Chapter 39
Aresounding thump pounded against my bedchamber door.
“Quazar!” Ellabeth yelled. “She’s my best friend. You can’t just put shadow locks on her door so no one can get in but you. That’s not fair!”
I blinked up at him without pulling away, relishing in our proximity.
“You what?”
He shrugged, trailing my bottom lip with a thumb.
“I put shadow locks on your door. The Zamarien youngling tried getting in here once. I taught him his lesson, then I made sure it would never happen again.” He tilted his head. “Does that upset you?”
It didn’t at all.
“No.”
“Good,” he said, down our bond. He drew me closer, back to closing the gap between our mouths. He squeezed my thighs again. I arched into him on instinct, opening my mouth for him. “Now where were we?”
“VALORYEN.” Ellabeth pounded on the door. “Open this burning door now.”
Quazar sighed.
“But of course your best friend is as demanding as you.”
I grinned wide, pulling away from him.
“I’m coming, Ellie,” I called, shoving my feet into slippers and rushing down the gilded steps before hopping to the door of the bedchamber.
“You’re awake?” she cried. “Valoryen.”
“You know, I prefer hearing my name that many times on your tongue.”
I snorted into my palm. “How in the stars do I unlock a shadow lock?”
“Easy. Just get close. It’ll detect your ethèr, and automatically respond to your starfire, opening on instinct.”
“Wait. I’m not the only one with starfire. Granmanmi—”
“She could never.” His gruff voice cut in. “I made this shadow lock, Starling. It only reacts to you.”
Well, it was time to test that theory. I padded to the door. Before I could even lift a hand, the shadow lock clicked. Ellabeth immediately shoved the door open and threw her arms around me. We held each other tight.
“Thank you for taking care of me,” I whispered into her hair.
“I thought I’d lost you. I…stars.”
I brushed her hair as she wept. I could feel the weights falling off of her. Relief. Worry. Fear.
“Kazemir paces every dawn, completely fyused. Daelun, Isandra, and Omarion have gone after Tharic. Twice. I keep catching Amayah reading about undetectable poisons…Everyone is just angry. This temple…”
“Isn’t what we were told it would be?” I finished for her. I pulled back and gave her a small smile.
She nodded, swiping at her tears. “At all.”
“You’ll have to catch me up on everything I missed. Burning Zamarien won’t let me live it down if I fall behind.”
“Trust me. We know.”
I bit my lip. “Does…does Granmanmi know?”
Ellabeth looked at me. Then her gaze fell on something behind me, as if she was searching for the right answer.
“I think so,” she finally said.
“Has she been to see me?”
Ellabeth’s face tightened. I knew that look. I already knew what she’d say before she said it.
“No, she hasn’t.”
I nodded, turning away. Stars. That stung. A familiar tendril of shadow snaked its way to me, rising to rest beneath my chin before lifting it.
“I don’t like seeing this pout on your face, Starling. Get rid of your bestie so I can thoroughly rid you of it.”
Despite myself, my lips twitched into a smile. I looked at Quazar, who’d taken the liberty to sprawl out over my bed. He winked before popping a cookie into his mouth.
“Mm, these really are burning good. But not as delicious as you. And that was just your fingers. Imagine when I finally get my tongue in your—”
I cleared my throat, fighting with all my might to keep my composure. My face burned as I blinked through the haze that was quickly consuming me.
Quazar grinned, those pointed tips of his teeth turning my mind into an unraveled mess. I trailed my gaze down his exposed torso, and those muscles begging to be touched. Down the length of the tunic, until I reached the hem of his pants. And lower. What I saw made my knees weak.
“Forcing me to settle for these rotting cookies when I’m clearly meant to have you is entirely selfish, if you ask me.”
I coughed, trying to keep my face from turning the deepest shades of crimson.
“My…my hair.” I spun around, breathing in short, quick spurts. “Will you help me with my hair, it’s…Well. You see it.”
Ellabeth looked at me a long time, studying my expression. Then she looked over at Quazar, who was downing my cookies one at a time, eyes glued to me. She looked at me again. Then at Quazar. Then back at me one last time.
“Hair,” she said slowly.
“Yup. Hair.”
She raised a brow.
I said nothing.
Quazar chuckled darkly down our bond.
She snuck another curious look at him, narrowing her eyes, before looking back at me.
“Sure,” she drawled. “I’ll do your hair.” A beat. “But only if Valoryen takes his leave.”
I opened my mouth to answer.
“No.” Quazar answered before I could, with such ferocity my hearts skipped three beats.
Ellabeth glared at him.
“We’re going to be doing hair and having female talk. Why would you want to stay?”
“Maybe I’d like to know how to do Starling’s hair.” He grinned, chomping on his fourth cookie. “Maybe one dawn I’ll need to do it…you know, because she’ll be too sore to do it herself.”
My jaw dropped.
Ellabeth’s eyes widened almost to the size of her head.
I swung my head at Quazar. He snuggled deeper into my pillows, wriggling his eyebrows. He wasn’t going anywhere.
“Just leave him. Come on.”
I grabbed Ellabeth’s hand, dragging her up the stairs to the platform my bedcloud was perched on.
Quazar wouldn’t move, so I shoved his legs out of the way, plopping into the middle of the bed while Ellabeth settled on the other side.
I waved a hand summoning hair gel, oil, mousse, a wide-toothed comb, bristle brush, spray bottle with water in it, and hair clips.
“Well, well,” Ellabeth grumbled, reaching for the spray bottle after parting my dry, tangled hair into six large sections. “I guess we can thank crack-kisser Kaelthos for turning us into one big happy family.”
I snorted loud, wheezing as I cackled. Quazar laughed with his mouth full of more cookies while Ellabeth began wrestling with my hair.