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“I’m not drinking blood,” Cassius quipped, crossing his arms across his already toned chest.

White flames appeared in the eyes of the woman, and Scarlett stepped back. “You will do as you are commanded, young warlord,” she ordered. “Drink.” She held the cup out to him. Cassius wisely did not argue this time and took a drink from the cup. His lips were bright red when he handed it back to the woman.

The flames were gone from her eyes when they settled upon Scarlett once more. “Can you do one more brave thing for me tonight, Starfire?” The woman extended the cup to her, but Scarlett stepped back into her mother’s legs. The woman’s features softened. “Can I tell you a story?”

Scarlett nodded, glancing at Cassius. Sybil still held his shoulders. He tried to give her a reassuring smile, but it was tight and forced.

“Once upon a time there was a people who loved the night and the dark. They lived in a beautiful land with snow like diamonds in the mountains and waters as dark as the midnight sky by the beaches. There were special animals that lived in a magical forest there, and some of them chose to protect and serve some of the people.”

“What kind of animals?” Scarlett asked.

“Powerful and strong ones,” the woman said, and tears really did glimmer in her eyes this time. “A graceful owl. A pair of fierce dragons. A stunning snake. A beautiful panther. To name a few, but there were also people who chose a similar bond. Many times, the people in the kingdom’s armies were chosen for these bonds. These people were drawn to each other by fate. It was a sacred bond. A bond that was chosen which made it even more powerful, and it was a bond that was placed above all others, save for one. They became a Guardian of the one they were bonded to. The bond was blessed and honored by Sargon himself. Do you know who Sargon is?”

“The god of war, courage, and bravery,” Cassius cut in.

“Exactly right, young warlord,” the woman said, glancing at Cassius with a smile. Her eyes came back to Scarlett. “But the bond demanded great and powerful magic and required that the two people become connected by blood. So they mixed their blood and drank. Little Starfire, the Fates brought you and Cassius together so he could be your Guardian just like in that story, but I need you to drink.”

“What if he doesn’t want to be my Guardian?” Scarlett asked, looking at Cassius once more.

“Don’t be stupid, Scarlett,” Cassius huffed, shrugging out of Sybil’s grip and puffing out his chest.“Of course, I want to be your Guardian. I pretty much already am.”

Scarlett stuck her tongue out at him. “Don’t be a jerk,” she quipped bossily.

Eliné was about to say something, but Cassius stepped forward with a quick glance to her. He knelt down in front of Scarlett and a small smile kicked up on his mouth. “Tell you what, Scarlett, you take a drink of that, and I’ll swipe you some extra treacle tart tomorrow.”

“I want four pieces,” Scarlett demanded, reaching to take the cup from the woman.

“Then four pieces you shall have,” Cassius answered. “Drink up.”

Scarlett took a drink from the small cup and made a face. A coppery metallic taste coated her tongue, and she handed the cup back to the woman. It was warm as it traveled down to her belly, and a link seemed to settle in her that her five-year-old little mind wasn’t quite sure what to do with. She gave a questioning look to Cassius, who was watching her carefully, as he always did, scanning her for hurt and discomfort. The women around them were silent, watching them as Cassius reached up and tousled her silver hair. “Good girl, Scarlett.”

“Was there a princess in this kingdom?” Scarlett asked, turning to the silver-haired woman.

A sound almost like a cry seemed to come from her, but she quickly cleared her throat. “Yes, Scarlett, there is a princess in this kingdom.”

“I bet she’s really pretty,” Scarlett sighed, looking up at the stars. They seemed even brighter.

“They had a king and queen who loved to dance under the stars among the swirling shadows and blackest nights,” the woman said, her eyes going to the night sky as well. “They had two children, a boy and a girl, who were the prince and princess, and they loved them very much. The princess was as beautiful as the stars, and the prince was as wild as the beasts of the land.”

The two silver-haired persons, one woman and one child, stared at the sky. The others were silent around them. After nearly a minute, the woman brought her hand to Scarlett’s hair, winding her fingers through it. Eyes of icy blue met eyes of silver. “Always remember, Starfire, that hope is for the dreamers.”

Scarlett groaned at the throbbing in her skull. Had she been knocked unconscious or had she slipped into this state all on her own from expending so much magic?

She pried her eyes open, blinking against the bright sun. Her vision blurred slightly and then came back into focus. Before her lay the destruction of what she’d done. Piles of ashes and bodies. There had been one Night Child left, but there was no one in sight now.

Dirt and grass crusted her cheek as she tried to push up into a sitting position, but her arms trembled and gave out, unable to support her own weight. She collapsed back onto the ground and stifled a cry at the agony that blasted through her head. There was something wet on her lips, though. She brought a hand up and wiped the back of it across her mouth. When she pulled it back, red was smeared across the back. She was bleeding. How or why she couldn’t remember.

“She finally wakes.”

Scarlett twisted on the ground towards the sound of the voice to find a man sitting atop a rock. He had black hair the color of Prince Azrael’s and the same dark golden skin. Something tugged at the recesses of her memory, but her head was pounding too much to focus on much of anything right now. The man was flipping a dagger in his hand as if bored. A shirastone dagger.

Scarlett summoned her shadows, but none appeared. No flame. No ice. No water. Nothing.

The man laughed. “You did not get enough to summon any of your gifts.”

Get enough what? Sleep? Sorin had been warning her she was diving too deeply into her magic too quickly without replenishing her reserves. He had been telling her she needed to sleep more, rest more. There just hadn’t been time. Everything had been happening so quickly.

Again, she tried to push herself into a sitting position, but she couldn’t even get her arms underneath her this time.