Page 85 of Lady of Starfire

“What?”

“That I have to Travel here when my power is low.”

“What do you plan to do then? Stay here?” she asked, dread coiling through her at the thought.

“I cannot stay here.”

“You’re here now.”

He tensed even more. Apparently filling his empty power wells hadn’t been enough to ease that tension he’d arrived with. “I did not have much of a choice, just as I do not have much of a choice as to whether or not I stay here.”

“Says who? Cethin?”

“Saylah,” he ground out. “How long are you going to pretend that door isn’t the only thing keeping you on your feet?”

She leveled him with a glare. “What do you mean Saylah says you cannot stay here?”

“I am Cethin’s Guardian. I need to be where he is. You know. Toguardhim,” he replied. He took a step towards her, but she held up a hand.

“I don’t need your help.”

He sighed, looking towards the ceiling as if asking the gods for patience. “Come sit down, Eliza. I should not have taken so much at once. I apologize.”

Her brows shot up. “I’m your Source. Isn’t that my purpose?”

That muscle ticked in his jaw. “Come sit down,” he repeated, stepping to the side and out of her path.

She sucked in a breath to steady herself before moving as quickly as she dared to the sofa in front of the hearth. She sank down onto it, holding in her sigh of relief. That would take some getting used to. She rarely let her power get this low. Only when she had forced herself to train with low reserves. She could do it, but it was uncomfortable and jarring.

Razik didn’t make any move to help her, but she heard him mutter under his breath something along the lines of “so damn stubborn.”

“You’re one to talk,” she retorted.

“It’s not supposed to be like this,” he said, ignoring her small outburst.

“Like what?”

“We are not supposed to be separated by an ocean, Eliza.”

Eliza. He hadn’t called her any of his pet names since he’d returned. Not once. She should be relieved. Instead, she was irritated that she even noticed.

“When you offered to do this, I assumed you understood we could not be separated. Part of that lifelong commitment we discussed,” he was saying.

She tipped her head back to look up at him. “You thought I wouldstayin Avonleya? Why would you think that?”

He stared at her. “Again, because of that whole lifelong commitment thing.”

Instead of replying, she leaned back into the sofa, resting her head against the back and letting her eyes fall closed. She was tired after he’d drained her magic, and—

“I’m staying in your rooms while I am here.”

Her eyes snapped back open at that. “You most certainly are not.”

He was prowling towards her now, and she was pressing herself into the sofa even more as he lowered down beside her. “If you are not coming back with me, I’m staying near you. This relationship is supposed to be a give-and-take, Eliza. You give me power; I give you protection and care in return. I have nearly drained you of your magic. It is instinct for me to watch over you when you are vulnerable.”

“I’m not vulnerable,” she muttered.

“You were holding yourself up with a door.”