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“I don’t know, Scarlett. I don’t know how he would have learned any of that.” She could hear the doubt in his tone, see it in his eyes.

She shook her head in frustration, launching to her feet and beginning to pace. “You don’t understand, Sorin. My mother was very close to the Assassin Lord. There may be a Black Syndicate Council, but the Assassin Lord and my mother were the king and queen of the Syndicate. He may not have known how to get to you, but that is why you were my assignment. He also believes you were responsible for my mother’s death. He knew with that kind of motivation I would have gone to the ends of the world to find you.”

“But Lord Tyndell said he was the one who put the hit on me,” Sorin said, his eyes tracking her as she paced.

“Alaric would have seen it as an opportunity. A chance to get rid of you without having to show how invested he was in the mission,” she answered, waving her hand dismissively.

“Alaric?”

Scarlett stopped pacing, her eyes widening. Holy fucking hell. The beating she would endure in the Syndicate for uttering his name aloud would leave her unable to get out of bed for a week.

“Scarlett, he can’t touch you here,” Sorin said slowly, cautiously. “No one lays a hand on you here. No one.”

A breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding whooshed from her lungs. “Games, Sorin. The Assassin Lord likes to play games. My last assignment was a giant game to get me to come back home.”

“This is your home, Scarlett. You belong here,” Sorin said softly.

Scarlett was quiet for a long moment before bringing her eyes to Sorin’s. “I do not belong here.”

“You’re Fae. You’re a princess, a Fae Queen. You’re with— Of course you belong here. This is where you were always meant to be,” Sorin replied.

And his response was so simple, so matter-of-fact, sodecided, that Scarlett wanted to scream.

“Don’t you get it?” she asked, her voice rising. She ran her hands through her hair. “I do not want this! You took me from the only place I’ve ever known. You took me from one world where I was expected to be one thing to another world where even greater expectations are shoved on me. I do not want this! I do not want to be a princess. I do not want to rule. I do not need another master or cage, no matter how pretty it looks.”

Sorin stood now, coming toe-to-toe with her. Her shadows lashed at him, but he did not back down. “Don’tyouget it, Scarlett? This is your escape. This is your chance todosomething. This is your chance to make your own choices. This is your chance to be free.”

“I do not want it!”

“You do not want it?” He huffed a laugh of disbelief. “I offer you freedom and you turn it down? Youwantthat cage, don’t you, Scarlett? Youwantto—”

But he was cut off.

He was cut off by a powerful surge of water that came straight from Scarlett’s palms as she reached up to shove him. He flew across the room, surprise on his face. He hit the wall with a sickening thud, sliding down to the floor. He leaned against the wall, rubbing the back of his head.

Scarlett stood frozen to the spot.

Breathe, her shadows whispered to her.Breathe.

She closed her eyes. When had her life become such a godsdamn mess? Every time she turned around, something else was added to the storm. Every time she took a breath, another wave crashed into her, pushing her under. Shoving her down into the darkness.

There were hands on her shoulders gently brushing down her arms. He did it again and again. Finally, she opened her eyes and met his.

“Hey, Love.” When she didn’t say anything, when she didn’t move, he said softly, “Come here.”

Sorin tugged her gently, a little hesitant at first, but when she didn’t resist, he pulled her into his arms. Her whole body relaxed into him. The power she could feel roiling in her veins, her gut, quieted. Even her shadows seemed to dim. She leaned into him, her head on his shoulder. She felt him press a kiss to her temple.

She didn’t know when or how he did it, but she found herself sitting in his lap as he sat back in his armchair by the fire. They sat in silence for long minutes, and all Scarlett could think about was how impossibly she needed someone who had lied to her over and over again. He could wrap it up as nicely as he wanted by saying he withheld information, but he had lied to her. About her mother. About who he was. About who she was.

“Does she know?” she asked quietly.

“Does who know what?”

“Does Talwyn know what I am? That I’m her cousin? That I’m here?”

Sorin's hand had been gently stroking her hair and continued to do so as he answered. “She knows your power is here. When this kind of power enters our lands, we know it. Does she know who wields that power? Likely not yet. Does she know you are her cousin? No. I do not think she could possibly know that.”

“But you must answer to her. She will wonder why you have returned without completing your task. She will wonder why you have returned without her weapon.”