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“I put up a shield to keep others from coming to see what you are shouting about,” Sorin replied calmly.

“Where are you from?” Cassius asked, his voice sharp.

“That is not important now. Whatever happens, do not attempt to wake her again until I say,” Sorin said, stepping back to the side of the bed. He hovered his hand over Scarlett’s, absorbing the heat, but the smoke remained. It almost seemed to thrash against his magic.He bent down to study it and found that it was much darker than smoke. It was dark as night, more shadow than smoke. He had never seen anything like it.

He was aware of Cassius and Tava standing nearby, whispering to each other. Eventually, he needed to figure out who thisshewas that was constantly being referenced in front of him. They had come close to letting it slip who she was a few times but always caught themselves.

“Whatare you?” Tava asked, her voice barely more than a whisper. The young Lady was so quiet but so damn clever. The others didn’t give her enough credit. She was just as dangerous as any soldier with the way she quietly sat back and observed everyone around her.

“I am Fae,” Sorin answered, not even hesitating at the revelation he’d kept a secret for the three years he’d been in these miserable lands. He was solely focused on the female before him.

Female not woman. Because she was Fae, too, and apparently had no idea she was so.

She had caught him off guard the first time he’d seen her with those icy blue eyes, her silver hair, and her scent of the sea and embers and jasmine…and something else he couldn’t place. It seemed almost muted. He’d caught the scent the first night he’d ever seen her at the Tyndell manor. He had been required to attend a dinner there as the Crown Prince and King had also attended. He’d watched her for months whenever she was around, which wasn’t often. It seemed she rarely left the manor, from what he could tell. She had been quiet and withdrawn, only speaking when spoken to. She had been the portrait of a demure Lady which was quite a difference from the female he had been training this last month and wasn’t that…intriguing.

He’d known the first time he had sparred with her that she wasn’t completely human. She was faster than any mortal he had sparred with, both on and off battlefields. She moved with the grace of his kind, not the mortals he’d spent the last three years with. He often had to hold back when training with the men, much like she had done in their first match. She was better than he had expected,even after watching her spar with the Commander. Her movements were precise and strong, but different from how soldiers were trained. She had trained with other types of masters.

Sorin had to put forth actual effort in the second match. He had stirred the pot, pushed her emotions to an edge, just to see if that icy rage he had glimpsed in those piercing blue eyes would come to the surface, but he’d seen nothing. He could have sworn frost had coated her fingertips when she had demanded he let go of her ankle that day in the training quarters, and then her skin had turned as icy as her tone. She had been trained well. Not as well as he could train her, but still rather impressive for a mortal woman.

She wasn’t mortal though. Not with that grace and scent and power he could sense all around her every time she was near.

And not with that fire he had just pulled from her veins.

Scarlett continued to thrash before him, but not nearly as violently since he sucked the heat from her body. He looked over his shoulder at Tava and Cassius. Cassius had his arm around Tava’s shoulders, comforting her.

“She will be fine,” Sorin said quietly, then turned back to Scarlett. He sat gingerly on the bed and leaned close to her. He tried not to notice the tunic that clung to her sweat-laden body. Her tossing and turning had caused it to ride up her torso. Her breasts rose and fell rapidly with her breathing.

“Scarlett,” he whispered into her ear. She stopped thrashing, but her eyes remained closed. She continued with the low moans as he whispered her name again. The moans ceased. He heard Tava suck in a breath. “Scarlett, I’m here,” he murmured into her ear. “Open your eyes.”

Her eyes fluttered open. They were not the piercing blue he had become accustomed to but were molten amber, as gold as his own, with swirls of silver moving among them. She stared at him for a moment, before whispering in disbelief, “Sorin?”

Gods. To hear someone call him by his real name was such a fucking respite.

“You were—” he started, but before he could explain what he was doing in her room, she launched herself into his arms. He tentatively wrapped his own around her as she sobbed into his shoulder.He took no notice of the sweat that dripped from her or the hair that stuck to her head. All he could focus on was the jasmine and sea mist scents that filled his nose. He felt someone approach the bed and drape a blanket along Scarlett’s shoulders. He’d forgotten how inappropriate this whole scene would look should someone walk in. He looked up and found Cassius staring at him, a look of pure protectiveness on his features.

“She will be fine,” Sorin repeated, not breaking the stare. Cassius only nodded, his arms folded across his chest.

After a few minutes, Scarlett pulled back. She looked into Sorin’s eyes and studied him for a moment before whispering, “She was there. The woman from earlier today.”

“It was a dream, Scarlett,” he answered, unable to stop himself from pushing back stray hair that was stuck to her forehead. Unbeknownst to Tava and Cassius, he’d created an invisible second shield around himself and Scarlett. They could not hear what was being said.

“Who is she, Sorin? How was she in my dream?” she pressed, not breaking his gaze.

“It was a dream,” he repeated. “You were probably incorporating what you saw today into it.”

She shook her head. “No. This dream is always the same. Or it has been until the last week. It’s as if someone is… Who is she?”

“It could not have been the same person,” Sorin insisted.

“Don’t do that. Don’t speak to me like I don’t know what I’m talking about. Don’t patronize me as if I’m going crazy,” she said, shaking her head slightly.

“It could not have been her,” Sorin said again.

“She was being tortured,” she snapped. Sorin stilled. “He was torturing her, and she was screamingyourname.”

“What?” Impossible. She would never scream his name. Not anymore.

“Tell me who she is,” Scarlett seethed.