Page 276 of Lady of Starfire

“He is right, my dear,” came Balam’s solemn voice from across the chamber. “The only way to stop it is to kill Alaric. To kill all of us. You will never get to him in time.”

“We go now,” Nuri said, reaching her sister’s side. “We go after Alaric and leave the others to finish things here.”

“I can do it, Scarlett,” Eliza said, bending to retrieve the dagger that had skittered along the floor. Callan could still see some of his blood glistening on the blade. Grey eyes met his. “I will do it.”

“We are wasting time,” Nuri urged. “I know where he went.”

“You cannot betray your master,” Orvyn snarled.

Nuri ignored him, clearly no longer interested in maintaining the illusion of loyalty she’d had to portray for Alaric when they got here. “Now, Scarlett,” she snapped, Juliette appearing at her side.

With one last lingering glance at Callan, she grabbed her sisters’ hands, and the Wraiths disappeared.

Drake released Tava, and she raced to him, throwing herself into his arms. He clutched her close, stroking her hair as she cried into his neck.

“We will give you as much time as we can,” Eliza said, before orange and black flames sprang up around them, keeping back the seraphs and Maraans.

“Little Fox,” he whispered.

“No, Callan!” she cried. “No.”

“I love you.”

“Stop! Please stop.”

The cries became sobs.

“You taught me to see our people, Tava,” he went on, wanting to get out everything he had not thought he would get to say to her. “You taught me what it means to be a king, and you are going to be a queen they are deserving of.”

“Not without you, Cal.” Her entire body was shaking with the intensity of her sobs.

“You are so strong, Tava Tyndell,” he murmured, his own face wet as tears tracked down it. “Braver than I could ever hope to be.”

She lifted her head, pressing her lips to his. It was all wrong, her wet and salty tears tarnishing the pure sunlight taste he’d never been able to accurately describe. There weren’t words to describe her. There never had been, not in any language.

“Solgard,” she murmured against his lips. “Tava Solgard.”

He brought his hands up, cupping her face and thumbing away tears. It was pointless. More instantly replaced them. “They deserve rulers who care for them as mortals.”

“So selfless,” she whispered. She tried to smile, but it never formed, and the pain of knowing he was doing this to her was worse than any dagger to the head was going to be.

“Know that I thought I knew what love was, but I was wrong. I did not know what love was until I found it with you. You are my light, Tava.”

The surrounding flames flickered before Eliza appeared behind Tava. “We are out of time, Callan. Something is happening with the mirror.”

He nodded, eyes never leaving Tava’s. Her hands came up to frame his face, and she forced a sad smile. “I love you, Callan. You are a king worthy of your crown. I would have followed you to the ends of the realm and beyond.”

She held his face this time, and he held her stare. He didn’t know what he’d done to deserve to stare into her eyes as he crossed the Veil, but he’d thank whatever gods he needed to when he got there.

He felt his hair stir as Eliza positioned the blade. Heard her suck in a sharp breath. Unlike Scarlett, the fire general’s hand did not tremble. Sure and steady, he felt her pull the dagger back to make the blow, but then he was jerking Tava into him and rolling as Idris appeared behind her. A dagger raised to make the same blow against his wife. He knew he would have never been that fast without all the training he’d been doing these last months.

But it turned out his reflexes hadn’t been necessary.

Energy burst around them, sending both Eliza and Idris flying. He heard Eliza bark a curse as he scrambled to his feet, trying to find where Idris had gone.

“What was that?” Tava asked, Callan pulling her up beside him.

“I don’t know,” he muttered.

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