Page 73 of A Dance With Fire
Valerio smiled and dropped his hand from the human’s hair. A single swipe was all it took to clean his face and then he was staring up at Julius.
“He won’t talk now, but perhaps we can persuade him to give us the answers we seek.”
A laugh rumbled out of Julius’ chest that couldn’t be described as anything but deadly.
Horror washed over the man’s features as he realized what was in store for him. “No,” he begged. “Please!”
Shula’s soft sobs of heartache reached him. He’d gotten a glimpse of Orna’s body. Broken, bloodied, abused.
He let the glimmer of death shine through his expression and knew the taste of it permeated the human’s tongue. The stench of fear and urine came next, and Valerio knew he was going to have fun breaking this man.
He didn’t relish in cruelty, but it was a necessary evil. One he wouldn’t mind imparting in this instance.
“Everything you gave to my people, you will find returned to you tenfold.” With that, Valerio nodded at Uric who opened the portal back to camp where they would keep this scum for interrogation.
And avenge the deaths of his friends.
25
A Star in the Sky
Back at the camp, everything happened so slowly, it was as if time had stopped completely. They stepped from Uric’s portal and were met with a crowd of crying, fear-filled eyes. Shula couldn’t bring herself to meet a single one of them. She stared at nothing but Orna’s body cradled against Valerio’s chest.
The Seelie Prince had bent down only moments before, his hands gentle and firm as he pried Shula’s fingers off of Orna’s body, one by one.
“It is time to let go,” he whispered. For a moment, he hadn’t been the Seelie asshole who’d abducted her, but a friend sharing her grief.
It was with that in mind that she allowed Orna to be tugged away from her. He’d hoisted her up into his arms and walked in long legged strides right through the portal.
She looked so small and fragile against him, and she was so unmoving that there could be no mistaking she was dead.
Some of the men who’d gone to help hadn’t returned either, and what bodies they could find were passed through the portal and laid on the ground. The humans’ death count had been higher, but this hurt more.
Cries of sorrow and heartbreak rang out like a somber dirge. There would be no music to lead their souls back to Mana, though. There would be no funeral rights, no words to declare how much they would be missed.
Valerio stepped towards the center of the camp and laid Orna’s body gently on the ground. Clay came beside him and laid down a bag. They’d gathered what body parts they could of Des; they’d died together and should be burned together.
Then came the rest of the bodies. One by one they were laid out next to one another. Soft cries filled the night, and then Valerio’s voice echoed.
“Fire Dancer,” he declared. Shula snapped her gaze up. “Put them to rest.”
She knew what she was asking, and Shula searched inside herself to find the same strength as before, but she felt hollow. No more rage lived inside her, just emptiness left behind. She thought if she’d stayed away that there wouldn’t be pain when the inevitable happened. Shula had only known Orna a handful of days, but the blow of her death felt like a lifetime of friendship yanked away in a single, bloody instant.
And it left her hollow inside.
Yet for Orna, sheneededto do this. It was an ache that would never be healed, guilt that she would probably never assuage, but Orna deserved a funeral. She deserved to be sent off with the love of her life, her mate, into the beyond. So, Shula pulled whatever scraps she had left and shot her hand out to the bodies.
They caught fire quickly, the flames charring their flesh. It was the only goodbye they’d get. The closest thing to a funeral they could afford to have.
“Let’s go,” Valerio announced. “It is no longer safe here.”
And they wouldn’t even stay to watch their bodies drift back to Mana.
Shula sucked in a breath as she watched the flames flicker. In them, she wore she could hear the laughter of her friend. Like her soul was rising happily through the fire.
To give Shula one last goodbye.
And watching Orna’s body burn was like watching a sunrise chase away the darkness until there was nothing left of it, winking out every light until not a single star was left in the sky.
