the stairs before Gehenna shouted, “Wait!” When Scarlett glanced back, she said, “If I were to believe you, what would be the cost?”

“I need to know how to free someone of a Blood Bond. According to this book, you know how to do so,” Scarlett answered.

“A Blood Bond?” Gehenna repeated. “Is that all?”

“Would you like more terms?”

“No!” the Sorceress snapped, but Cyrus recognized that glint in her eyes. He’d spent enough time with her to know that the excitement in her was a twisted sort. The sort that said she believed she had won something. “State the bargain.”

“I will let you out of that cell, and you will clarify how to free someone of a Blood Bond,” Scarlett said. “Do we have an accord?”

“It is an accord,” the Sorceress said in a quiet purr.

Scarlett lifted her tunic a moment later, and Cyrus glimpsed the red Mark in the shape of a raindrop above her hip. It was probably a good thing Sorin had stayed at the prison entrance with Briar and Cassius. He would likely go feral seeing that on her skin. It wouldn’t stay there for long if things went according to plan.

“Let me out,” the Sorceress demanded.

“Relax,” Scarlett scoffed, lowering her tunic. “You’ve been in there for centuries. Another few minutes won’t kill you. Tell me how to free someone of a Blood Bond.”

“The order of the bargain stated you let me out first,” the Sorceress sang, beginning to drag her fingers along the bars. “It is no folly of mine if you do not understand how these things work.”

Sighing dramatically, Scarlett said, “Fine.”

And a few moments later, Ashtine stepped into view.

The Sorceress’s gaze immediately went to her rounded belly, a hunger shining there that had Cyrus shifting in front of the Fae Queen.

For that’s what she was now. The Courts had come together and pledged loyalty to her and Briar, now Fae King of the Courts. It was temporary. Until the babes were in a position to take the thrones, because those babes would be the most powerful Fae in the realm. Some of the most powerful Fae in all the realms if what Saylah had said was true.

“Princess of Wind. Fae Queen of the Courts,” Gehenna sang, fingers clinking against the bars once more. Then she stopped. “Temptress of the Fates and Breaker of Canons.”

“She is here to let you out, nothing more,” Scarlett said. “If you make a single move against her, it will be the last thing you do.”

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