Chapter 44
“Quazar?”
Forget washing him up. I needed to mend his wounds as best as I could, immediately.
My hearts squeezed as he wrestled against the agony coursing through his body. Instead of combing through the chamber for supplies, I waved my hands and summoned an emergency menders kit to his table.
In a temple dripping in marble and gold, his table was made of wood and stone. I pressed my lips into a thin line, my agitation with the temple only escalating.
Taking out what I needed, I summoned a chair and sat in it.
I got to work on all the open wounds on his neck, then his torso.
When I looked down, I tried not to stare between his legs, combing his thighs and calves for wounds.
Beneath the insurmountable amount of inscriptions carved into his skin, he had wounds everywhere.
“What did those wretched monsters do to you?” I breathed, pulling out a fresh cloth to wipe away the blood, before applying ointment. “Accursed barbarians.”
“Considering what they did put me at your mercy and care? I’d say it was worth it.”
Still bent over, tending to his calves, I flicked my eyes up at him, wrinkling my nose.
“You have issues.”
“And yet, here you are,” he purred.
I rolled my eyes, my cheeks heating.
“Scoot. I need to see what they did to your back.”
Obeying, Quazar moved up without hesitation, bending over. I wanted to scream when I saw the endless lines criss-crossing his back. He’d been whipped, like I had been. But worse.
“Bleeding, rotting, Hèls-damned—”
“Such colorful language for one so pious.” He chuckled.
I shoved my knee into his.
“Shut it.”
He laughed, still bent over. I tended to the wounds on his back as best as I could. He needed a real Mender. I moved to sit in the chair in front of him.
“Look, I’m no Raephim,” I started fyusing. “But I’ll do what I can to help seal the majority of these. They’ll probably still hurt, but at least they won’t get infected.”
He nodded, his gaze lost in my starry figure.
“Why don’t you stay fyused all the time?” he breathed, running his fingers over my galactic skin.
I shrugged, blushing.
“It draws a lot of attention.” I bit my lip. “Too much.”
I lifted my hands to his face.
“Hold still.”
Quazar listened, letting me inch closer as I rested my hands on him.
I closed my eyes, seeking out the pool of starfire inside of myself.
It was thrumming with the endless galactic power.
I began drawing from it, pulling out wave after wave.
I forced the starfire into my hands and into Quazar’s skin.
He instantly tilted his head back, hissing with pleasure.
As I poured my starfire into him, I could visibly see the lavender trails going throughout his body, knitting each open wound it found.
Quazar’s body shuddered beneath my touch.
His pulse raced. His skin turned molten.
He fell back into the couch, pulling me with him.
I stumbled into his lap, my hands still pressed into his skin.
“Burning stars,” he hissed down the bond. “This feels incredible.”
He rolled his hips beneath me, taking me into the motion with him. I let out a small gasp, straddling him further, pouring out more starfire. He rolled his hips again. And again.
I followed his rhythm, his pace. I leaned my face into his neck, dragging my fingers along his scorching skin.
His hands slid down my waist, my hips, until they reached my thighs.
I whimpered into his neck as he pushed up the fabric of my gown, inching it higher along my thighs.
Then his heated hands were pressing into my skin.
“My Safah,” he moaned down our bond.
I couldn’t help myself. I pressed my lips into his neck and bit down, sucking on his skin. Quazar snarled like a hungry beast. He gripped my thighs, yanking me closer.
“Do that again, and I’m flipping you over this couch. I will bury myself inside you and mark you. Every Disciple, Farasee, and Legionnaire throughout this Hèls-infested temple will know that you are mine.”
Well stars if I didn’t like the sound of that. I was flushed all over. I felt like I was going through Purification with him all over again. I brushed a thumb over where he’d just had a wound. The gash was completely gone.
Shocked, I pulled back. Quazar had let his eyes fall shut. Stars. When he was like this—eyes closed, mouth slightly open, expression relaxed—everything inside me melted, demanding to devour him.
