Page 150 of Sunsplitter

Heat built in her chest, a slow-growing mote of—shediddo that, didn’t she?

Avroz’s slow look was the most delicious feast, the most covetous prize she’d never asked for. Disbelief seethed off him like clumping mildew.

“Fionamara landed the killing blow,” Antal said.

Avroz cast his son a chiding glance. Did he think they were lying?

“Fi fought by my side,” Ixli seconded. “She cleaved the aedari’s head off.”

Fi should probably be standing for this. She pushed to her feet, masking a wince at a few strained joints, but who cared about such mortal frivolities when she had Avroz’s entire string of emotions to devour? First came confusion—always delectable on immortal features. Then suspicion—insulting, but whatever. Then anger—which onlyfueledher.

The resignation caught her off guard.

Never in a thousand years did Fi expect Avroz to fill his palm one final time with gilded blood. To hold it out toher.

There was gravity to the gesture. Some binding ritual that superseded even the depth of his loathing. Her gut reaction to the offer was a visceralVoid no,she wasn’t keen on drinking the blood of an immortal creature. Refusal would diminish her victory. Fi chewed her lip at the dilemma.

Pride won. Fi didn’t hesitate as she walked to him—that would be losing—but she stayed alert. She hadn’t ventured this close to Avroz since he’d ripped her stomach open. Since he’d had his claws in her scalp before that. Violence, every time she strayed within claws’ reach.

As Antal had done, she knelt. That didn’t feel great, either.

Fi contemplated the aedari blood glowing gold in Avroz’s palm.

“Is this… going to kill me?” she asked.

The stark silence from every daeyari wasn’t what she’d callcomforting. Of course they didn’t know. How often did humans kill aedari?

“If you do not wish it, vavraesa…” Avroz said.

Fi scowled and grabbed his hand with spiteful gusto. She downed the blood in one gulp.

Then gagged.

It wasn’t awful. Just unexpected. Hardly even a liquid. The thickness of it coated her mouth, then her throat the whole way down, hot like embers. Smooth as syrup. Alarmingly sweet, like the spiciest honey she’d ever tasted.

The buzz followed, and Fi understood why Antal and Ixli were swaying. Like downing a shot, a swell of lightheadedness tilted her backward—quirked a victorious grin on her mouth.

Avroz spread his arms.

“To the new Sunsplitters,” he announced.

“To thenewSunsplitters!” Syvr seconded with more enthusiasm. Formalities over, they threw their arms over Antal and Ixli. “Now, did someone mention a celebration?”

The aedari’s body was important for the celebration, Fi was told. And again—weird. But she went along with it. Three warriors slung the corpse of an immortal across their shoulders, Fi between Antal and Ixli.

The journey to the Twilit Plane passed as a blur of Curtains. Fi paid more attention, but the route was dizzying, most of it hidden between teleports. No wonder the aedari had never found it. If they could only teleport line of sight, they’d never be able to follow a daeyari here.

The journey ended at Antal’s old home. Straight into the sitting room this time, those black tile floors and ambient lights, half-moon windows looking out upon the dusk-lit garden. This time, Fi felt less small in the space.

They dropped the body to the floor.

The vavriter steward, Geslam, appeared first, pausing at the threshold to the kitchen, wide red eyes settling on the arrivals. Then on their prey, collected like the trophy.

Avroz stepped forward. “Geslam, send a message to the Dusk Council. Tell them one aedari has been felled. A second remains. We’ll have its trail again soon.”

The vavriter nodded and slipped off into the study.

Next came a patter of claws on tile.