Page 22 of The Star's Sword
But then her polite gaze was back on me. “I’d enjoy that.”
“Me too,” I lied.
“Vasara,” Simon said, giving Cayne a look over his shoulder as he pulled Vasara away with an elbow through hers. “I’m sorry I won’t be able to accompany you, but—”
Vasara seemed to slump. “But you have that brute to deal with.” She glared at Cayne, who looked ready to throw an axe at her. “Really, what do you see in him besides his nasty killing?”
“If you’re the Morningstar, you’ll end up doing a lot of killing.”
She shuddered slightly. “I don’t relish it, but I’ll do what I have to.” She looked at me. “As we all should.”
Simon pulled her forward a bit, out of ear shot of the rest of us, and began to talk to her in a low voice as Cayne came over to me.
“Study everything you can about her and report back to me,” Cayne said. “She’s your competition and I don’t trust her for a second.” He frowned, glaring at her next to Simon. “I don’t get her game in even coming here. Don’t let your guard down around her.”
“I won’t,” I said.
“Use this opportunity,” he said. “But don’t tell her anything important. Anything about your fighting style or abilities at all. You two will have at least one duel in front of the vampires during the trials.”
I grinned viciously at that. “I know.” I was planning on that and my extensive blood donation to make up for the fact that I was terrible at the courtier game.
“All right,” he said. “I’ll go feed our silly resident vampire before he gets any ideas about turning on us.”
“Simon would turn on us?” I asked.
“No,” Cayne said with a laugh. “But he doesn’t think very clearly while hungry. And I’m sure that bitch can’t give him any worthwhile blood. She just wants to hang out with a rarity. A full vampire.”
“I’m in agreement.”
“But,” Cayne said, trailing off.
“Yes?”
“If you could, you know, find anything out about what she thinks about him, what’s happening between them?”
“I’ll see what I can do,” I said, laughing.
“All right,” Cayne said, clapping a hand on my shoulder. “Be careful.”
Samael came up then, giving me a long, tight hug that made all of my body instantly feel better. More refreshed despite the extreme exertion. Our bond, I knew. At least now I could walk to the enclosure with Vasara without having to openly hobble.
“Be careful,” Samael said. “And if you need me, you know you only need to call in your mind. Our bond.”
I gave him a kiss on the cheek, hoping Vasara could see. She seemed to want him merely for his power as a ninth realm celestial.
It made me wonder, if she liked celestials so much, why she even wanted to overthrow them at all.
But I supposed I could find that out, along with everything else, when I walked with her.
I grimaced and stepped forward, taking Simon’s place at her side.
She looked at me, then sniffed the air gingerly. “Oh. I guess we’re going like this.”
I shrugged, irritation moving through me. “You didn’t exactly schedule so I could dress up and look pretty.”
She put her hands on her hips. “Can’t you do an illusion?”
I glared at her. “Not for you.”
