Page 129 of The Alien's Vicious Starflash Manor

Izzy falls in beside me and grabs my upper arm, steadying me and keeping hold of me, all at the same time. “You are telling me everything as soon as we get up to our room.”

So I did.

Everything she needed to know, anyway.

“Tell me exactly how and why you need Izzy and me,” I demand as soon as we’re all gathered in the drawing room the next morning.

The space feels overcrowded with Lord Vazor’s imposing presence by the window, his golden scales catching the pale morning light. His daughters flank him—Rhaela standing rigid and alert while Harai lounges against the wall with deceptive casualness.

Lady Uanna perches on a delicate chair like it’s a throne, her white-blonde hair immaculate even at this early hour. The temperature in the room drops several degrees as Ivrael moves to stand before us.

“I need to activate the spell with your blood,” Ivrael says, his voice pitched low. “Just a few drops, that’s all.”

Kila buzzes anxiously around my head before settling on my shoulder. “I don’t like this,” she mutters, her tiny wings quivering.

“How can our blood possibly be useful in your spell?” I press, trying to ignore how Uanna’s pale eyes study me like I’m an interesting specimen.

“Why us?” Izzy asks at the same time, unconsciously shifting closer to where Rhaela stands. The firelord princess’s scales shimmer as she gives my sister a reassuring nod.

“This isn’t something I can do by myself.” Frost crackles beneath Ivrael’s feet as he speaks. “The spell I need to use to depose Jonyk isn’t allowed among the Caix for good reason—it reflects back upon the wielder if it’s used against another Caix.”

“So?” Izzy challenges. “Get someone else to cast it.”

I give her a quelling glance—not that those have ever worked to quell her before. “And the same isn’t true for us?”

“Your hybrid Caix-human ancestry should allow your blood to let me use the spell with impunity,” Ivrael explains.

“Should?” Izzy’s tone drips skepticism.

Lord Vazor steps forward, his massive form casting shadows across the floor. “The ancient texts are quite clear on this point,”he rumbles. “Only those of mixed blood can safely channel such magic.”

“That’s why you brought us here?” I ask Ivrael directly, watching his face for any hint of deception.

“Yes.” A muscle twitches in his jaw as he nods.

Harai pushes away from the wall. “Father, perhaps we should?—”

“Silence,” Vazor commands, and she subsides, though her eyes remain sharp and watchful.

I have to know if he’s the cold, heartless duke I’ve observed for the last year—or if who I’ve seen lately might be closer to the truth. “What about the Ice Court members the firelord burned to death in your ballroom?”

The room temperature plummets further as Ivrael answers, “Jonyk’s inner circle was instrumental in his plan to destroy the firelords.”

“And your servants?” I press on despite Kila’s warning tug at my hair. “The ones you hand-picked to be on duty that night?”

“They were spies,” Uanna interjects smoothly. “Everyone working in the ballroom that night was reporting back to Prince Jonyk’s people.”

“And so was the boy I had hanged in the courtyard your first day at Frost Manor,” Ivrael adds quietly.

“Hanged?” Izzy repeats, horror coloring her voice. Rhaela moves closer to her, offering silent support.

“But... did any of them deserve to die?” I ask, my voice barely above a whisper. “That boy—he was just a kid.”

Ivrael’s voice turns bitter. “That boy, as you call him—he was forty, by the way; not all Caix age as you might expect—caused the death of more than a dozen children. I learned about his activities when I trusted him with plans to free a group of firelord children from Jonyk’s dungeons.”

“Firelordchildren?” Izzy asks, and I notice Rhaela’s scales dim to a muted bronze, her usual fierce demeanor cracking.

“It happened during the last peace accords meeting,” Harai says quietly, her long dark hair falling forward to partially shield her face. “We were supposed to be there, but Father kept us away at the last moment. Our cousins weren’t so fortunate.”

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