We Free the Stars (Sands of Arawiya 2)

Altair’s blood ran cold. He thrashed against the ifrit, but he felt as if he were suddenly made of wheat, frail and insignificant. He gave up, all but hanging in their clutches.

Two more came for him, because Aya might be Arawiya’s best healer, but no one could insert a heart into a heartless monster by skill alone. Without Altair’s blood to fuel her, none of this was possible. He twisted away in futile protest and dull pain throbbed up his arm at the slash of the blade. He stilled at the warm rush of blood, heard the soft pings as it hit the metal cup.

Pride bit his tongue, held his silence. His eye socket wrinkled oddly, bile rising to his throat.

Aya blended their blood with a soft murmur. She smoothed her fingers down the Lion’s chest.

“Do you feel it?” she asked momentarily.

The Lion shook his head.

Altair knew she was good, but skilled enough to numb so much of a man in heartbeats? She placed the tip of the lancet on the Lion’s skin and paused. “There is always the chance that it may not work.”

“Fair Aya, always so concerned for my welfare. We’ve discussed this, haven’t we? It is a risk I must take.” The Lion touched her cheek, like a proud parent commending his child.

“For Arawiya,” she said.

The Lion smiled. “For Arawiya, my sweet.”

She truly was gone. Altair watched helplessly as the knife tore through the Lion’s golden skin, black blood welling along the path of the incision.

The promise of a greater darkness to come.

CHAPTER 49

There truly was no fool bigger than Zafira. I love you? She wanted to bash her head against the nearest wall.

If Kifah hadn’t knocked when she did, Zafira’s wayward tongue would have run too far to reel back, though the look on Kifah’s face when Nasir followed her out of the room was mortifying enough. He barely met Zafira’s eyes as he hurried on and turned down a different hall, the guards on either end snapping to attention.

She was aware, then, that those were the last words she would say to him before he was bound to another. Before this night was over, all that they had shared would no longer be the beginnings of a possibility but the end of a memory—unless he spoke out and held his ground.

“So that’s why you weren’t with Lana. Akhh, he’s looking cheery,” Kifah observed as she appraised her. “You, on the oth

er hand, look like you climbed out of someone’s dream. Probably his.”

Zafira felt bare with her hair unbound, lost in the flame of his touch and the yearning beneath her skin. She felt powerful, too, with her new jambiya against her leg.

“I was worried when you weren’t in the audience hall,” Kifah continued. Her own new attire was fierce: A sleeveless tunic dropped at a slant to her mid-thigh, the high neck embroidered in bold gold filigree. She started to say something more, but stopped.

Zafira cast her a sidelong glance. “What is it?”

She pulled a small cylinder of polished wood with golden caps from a loop at her hip. With a flick of her wrist, it extended to either side, a vicious spearhead at the very end.

“I’m impressed.” Zafira’s brows rose.

Kifah flicked a latch and the spear retracted. She attached it to her waist. “A gift from Benyamin.”

Zafira’s throat closed, imagining Benyamin preparing for a matter of life and death, yet pausing to construct a gift for the stranger with whom he would undertake a momentous journey.

“It’s exquisite.”

Kifah nodded, torn. “Calipha Ghada had it with her. She wants me to come back.”

Ah. The Calipha of Pelusia. “But that’s good, isn’t it? It seemed like you wanted her to forgive you.”

“Not with an ultimatum. I’d have to go back with them now. After the feast. It means leaving everything behind. You, the prince, Altair … magic. Forgo my vengeance and regain my place.” She barked a bitter laugh. “My father would love it.”

What could Zafira say? If she had to decide between going back to her home or staying here to restore magic and defeat the Lion, she couldn’t choose one or the other. She wanted both. She wanted more. She wanted to return home without the guilt of Deen’s death. To find Umm alive and Yasmine smiling. She wanted magic returned without the betrayal of Aya and Altair.