Page 136 of Lady of Starfire

“Morning, Seastar,” Cassius said, ruffling her hair while simultaneously pressing a pastry into her hand.

“Thank you,” she grumbled, taking a bite.

“You think I would wake you at dawn and not feed you?” he teased, crossing the room and taking a seat beside Cyrus on the sofa. Cass’s hand landed on his thigh, and it was only then that Cyrus realized he’d been bouncing his knee with his nervousness.

Sorin was eyeing him. So was Rayner, who had only bothered to put on pants and was drinking a cup of tea. The male looked exhausted. Granted, he was still recouping the power he’d used to save Sorin and Scarlett from those feline-type creatures. In fact, Rayner was the main reason Scarlett hadn’t gone for the lock yet. But this was a different type of exhaustion. As if the mere idea of putting on a shirt was too much.

Cyrus arched a brow in question at his appearance. He was the early riser of the group. Him and Eliza. They were always up before the sun.

“When I checked on Tula in the middle of the night, she was not in her bed,” Rayner muttered.

Everyone stopped and turned to him at the words. He had recently been given a two-room suite. Scarlett had insisted when he kept sleeping on the sofa so Tula could have his bed. Tula had been absolutely smitten to have her own room.

“I found her. Nearly two hours later. As a godsdamn mouse nestled deep under the blankets at the foot of my bed,” Rayner continued, tipping his head back against the chair, his eyes falling closed.

Scarlett slapped a hand over her mouth, but it didn’t stifle the sound of her laughter.

“She’d had a nightmare and didn’t want to wake me, so that was her solution,” Rayner went on. “When I woke her and demanded she Shift back, she refused to go sleep in her own room.”

“Rayner,” Scarlett said around another laugh, “please tell me you did not spend the night on the sofa again.”

“She wouldn’t leave my side,” he sighed. “I let her stay in my bed, and when she fell asleep, I tried to go to her room. She woke because she was clutching my fingers and felt it every time I tried to disentangle them. Every godsdamn time. I finally tucked her in tightly among the blankets and tried to sleep atop them, but she’s a restless sleeper. She kicks in her sleep.”

Scarlett didn’t bother trying to hide her laughter this time. “How is her training going?”

“Clearly fine. She seems to be able to Shift at will into whatever she chooses,” Sorin said with a grin as he ushered Scarlett to another chair. He tried to cover her with a blanket, but she scowled and shooed him away, tucking her legs beneath her. Cassius chuckled under his breath as Sorin gave her an unimpressed look.

“She does well with small forms,” Rayner said, taking a drink of his tea. “We haven’t worked up to larger ones yet.”

“How will that work?” Scarlett asked, her nose scrunching. “She can’t shift into a full-sized tiger, can she?”

“No,” Rayner answered. “She’d shift into a tiger cub, but even those forms are too large right now. So we stick with smaller forms.”

“Anything with wings?” Scarlett mused.

Rayner’s eyes went wide. “Fuck no. Never anything with wings. She can keep her feet, paws, scales, whatever, on the godsdamn ground.”

Scarlett huffed another small laugh at that, batting her lashes at Sorin when he handed her a cup of tea. He took a seat on the arm of her chair, and Cyrus looked away when his gaze settled on him.

“Cyrus,” he said, his tone the same one he used when they spoke of Thia. “What is this about?”

He’d been so careful to keep the Mark on his arm covered. Cassius was the only one who knew about it. He didn’t know why Cass had never told them, but that wasn’t true either. Even if Cassius had known what kind of Mark it was, he wouldn’t have betrayed his trust like that. So when Cass flexed his fingers against his thigh, Cyrus pulled the sleeve of his tunic up over his shoulder, gaze fixed on the floor.

No one spoke for a long moment. Not until Sorin said, “What are the terms?”

“In exchange for keeping particular memories untouched, I agreed to…give her a few things,” Cyrus answered.

“Explain that,” Sorin said calmly.

Cassius’s hand did not leave his thigh while he told them what Gehenna had done with his blood, how she’d altered his memories, and how she’d made him relive his nightmares over and over. He didn’t share every detail, not like he had with Cassius, but he shared enough. Or he hoped he had. He hoped he shared enough that they understood why he’d made the bargain with the Sorceress. That they wouldn’t completely hate him for it.

Cyrus chanced a glance up at his king and queen. There were silent tears tracking down Scarlett’s face. Sorin’s face was that of his friend who understood the desperation it took to make a deal with her. There was worry and sorrow there. Some guilt perhaps, but not anger. Not disappointment.

“What do we need to do, Cyrus?” Scarlett asked, a fierceness in her tone that told him she was descending into that place where she would do whatever was necessary to protect her own.

“You do not need to do anything,” he said hoarsely. “I will do it. I can buy you time before I do, but—”

“Name the costs,” Sorin said. A demand from the Fire Prince.

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