Page 86 of The Star's Sword

The whole thing was so awful my eyes stung with it, frustration overtaking me like a tsunami of grief.

Samael put his hand in mine. “He’s right. We should go to the sanctuary to make plans.” He pulled me to the window and urged me into his arms, so we could fly.

I wanted to argue with him, but right now I couldn’t.

Everything we’d worked for with the vampires was shattered, and we needed to go find somewhere safe to figure out how to pick up the pieces of our destroyed world.

28

When we got back to the sanctuary, we were relieved to see Cayne and Simon, with Simon still passed out.

“You’re here,” Zadis said, relieved. He leaned forward, putting his hands on his knees. “Damn, I feel like there hasn’t been a chance to catch my breath.”

“I hear that,” Samael said, looking over at him.

Now that we were no longer in imminent danger, everything we’d done together came into haunting view.

“Is he passed out again?” I asked, coming over to sit on the pew next to a limp Simon, who was leaning on Cayne.

Cayne nodded. “When he has overfed, he passes out. It’s like an energy overload. Something less drastic than this has happened on occasion, but I’ve never seen him like this.” He stroked a hand through Simon’s hair. “He would have given her whatever she wanted. But she had to try and take it.”

I swallowed. “We will make sure and get to the bottom of it,” I said. “But the vampires won’t be happy with us regardless.”

“I know,” Cayne said. “I know. But he is my best friend. If I didn’t.” He shook his head. “I wouldn’t know who I am.” He sighed. “Cleo, I’m not as good as you. I have been searching for the Morningstar, it’s true. But I also wasn’t in the biggest hurry. I was hunting, finding blood for Simon, but there are aspects of the prophecy I don’t want to see come true.” He slumped forward, rubbing his face with his hands and dragging them through his hair. He gave me a haunted look. “I just, I’m not as strong as I want to be, Morningstar. I want to be selfish.” He looked down at Simon, then his eyes darted to Samael. “I wanted to find the Morningstar to help avenge what happened to Samael.” He leaned over Simon, looking more fragile than I’d ever seen him. “But how can they expect me to give up so much to save the world, when they won’t even let me try and give my friend justice?”

I put a hand up to stroke his back lightly, comforting, as Samael looked at me like he didn’t know what to do, then did the same, sitting down and placing a hand on Cayne’s shoulder.

Zadis folded his arms, looking from Cayne to me to Samael.

“Simon is okay,” Zadis said. “I think all of us should just figure out a next step in the plan, because I imagine the vampires will be coming for us.”

“We’ll go to Ara’s,” Cayne said darkly. “Then we won’t come back.”

Samael shook his head. “The Morningstar will rise, no matter the cost.” He looked from Cayne to Zadis. “We all agreed on this.”

“Ara is staying in an inn in the mid-realm,” I said. “With Mor and Luren.”

“We will wait for her to join us then,” Cayne said, standing and picking up Simon. “Right now the most important thing is keeping all of us safe. We can’t afford for them to attack while Simon is passed out and I’m depleted.”

“Depleted?” I asked.

“My blood thralls,” he said. “I put some strength into them, so when Simon killed them, I lost that. Not that I blame him.” He looked at the three of us, then narrowed his eyes. “So is it just me, or does it seem like the three of you had a threesome?”

“What?” Os said, as he came into the great hall of the cathedral, flanked by Griffin and Mor. They must have been hanging out in the basement and heard us come in.

“Threesome?” Griffin asked, grinning at me and folding his arms.

“What happened to Simon?” Mor asked.

“Drugged,” Cayne said. “I thought you were in the demon realm.”

Mor shrugged. “I wanted to be here to see how Cleo’s big night went. I presume violent?” She looked around at our blood-spattered appearances. “How did you end up having a threesome?”

“Right,” Cayne said. “The three of you left the ball, I’m assuming, and went to Simon’s. Why didn’t you take him with you?”

“He had insisted on going with Vasara before that,” I said. “And the vampires were already crowding in to attack us.” I shook my head. “We shouldn’t have let him go.”

“Simon makes his own decisions,” Samael said, shaking his head. “I’ve never seen anyone who could make him change his mind. He will be devastated when he learns the full extent of how many vampires died. And he won’t understand it being for him.” Sam ran a hand through his golden-brown curls. “What a mess.”

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