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“Why am I more upset about this than you?” Sorin shouted. She could hear the exasperation in his voice, see it on his face.

“That’s a damn good question. Whyareyou more upset about this than I am?”

Sorin stared at her for a long moment, his eyes searching hers. She stared coldly back. He stepped from the bedroom doorway, and the main door clicked open. “Do what you wish, Scarlett,” he said. Then he turned and walked into the kitchen.

Scarlett stomped to the spare bedroom, ripped the peach dress from the bed, returned to Sorin’s bedroom, and stuffed it into the leather bag. Howdarehe try to tell her what to do. How dare he try and keep her here.He wasn’t the one about to be forced to make a choice to save her family. He wasn’t the one who had sacrificed so much only to be forced to give more. How dare he act offended that she wouldn’t fall apart over this. She had survived far worse than this, and she’d done so by herself for many years. Fuck, she was only in this godsdamn mess because she refused to kill—

Scarlett chucked the leather bag back onto the bed and stalked to the kitchen. She found Sorin leaning against the counter, drinking a glass of water. His face was grave, and his dark hair looked like he’d been running his hands through it.

“I thought you needed to get back to the manor,” he said, thick with sarcasm, bringing the glass back up to take another drink.

Scarlett reached up and knocked the glass from his hand. Water flew into his face and the glass shattered as it hit the counter then the floor. Sorin stared at her, unimpressed, water dripping down his face.

“Who the hell do you think you are?” Scarlett screamed. She was inches from him, standing on her tiptoes to be in his face. She shoved a pointed finger into his chest. “You tried to lock me up, keep me here.You tried to put me in a cage! I can take care of myself. I do not need your protection, and I certainly do not need you telling me how I shouldfeel.” Sweat beaded on her forehead. Her hands felt like she was holding wildfire in her palms. “And for the love of Saylah, can you back off on the heat in here?”

“Look at that,” Sorin smirked. “Some emotions.”

Scarlett reached up to slap him across the face, but he caught her wrist faster than she could register. The room went from sweltering to freezing in a matter of seconds. She glared at him, trying to pull her hand back, but he held fast. “I didn’t say put all the fires out, you ass.”

“I am not doing that,” he replied.

“Let go of me.”

To her surprise, he released her wrist immediately. She turned and started pacing back and forth in the kitchen. “You act as if I have a choice in this matter. You act as if I have any say.”

“Of course you have a say, Scarlett. You always have a choice,”Sorin answered, fury lacing his words.

Scarlett barked a harsh laugh. “I’ve never had choices. Just the illusion of them. You heard Cassius last night. Lord Tyndell does not own me, but the Assassin Lord does.”

Sorin pushed off the counter and came over to her, gripping her shoulders to stop her pacing. “No one fuckingownsyou, Scarlett Monrhoe. You have a choice in this.”

Tears welled in her eyes, and she cursed herself for letting them. Looking at the floor, she replied, “No, Sorin. In this, I don’t have any choice at all.”

She felt him gently force her head up. Her eyes locked on his, and she felt like he could see to her very soul. “Especially in this, you have a choice.”

“How do you figure?”

“You say the word, and I will take you from here. I told you. I will not leave you alone, but I need you tochooseit, Love.”

She pulled out of his grip, a single tear sliding down her cheek. “I cannot leave Nuri to a fate with Mikale. I cannot risk Cassius’s life. I cannot leave those orphans to be picked off one by one. You speak of responsibilities at home? I have my own,” she replied. She left the kitchen and walked back to the bedroom, grabbing the leather bag from the bed. If she didn’t leave now, she’d have a very difficult time sneaking back into the manor. She came out of the bedroom to find Sorin waiting for her at the main door.

“Here,” he said, holding his hand out to her. In it, her mother’s ring lay in the center of his palm.

Scarlett gently closed his fingers around it. “You keep it,” she said quietly, more tears escaping down her cheeks. “It is of far more use to you.”

Shock came over Sorin’s face as he shook his head. “No, Scarlett. It is yours. You must keep it.”

“Yes, it is mine, which makes it mine to give away. One of the few things I do have a say over,” she replied, reaching up and cupping his face with her hand. Her thumb stroked his cheek as she gave him a sad smile. “I wish I would have kissed you more,” she whispered.

Sorin gently pulled her to him and leaned down. A tender kiss brushed her lips. He touched his forehead to hers and said, “If you leave here, if you go to him, the stars will go out.”

She kissed him, a gentle press of lips on lips. Fresh tears filled her eyes. “There was only one star left anyway.”

He kissed her again, this kiss far more intense, his fingers fisting in her hair. He gently pulled back, his golden eyes piercing her soul again. “You are far more powerful than you realize, Scarlett. If you decide to fight, I will be by your side in an instant. I will find the light.”

Scarlett took in his eyes, his dark hair. She breathed in that ash and cedar scent one more time. Breathed it deep into her being as if it would be the strength she would need to face this. She had been a fool to think she could have ever started down a road with him, to think her soul had recognized him somehow that day in the training barracks. She had been a fool to think she could have such a gift with the atrocities she had committed. She had been a fool to let him take her wall down brick by brick. She brushed another kiss to his lips. “Go home, Sorin. You asked why the Assassin Lord would order Cassius not to intervene? Because this is my punishment. For defying him. For not letting go of Juliette. For not completing my assignment. For not killing my target.”

Sorin stilled against her, his fingers still in her hair. “Who?” he breathed. “Who were you assigned to kill?”