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“I…” She didn’t know where she considered home now. Certainly not the manor and never again here. She didn’t have a home, she realized.

She could not see his face beneath his hood, but she could hear the smile in his voice as he said, “That’s what I thought.”

Fury coursed through her once more as she pushed off the wall. “That is not my home, and neither is here. This will never be my home again. This stopped being my home the moment you turned your back on me. On Juliette.”

The Assassin Lord advanced on her, but she held her ground, refusing to back down. He came to a stop directly in front of her, and he leaned close so he was speaking softly into her ear. “Complete this assignment, Scarlett. If you do not, you may very well find yourhometo be with the one you so greatly desire revenge against.”

Scarlett felt herself pale. He couldn’t be serious. He would give her to Mikale?

“You wouldn’t,” she breathed.

“I will if you force my hand,” he answered, stepping back from her. “Are we now clear on what is expected of you?”

“Crystal,” she said bitterly.

“Good,” he replied as he turned once more and began on his way down the hall. Then over his shoulder he added, “And Scarlett, I would wear your mother’s ring tonight if I were you.”

Scarlett flitted along the rooftops of the commoner’s neighborhood she had led Sorin down. It was mid-afternoon. She was going to see Callan this evening, after dinner and before she’d have to take her tonic. Her conversation with the Assassin Lord replayed in her mind over and over again. He would give her to Mikale if she didn’t take out her target. She knew he would do it, too. The Assassin Lord did not make idle threats.

Sorin had continued to trail her and follow her despite their warnings and despite the various deterrents Nuri had dispatched over the last week. Scarlett had convinced Nuri to let her talk to him one last time, and if he persisted, she could play with him this evening.

She watched him as he prowled down the street. She could see him scanning faces and shops and roofs. She stayed back, behind some eaves, out of his sight. He started walking again, and she inched along. When he finally came to a completely deserted alleyway, she dropped down beside him, landing silently. He whirled, a dagger in his hand meeting a dagger of her own raised above her head, as she said softly, “Hello, General.” Sorin glared at her, pushing her farther down the alley and looking back over his shoulder. “Really? The alley? I could think of so many other places for our first tumble.”

Sorin jerked back from her, as if only now realizing he was herding her down a darkened alleyway and what that would look like to a passerby. Scarlett laughed under her breath, but it seemed to unleash something in him. He stalked toward her, a predator circling its prey, and her breath hitched. She backed up a step, then another, until her back was indeed against the wall at the end of the alley. He said nothing, his golden eyes seeming to deepen in color as they searched her own, for what she didn’t know. She tried to dredge up her swagger and arrogance, but it seemed to be pinned beneath that stare.

Finally she managed to get out, “Sorin, I—” Her voice was hoarse and breathless. She felt her belly dip as she held his stare. He still said nothing, and she squirmed under his intense gaze, her heart hammering in her chest. “Stop that,” she snapped, pushing against his chest,but she just met hard, unmovable muscle. He smirked at her, and her hands froze against his pectorals. “Gods, you’re such a prick.”

He finally spoke. “Leading me here was clever of you.”

“I needed to talk to you and show you that I’m capable of handling myself.”

“Why would you need to show me that? I have trained you. I know what you are capable of.”

“Do you? Clearly I have plenty of skills you are unaware of,” she replied, “and I need you to be aware of them because I need you to not trail me tonight, Sorin.”

“Oh, I amveryinterested in these skills I am unaware of,” he answered, his voice low.

“Oh my gods,” Scarlett groaned, leaning her head back against the wall.

At the movement, Sorin stepped back from her, crossing his arms. “Tell me why. Tell me what you are doing tonight.”

“Tell me who the woman is,” she retorted. They glared at each other. After a moment, Scarlett said, “I will tell you this only once, Sorin. Do not attempt to follow me tonight. Do not attempt to trail me. The obstacles we’ve sent your way this past week will be nothing compared to her. Tonightshewill be guarding my back, making sure I’m not followed. Tonight she will come out to play, and you will not win.”

Sorin scoffed. “Just as you have kept hidden talents, I have several of my own.”

“You’ve been warned, Sorin. She’s chomping at the bit to have some fun with you, and I shall not be there to rein her in.”

“And who shall reinyouin this evening, Scarlett?” he asked, stepping back to her, bracing a hand on the wall beside her on either side of her head.

“Tonight, Sorin,” she replied, placing her hand delicately on his wrist. She could see her mother’s ring glittering in the little sunlight that filtered into the alley. She saw Sorin glance to her ring, too. “Tonight, I do not need to be reined in. Tonight I need to be let out, and you will not like what you learn if you do not stay away.”

SORIN

Sorin stayed in the shadows as he monitored Scarlett. She was completely in black again, the same way she’d looked that night a week ago on the rooftop. She wasn’t wrong. He had been watching her all week. He’d learned how she snuck from the manor. He’d learned her preferred ways of going unnoticed. He’d tried several times to trail her to wherever she was meeting with Death’s Shadow, but something or someone always wound up in his path.

They hadn’t trained in nearly two weeks. He hadn’t been able to monitor her like he normally did. He hadn’t been able to ask her about that night. He hadn’t been able to study how she could have gifts from both Anahita and Anala in her blood.

An appreciative grin twitched on his lips as he watched her move with unearthly grace. She leapt nimbly onto the back of a lone passing carriage and climbed to the roof. She stayed low, invisible if you didn’t know she was there. With a start though, he realized what carriage that was. It was a royal carriage, heading for the castle.