“Hey you,” I teased. “Look who is all better. Guess you don’t need a Raephim after all.”
He opened his eyes and looked down. I couldn’t explain how, but I’d not only stitched up his open wounds, but I’d mended them completely.
“Starling, how?”
“I don’t know. But good thing, right?”
He watched me with curious, twinkling eyes.
“‘Bend, but do not break’,” he said suddenly. “‘Burn, but never bleed.’ You’re always saying this. Why?”
“It’s a proverb Manmi taught me. I think Granmanmi taught it to her. It’s been engrained in me since I was a naive, youngling. It was meant to help me mentally endure the temple.”
Quazar nodded, still taking in his brand new skin with those curious looks he kept sneaking my way.
“You know, the temple forced us to bond as temple-mates. Now I’m starting to see the mistake they’ve made.”
“Mistake?” I asked, wrinkling my nose. I brushed his hair with my fingers. “How so?”
Quazar laced our fingers together, kissing my knuckles.
“The connection isn’t as strong as it would be if we were bonded wingmates, but it’s still a pretty powerful one.
Especially with you being a Starfire Seraphim and me being a Shadow Bending Mortent.
I’m of a lower rank than you, but our powers are of the few contrasting ones that become significantly dangerous when put together.
This shouldn’t be possible. But because we are bonded, look at what you were able to do. ”
“But if the Farasees knew that, they’d keep us apart, not forcefully drive us closer.”
“Or”—he worried his bottom lip—“They did it on purpose. They mated us, turning me into a trigger for you. Turning you into bait for me.”
“A trigger for me,” I repeated, my mind racing.
I looked out of his window which had a humble view of the clouds. Twinight was starting to rise outside. I was surprised so much time had already passed. I looked back at Quazar, fyusing back to Seraphim skin.
“I don’t follow. Why in the stars would the Order want you to be my trigger?”
Quazar brushed a lock of my hair behind my ear, not answering right away.
“Quazar?”
“Do you know why they really brought us here?” He looked back at me, his eyes searching mine.
“To prepare for war?”
He snorted. “Please. When have you ever seen a Farasee at war? We’re not here to learn how to work together before we go on the battlefield, Safah. We’re here to hunt.”
I raised my brows in shock. “I’m…sorry?”
“You heard me. The Legionnaires are here to sift through the Disciples and hunt. The Farasees are looking for an angel, Safah. An angel that carries an old power that has recently been detected to have resurrected. A power linked to the Ashiris star. A power that can call out the lavender dragons from exile.”
I blinked at Quazar, not comprehending. I didn’t understand a shred of what he was saying. Conversations about some Ashiris star, dragons, ancient power, were ones that never took place in our home. We kept our noses out of such affairs. Papi made sure of it.
I tucked in my knees, leaning my weight on his bare thighs.
“We were brought here as hunting dogs, love. Think really hard about why they mated me, of all angels, to you.”
“So…you’re supposed to…hunt me? And prove I am this angel…or not?”
He smiled. I nearly lost my balance with how beautiful he was.
“Hunt you. How adorable. I’m supposed to kill you, Starling.” He leaned in, tilting his head. “Too bad I fell for you instead.” His grin stretched, showing not one, but both of his dimples. “Oops.”
I opened my mouth to ask him more questions. Instead, I let out a major yawn. My eyes drooped. I was exhausted.
“Too much. This is all too much. I’m beat,” I said, half yawning again. “Stay with me,” I whispered. “Spend the twinight with me.”
He brushed strands of hair from my forehead. His throat bobbed as his eyes colored with desire.
“Are you sure that’s what you want?”
“I know it’s what I want.”
Quazar leaned forward, kissing me on the neck. Once. Twice. He wrapped his wings around our bodies. One moment we were on his couch. The next we were in my chambers.
“Then I surrender. Yes, Starling. I’ll stay with you this twinight.”