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“I would hate for you to get ill,” he said snidely, jerking her to her feet.

“We had a deal,” she seethed, looking down at Juliette’s still body on the floor. “I did what you asked!”

“And this was a reminder, my pet, that should you fail to follow through, I do not,” Mikale snarled. He wrapped the blanket around her shoulders. Keeping a firm grip on her elbow, he led her down the hall and up a few flights of stone stairs. A guard had entered behind them and was escorting the little girl who was sobbing behind them. There was nothing Scarlett could risk doing without endangering the little girl any more, so she allowed herself to be led along.

They came up through a door into the main level of a large manor. It must be the Lairwood house, Scarlett realized. He led her down another hall and through the front foyer. It was pitch black, as starless as the sky had been hours earlier when she’d been with Callan.He shoved her into a carriage and warm hands caught her. She stiffened at the touch, but then a voice whispered in her ear. “Act like there is no one else in here.”

Cassius.

It took every ounce of her not to sob in relief.

The little girl was thrown into the pitch black carriage after her. Cassius caught her and clamped a hand over her mouth to silence her before quickly passing her to Scarlett. Mikale climbed in, and once the door had been shut and the carriage lurched into motion, Cassius spoke.

“You made a grave mistake coming after one of us,” he said coolly. Mikale stiffened at the words. “You have nearly declared war with the Black Syndicate.” Cassius was calm and collected, speaking as though he were discussing a dinner invitation.

Mikale lurched forward as if to jump from the carriage, but Scarlett was quicker. She brought her leg up, landing a blow between his legs. He doubled over, and she brought her foot up again, catching his throat and thrusting his head back against the wall of the carriage, pinning him in place. He struggled to breathe around the pressure she exerted in the small space. She steeled herself against the burning pain in her ribs. She could feel the little girl trembling violently beside her.

“Here’s what’s going to happen,” Cassius said, reaching over and plucking the key to her chains from Mikale’s pocket. He unlocked them, and she clutched at the blanket around her shoulders as she slowly lowered her foot from Mikale’s throat. Cassius’s dagger replaced it faster than she could blink. “We are going to come to a truce right here and now, or you shall find yourself dealing directly with the Assassin Lord, whose daughter you nearly killed tonight, along with the rest of the Black Syndicate. Scarlett has already ended things with the prince. She shall stay clear of him, and you shall stay clear of us.

“As for her second deal,” he spat, the rage filling his tone unyielding. “Consider that deal null and void. She shall not be your wife.Should you come near her again, you shall find yourself in the presence of the Assassin Lord.”

“I have the crown behind me,” Mikale sneered, but something in his face had shifted, barely visible in the dark.

“Then by all means explain to the crown prince, explain to theking, how your actions ignited a war between the crown and the pit of hell,” Cassius replied with deadly calm.

Mikale said nothing, rage rippling off of him.

“Do we have an understanding?” Cassius asked coldly.

“Yes,” Mikale answered through gritted teeth, the carriage lurching to a stop. The door was pulled open by someone outside, and Cassius put a hand to Scarlett’s back. Lord Tyndell’s son appeared in the doorway of the carriage and motioned for her to come to him.

“It’s fine, Scarlett,” Cassius said softly. “It’s Drake Tyndell. You can trust him.” Her legs were shaking so violently she could hardly stand. “He will help you into the manor. There is someone from the Syndicate waiting to take the girl back.”

Cassius helped her to her feet, and she nearly fell out of the carriage into Drake’s waiting arms. A freezing rain had begun and her trembling only increased at the icy drops on her face and body. They were around the back of the house, Scarlett realized as Drake held her to his chest. A man in all black, although Scarlett recognized him as Maximus, stepped forward and grabbed the girl, disappearing into the night.

She heard a grunt of pain, and Cassius emerged from the carriage, limping heavily on his injured leg. “Find your own way home,” he snarled, and he held the door open for Mikale. He emerged, holding a hand over his eye, where apparently Cassius had punched him. Drake and Cassius stood facing him, and Mikale had no choice but to turn and walk down the drive in the drizzling night.

When he had disappeared from view, they both turned and walked towards the manor. They reached what had to be a servant’s entrance. Cassius knocked once, and the door was opened by a young woman with golden-blonde hair. “This way,” she whispered,allowing them to push past her. She led them down a hall to a room where a healer was waiting for them.

“Nuri?” Scarlett asked when Drake gently set her onto a bed.

“She is with Alaric,” Cassius said grimly. “Sybil was being summoned when I left to get you.” His eyes widened when they landed on her hands and bloody thighs where Juliette’s head had rested as she had died. The red against her skin was illuminated by the low candlelight in the room. “Are you bleeding?”

“No,” she answered, her voice hollow and distant. “He forced me to choose. Between Juliette and the girl.” The young woman who had let them in put a hand to her mouth at the words. “Then he made me do it.”

Cassius swore colorfully and gripped her hand. “Scarlett, look at me.”

But she couldn’t. Juliette’s face flashed in her mind.

Over and over and over and over.

“I am fine,” Scarlett said, waving off the healer who had stepped forward. “Look at his leg.”

Cassius grimaced as the healer unwrapped the makeshift bandage around his thigh and cut the leg of his pants open to get to the wound. The healer pursed her lips and set to work on him. The young woman who had let them in, the Lord’s daughter, Tava, tried to get Scarlett to come to a bath, but she refused to leave Cassius’s side. In truth, she didn’t think she’d be able to walk anywhere right now.

When the healer was done with him, Cassius made Scarlett lay back on the bed so the healer could assess her stomach where she had been hit and kicked. Scarlett hardly noticed as the healer felt her ribs. Two were for sure cracked, if not broken. She instructed Cassius to summon her after she had bathed to put a binding on them.

“Come,” Tava said, “I have a bath being drawn for you.”