Page 114 of Lady of Starfire

And Death’s Shadow was holding both of the blades.

A seraph stood next to Nuri, and this one Eliza recognized. Mordecai. The commander of the seraph forces. “Do not move,” he snarled at Sawyer and the wolf.

Eliza tightened her grip on her sword, preparing to start swinging once more. Mordecai’s grey eyes slid over her in a way that had Razik growling low and tugging her back into his chest. But the seraph walked right past them, his grey wings shifting slightly as he moved.

There were three seraphs left alive. Stellan, Ilyas, and Sariah were near one. Arianna and Jamahl, along with a mountain cat shifter, were near another. The third still had his blade in the chest of a female on the ground, shifted back to her human form when death had claimed her.

Eliza’s mouth fell open as she watched Mordecai draw his own blade. He drew it across the throats of the seraphs faster than Eliza could track, and as the males slumped to their knees, his blade sliced the wings from their backs. He looked over his shoulder at her and Razik. “Some flame.” Then his gaze swept over all the fallen seraphs, and he added, “All of them.”

Not about to argue with him when it would accomplish their own goals, Eliza sent some flames to the nearest fallen seraphs, while Razik took care of the rest. When there was nothing but ash left, Mordecai sheathed his sword, his shoulders slumping some.

He turned to Talwyn and Arantxa. “You were not fast enough.”

“One of the units you warned us of changed course. We barely managed to get away. I still have Witches fighting them in the skies,” Arantxa retorted with a cold violence.

“Ashtine,” Talwyn said, her voice cracking as she took a step toward the Wind Princess.

“What the fuck is going on?” Eliza demanded, looking from the seraph to Talwyn to Ashtine. “Someone start talking. Now.”

Flashes of light had the Alpha and Beta shifting along with their lovers.

“They sent us to warn you. That they were coming for her,” Talwyn said, two tears slipping free. “But we got caught in an ambush. We are too late.”

“Too late for what? How did you know they were coming?” Stellan asked.

Talwyn didn’t say anything else. She just stood with silent tears tracking down her face.

Eliza shrugged out of Razik’s grip, turning to the Contessa. “Nuri?”

There was regret shining in her honey-colored eyes. The first time Eliza had ever seen such an emotion from the female. “The unit you all fought was sent to retrieve Ashtine. Mordecai and I were to come after to speak with the Alpha and the Beta about relations. I was not told until right before we were to leave that should the outcome not be in our favor, I was to kill Ashtine. As a message to Scarlett and to the realm.”

“No,” Eliza gasped, shaking her head in denial. “No. You don’t have to—”

“She does,” Mordecai said solemnly. “It was an order given through the Blood Bond. She has no choice but to obey it.” The sound of his boots in the muddy sand was the only sound as he moved back to Nuri’s side. “We sent word as soon as we heard. Talwyn and the Witch were to get her out before we arrived. If Ashtine was not here, she would have been unable to fulfill the command. It would have been out of her control.”

“So she leaves now,” Arianna said. “No one here will say anything. Unless you two have loose tongues?”

“She cannot let me go,” Ashtine said softly, her hands resting on the sides of her stomach.

From where she stood, Eliza could see Nuri’s hands trembling with restraint as the magic of the Blood Bond tried to force her to fulfill what had been ordered of her.

“There has to be something we can do,” Eliza said, sheathing her weapons.

“Am I to understand the two of you are on our side?” Stellan asked, eyes narrowed on Nuri and Mordecai.

“Yes,” Talwyn said. “They always have been, but they’ve had to work within the constraints of their positions.”

“If a message must be sent, make it me,” Sawyer said from where he still knelt before the Contessa and the princess.

“It cannot be,” Nuri ground out. The dagger at Ashtine’s throat pressed a little harder, a small amount of blood beginning to pool. The princess closed her eyes, her breathing getting shallow. “It must be royal blood.”

“Mine,” Talwyn said, lurching forward. “I am the daughter and niece of two Fae Queens. I have royal blood.”

“It must be powerful. A sacrifice of royal power. That is what Alaric demanded of me,” Nuri whispered.

“Then me,” Sawyer insisted. “Those babes are not yet born. I am the current heir to the Water Court as Briar’s brother.”

Ashtine loosed a shuddering breath, and Eliza realized she’d known. She’d known the entire time that this moment would come.

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