Page 86

“Was that…?” Briar asked, turning to Sorin.

“Yes,” Sorin answered. “Yes, it was.”

“How did he get here?”

“Apparently, he is accessing magic somehow. I have been using my own to hide her from him, but today, with all the words exchanged between us… The enchantments slipped. Because I am weakening,” he said quietly.

Briar swore. “Why didn’t you fucking say something? I would have helped.”

“I did this. Let me go to her,” Sorin said, not meeting his friend’s eye.

A water portal appeared, and the princes stepped through into Sorin’s private chambers. Cyrus leaned against the liquor cart. He smiled cruelly at the bruise that hadn’t yet healed on Sorin’s jaw. “You deserve that, you stupid bastard,” he snarled, sipping his drink.

“I know,” Sorin replied. “Where is she?”

“She left a message for you. She said you’d understand it when you heard the words,” Cyrus said casually, swirling the ice in his glass.

“What is it?” Sorin ground out.

“Her exact words were: Tell that Fae bastard when he’s ready to tell me what’s going on, I’ll be waiting. Until then, he can go fuck himself, and my wellbeing is none of his concern.”

Sorin closed his eyes at the memory of Cassius delivering those same words months ago. “Where is she?”

“She gathered a few things and went to Eliza’s rooms when we returned. Good luck,” Cyrus said with a smirk.

Good luck indeed.

Sorin trudged down the hall a few doors and stopped before Eliza’s room. He knocked once, and the door flew open. Another raging female stood before him, fire in her eyes. “What the fuck did you do?”

“Where is she?” was all Sorin said.

“She’s gone to have dinner with the mortal prince. Do not interrupt them,” Eliza snapped, and she slammed the door in his face.

He slid to the floor outside Eliza’s rooms in the hallway. For hours he sat there, waiting for her. It was nearly midnight when she came silently down the hall. She was in an amethyst colored dress with silver thread in the skirts. The bodice and sleeves were fitted. It was simple and elegant and perfect on her. Perfect for a dinner with a prince.

He stood as he scented her, grateful there wasn’t another scent so thoroughly entwined with her own, and she froze at the movement. Her shadows instantly thickened around her. She was nearly ten feet away from him and stood with a stillness only Fae could achieve.

He didn’t say a word as she silently moved towards him. She didn’t bother to look at him when she strode right past him and into Eliza’s rooms, shutting the door behind her.

He inhaled deeply and knocked gently. “Scarlett. Please come talk to me.” He could feel her, just on the other side of the door. If he didn’t know any better, her scent was so close she was leaning against the door itself. But that door may as well have been an ocean for the distance she’d put between them. He leaned his forehead against the door. “Love, please.”

There was movement on the other side, and he nearly fell to his knees as the door opened, but it was Eliza who stood there. Her face was a mixture of wrath and sympathy as she said quietly, “She went to bed, Sorin.”

“Did she say anything?”

“She said she would come to you in the morning.”

“Will she?” he asked, desperately searching her eyes for any hint of hope.

“I believe she is a female of her word, and when she says she is going to come for you, she will.” Eliza stared back at him, her gaze hard. She was not going to let him in tonight.

He turned and silently went back to his chambers. The emptiness of them weighed on him. He could still smell her. In the air. In the bedroom.In the sheets. He couldn’t even lay in the bed without her, so he sat in a chair before the fire.

I can find the stars somewhere else with someone who won’t treat me like a fucking burden.

He would never be able to sleep tonight. Not until he talked to her. He stood again, pacing back and forth before the hearth, waiting for her to return. Her words from weeks ago floated back to him.

I think you might be mine, though.