Page 14

Sorin tilted his head, a contemplative look in his eyes. “Those are the words of a wise ruler, Princess.”

“Stop calling me that,” she snapped, hugging her knees closer. “It is not my desire to rule anyone. I know what it is like to have masters. I do not wish to be anyone’s.”

“The queen will be happy to hear that,” Sorin retorted, resentment cutting into his tone.

“The Fae Queen?”

“Yes.”

“You can say her name here?”

“Yes.”

“I’m really not in the mood to have to pry things out of you,” Scarlett said, exasperation heavy in her voice.

“Talwyn. Her name is Talwyn Semiria. She would also be your cousin, I suppose.”

Gods, she had a cousin. A blooded family member. Who wanted to use her somehow for revenge for the death of her mother and father and aunt, apparently. But the death of her aunt would be…

“Sorin?”

“Yeah, Love?”

She winced at the pet name. “If you were so close to my mother, why the fuck did you have her killed?”

CHAPTER 5

SCARLETT

She wasn’t sure if Sorin was breathing when she met his gaze. He just stared at her, a mixture of horror and regret in his eyes. “Why? You act as if you cared for her. You say she was your closest friend. So why would you have her killed?”

“Gods, Scarlett.” He ran a hand over his face. “I did not have Eliné killed.”

“You’ve said yourself that the Fire Prince was responsible for her death. That sounds like you killed her to me,” Scarlett bit back, her shadows darkening around her.

“I am responsible, yes, but I did not order her killed,” Sorin replied.

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

Sorin pressed his thumb and forefinger to his brows. “Your mother left the Black Halls in the middle of the night. She left nothing behind indicating where she had gone or why. No clues and no way of tracking her down. Talwyn was still young by Fae standards. She had assumed her throne by this point, but Eliné was still highly involved in the affairs of the Eastern Courts. She was still heavily guiding her. When she left… Things slowly deteriorated between the Western Courts and the Fae Queen.

“We searched. For years, we searched for her. Many gave up hope, but I didn’t. Talwyn didn’t. We both believed she was still alive, and ten years after she left, we got a random tip that she was alive and being held just over the border of the Fire Court. That she had been there the whole time, right under our noses. We planned a rescue mission. It was a small group of my own most trusted and best warriors and two of Talwyn’s. My Second was wary though. He thought it was a trap and that the information had been too easy to find—”

“Oh my gods,” Scarlett whispered, lifting her head from her knees. “That story you told me, of the time you made a bad call, that was an attempt to come for my mother?”

The grief and pain that filled Sorin’s eyes was gut-wrenching. “Yes, it was,” he said quietly. “And because of our actions,myactions that day, whoever knew your mother’s true identity had her killed. I don’t know who had her killed or why us attempting to come for her suddenly made them decide it was too much of a risk to let her remain living, but my actions that day caused the order to be given. I am responsible for your mother’s death.”

When she had been told years ago by the Assassin Lord that the Prince of Fire had been responsible for her mother’s death, she had naturally assumed the Prince had hired Dracon to kill her. But if Sorin hadn’t been the one to do so, who did? Then her mind drifted to what her payment would have been if she’d completed her last assignment and killed Sorin. The Assassin Lord had said he knew how to find the Prince of Fire and would aid her in ending him.

“Oh my gods,” she whispered again, her hand coming to her mouth.

“Scarlett?” Sorin asked cautiously, and her shadows receded.

Her eyes snapped back to his. She realized she had dropped her feet to the floor and her other hand was gripping the arm of the chair. Frost was slowly creeping along the fabric. She quickly released the chair, bringing both her hands to her lap. “The Assassin Lord knows who you are.”

“What?” Shock filled his features, but he shook his head. “No, that’s impossible. Do you remember what I told you right before we came to the border?Our identities have been kept a secret in the mortal lands. There are so many enchantments in place. There was no way I could have even told you I was the Fire Prince, Scarlett.”

“He knows, Sorin. I don’t know how he knows, but he does.” Sorin started to argue again, but she pressed on. “My task was to kill you. Not Ryker Renwell. Sorin Aditya. He knew your name, and my payment for the job was information he had. Information including that he knew how to find you and that he would aid me in killing you; but if I had completed the task, both of those things would have already been accomplished.”