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“Because I am the Prince of Fire,” he finished for her.

“You would not turn me over to him because you already had me,” she whispered. Her shadows released him and recoiled back into her, nearly nonexistent, as if the shadows had receded to the place she was quickly retreating into in her soul. The place she went to endure the punishments of the Assassin Lord. The place she went to not feel when Mikale had his hands on her.The place she went to keep memories of pain and loss and grief at bay.

“Cyrus and Rayner, get the mortals out. Take them to a guest suite. I need Beatrix and Briar to stay.”

Cyrus and Rayner did as ordered, ushering Callan and his guards out the door and closing it behind them.

Slowly, Sorin raised his palms to her shield that still swirled around her, and he sucked the life from the flames, extinguishing them. The ice daggers that hung in mid-air dropped as Briar used his own magic. He went to take a step farther into the room, but Sorin said coolly, calmly, “The floor.” Briar looked down to see the ice covering the floor.

Sorin reached up and took Scarlett’s face between his hands. He held her silver eyes. Flames appeared, hovering in the air, surrounding both of them, and he let them burn, too drained to do anything about them anyway. “Love,” he whispered, “I can help you.” But there was no recognition in her eyes. None of the arrogance or the cleverness. Not a hint of the affection he would sometimes glimpse when she told him she hated him.

No. All he saw was hollowness. Emptiness.

Brokenness.

Briar was slowly crouching, reaching for the floor. He had summoned him here for this very reason. While Sorin could counter her fire element, Briar’s elemental magic was water and, in turn, ice. Briar Drayce, Prince of the Water Court. When Briar’s hand touched the floor, his eyes widened, darting to Sorin, clearly startled at the magic he was working so hard to undo. Sorin didn’t dare take his eyes from Scarlett, though. He wasn’t sure he’d even be able to reach her where she had gone.

“Scarlett, all you have to do is answer yes or no. Do you have any control over your magic right now?” he asked gently. Two tears escaped from her eyes, and at his question, her flames turned blue, then glaringly white. They became flames so cold they burned.

“I have control over nothing,” she whispered, her voice as hollow as her eyes. Those eyes were slowly dimming, slowly returning to their icy blue,the glow all but faded. “I have so many masters there is nothing left for me to control.”

“That’s not true, Love,” Sorin said, his chest fracturing at the rawness of her voice. “I told you the Fire Prince will not cage you. I will not allow it. I have never lied to you.”

An empty sounding laugh escaped her lips, and the helplessness of that sound had Sorin swallowing thickly. She slowly brought her hand up and placed it against his own cheek, and damn it all, he leaned into her touch. But he stilled at the words she whispered next. “You, Prince of Fire, are the cruelest master of them all.”

All of it vanished. The flames. The ice. The shadows. All of it disappeared as Scarlett collapsed down onto the couch. Beatrix rushed forward, lifting her tunic where the black webbing from the wound was nearing her heart.

“I need to put her to sleep, Prince,” the Healer murmured. “She needs to be unconscious for this.”

“Wait,” Sorin said, thrusting out a hand to stop her. “There is more you need to know. There is moresheneeds to know.” He pushed Scarlett’s hair back and turned her head, forcing her gaze to his. She seemed to look through him, though. “Scarlett, as your magic awakens, it is going to be uncontrollable. Worse than it is now. Your body will go through a withdrawal of the tonic that has kept it at bay. Beatrix can help you through it. She can help you sleep through all of it.”

It would be a powerful spell to put Scarlett into a dream state, but it was the only thing Sorin could think to do. It would drain Beatrix’s magical reserves, and he didn’t know how Scarlett’s power would manifest as it woke from a nineteen year slumber.

“You can sleep through the pain while your body heals, and I will be here the whole time. I swear I will not leave you alone,” he said.

“Because you wouldn’t want me escaping from my cage now, would you?” Scarlett whispered bitterly.

“Look at that. Some emotion,” he said softly, stroking her cheek.

“Here’s an emotion for you,Prince of Fire.Ihateyou. Every broken and shredded piece of me hates your very existence.” There was no affection in her tone.No brief glimpse of tenderness or teasing.

“I know,” he replied. “I know you do, but I will still come for you. I will still fight my way into your darkness to help you find the stars, and when you see them again, I will hold true to my word. I will help you kill the Fire Prince if that is what you desire.”

Scarlett didn’t say another word. She just turned her head away from him.

Sorin motioned Beatrix to come forward, and the Healer pressed a hand to Scarlett’s cheek. She went lax on the couch, her eyes fluttering closed. Sorin scooped her up and carried her to his room. Briar and Beatrix followed him and stood back while he laid her gently upon his bed, the shadows swirling lightly around her. Her silver hair splayed on the pillows as Beatrix stepped forward and once again began tending to the wound where she’d been stabbed.

“What now?” Briar asked when Sorin stepped back to his side to give Beatrix room to work.

“Now we wait,” Sorin said.

“For what?”

“For the stars to come out.”