Page 11

Breathe,her shadows whispered to her, curling around her ear.Breathe, Lady of Darkness.

She met Sorin’s eyes once more and a cruel smile twisted onto her lips as she said in a low, icy voice, “You have much to explain.”

“I wanted to tell you in Baylorin, Scarlett. I wanted to tell you so many things,” he started.

Scarlett ignored his last words, walking past him toward the bedroom, her shadows like a fog behind her. Too much. This was too much right now. She needed a moment to breathe.

“She is remarkably similar to Eliné and yet not,” she heard Briar whisper, awe in his voice.

“She is no Eliné, I assure you,” Sorin replied. “She has endured more than Eliné ever did.” Her fury weakened a touch at his words, until he added, “She is also a much bigger pain in my ass.”

In a flash, she had pulled the dagger from her belt and flung it across the room. It flew by Sorin’s face, slicing a shallow gash along his cheekbone, and embedded in the still half open entry door. Brair's eyes were wide, but Sorin merely smirked at her. “You missed." With a mocking sigh, he added, “I suppose we could continue your training now that you’ve gotten your beauty sleep.”

Scarlett narrowed her eyes at him. She could swear her veins were crackling with icy fire. “You and I both know I missed on purpose. If I wanted you dead, my beloved darkness would ensure that was the case.” As if in emphasis, those shadows rose up behind her in a swirling mass of dark fog that had Briar’s eyes widening even more as he stepped back from her.

“So you do not hate me enough to want me dead then?” Sorin asked.

“Oh no, Sorin,” she purred, slowly closing the distance between them. The corner of her mouth kicked up into a smirk when she heard his heart rate jump. “I definitely want you dead.” She brought her hand up and ran her finger lightly along his face, brushing back a lock of his dark hair. His eyes darkened a shade at the touch. She ran her thumb sensuously over his bottom lip as she said softly, “I just haven’t decided how thoroughly I want to break you before I end your life. Where can I bathe?”

He held her stare as she registered a shift in his ash and cedar scent. Something heady and lush. But then he stepped back from her.

“Right this way, Love,” Sorin replied, strolling past her as if the shadows and her words were nothing, his hands sliding into the pockets of his loose pants.

“Your arrogance is truly astounding,” Scarlett said, rolling her eyes.

“Right back at you, Princess,” Sorin answered without even looking back at her.

“Fucking prick,” she muttered, throwing him a vulgar gesture as she followed him into the bedroom. Briar’s laughter carried to her as the door clicked shut behind them.

CHAPTER 4

SORIN

It took every ounce of Sorin’s self-control not to look over his shoulder as he led Scarlett through his bedroom to his private bath. The desire coursing through his veins from her fingers on his skin…gods. If Briar hadn’t been in that room, he would have been all over her. He would have risked that wrath and that darkness. She was a storm he didn’t know that he’d survive.

The giant tub was finishing filling as they entered. He had almost dropped to his knees when he had come out of the study to find her up and walking about. Her magic was still out of control. The shadows still wreathed her, but she was awake and color had returned to her face. He walked to the edge of the tub, stopping beside a low table with various towels and soaps. He finally turned to Scarlett.

She stood at the edge of the tub near the steps. She still wore his shirt and some primal part of him gave an internal satisfied smirk to see her in it, covered in his scent. He had inwardly flinched when she’d stepped away from his touch in the sitting room. Her shadows had not burned him today, though, not like they had apparently bit at Briar. They had coiled around him tentatively, as if feeling him out, trying to decide how they felt about him. She was different, yet the same.She had been beautiful before, but in her Fae form, she was stunning. She toed the water and jerked her foot back.

“It’s freezing,” she scowled.

Sorin simply waved a hand over the water and steam instantly began wafting from the surface. “Show off,” he heard her mutter under her breath as she unfastened the belt around her waist.

When she started with the buttons of the shirt, he cleared his throat and started for the door. “Enjoy your bath,” he said, his voice husky.

She cocked her head to the side as she said, “You have questions to answer.”

He paused. “I will answer every single one when you are ready, Scarlett.”

“Then I am ready now.”

His throat went dry as the shirt slid to a pile on the floor, and she stepped into the enormous tub. He could swear those shadows receded, taunting him with the view of her naked body. She had always had little regard for propriety. He’d learned that quickly enough. He would never forget the morning she had spoken to him on the stairs in little more than a silk bathrobe. Her words from moments ago floated back to him.I just haven’t decided how thoroughly I want to break you…

This would certainly be a good fucking start to that, and she knew it. She had always known how to use every weapon available to her.

He walked back to the edge of the tub as she went under the water. He could see her drift a little ways underneath before she came back to the surface.

“You have tattoos now,” she said, lifting her long hair between her fingers as it floated around her in the water. Her voice was different than it had been in the sitting room, almost far away sounding, like she was in some kind of trance.