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“We did discuss speaking with Saylah,” Sorin added casually, passing her the breakfast roll. “Perhaps we should accept Tybalt’s offer.”

“Perhaps,” she mimicked, not bothering to hold back her eye roll this time.

Sorin smirked, picking up his glass of fruit juice.

“I’m just glad she told us where she was going this time,” Cyrus drawled from down the table.

“No shit,” Rayner muttered.

“Honestly, Rayner. I thought we’d moved past this.” She sighed dramatically, then barked a laugh of delight when the Ash Rider flipped her his middle finger.

Cyrus snickered again, popping a slice of bacon into his mouth. Cassius sat beside him, cutting off a piece of ham and stacking it on his fork with some eggs. Cyrus had seemed a little better the last few days. Both of their scents had shifted. Everyone at the table knew it, but neither Cass nor Cyrus had acknowledged anything.

“When are we going?” Cyrus asked.

Her brows rose. “I didn’t think you’d want to come.”

That was the truth. He rarely left his rooms. That day they’d returned from the Runic Lands to find him playing billiards with Cass and Razik had surprised both her and Sorin. When Cass would go train with Tybalt, Cyrus insisted on resting or bathing, not wanting to talk to anyone. In fact, this was the first time he’d joined them for breakfast since returning. She had a feeling based on the way he’d dragged his feet coming into the dining room that Cassius had forced his hand today.

“Your Guardian is becoming as big of a mother hen as your twin flame,” Cyrus said. “I need to leave my rooms to make him happy.”

Cass sent him a flat look as he took another bite of eggs.

“Perhaps they should start a club,” Scarlett mused. Then she added, “This afternoon sometime. I need to check in with Hale.”

The Toreall King had been graciously helping with all the children. He’d even gone so far as to arrange for private tutors to come in so the children could attend lessons. Neve had been going to the estate to help more and more these days as well, and both she and Auberon had been helping Hale with the history of their own continent.

They all started when a silver hawk came swooping in the open window, all chatter around the table dying down. Nasima flew straight to Scarlett, dropping a rolled piece of parchment directly atop her eggs and fruit before she went right back out the window.

Scarlett frowned as she reached for the parchment. She hadn’t seen Nasima since she’d left Ashtine’s side months ago. Even when Scarlett took control of the spirit animals, she didn’tcontrolthem. They just answered to her instead of Saylah. She hadn’t quite figured out how all that worked yet. Her desire had never been to rule over the animals, but Saylah certainly didn’t deserve to have them at her beck and call when Scarlett was doing all the godsdamn legwork.

“Who’s it from?” Cyrus asked around a mouthful of biscuit.

She gently unrolled the message, sitting back in her seat. “Talwyn,” Scarlett murmured, confused as to howTalwynhad found Nasima. Quickly scanning the message for the important bits, she’d go back and reread it more thoroughly, but a line near the end drew her entire attention. She forgot everything else she had read. She forgot everything else entirely.

Sorin’s head whipped to her, clearly feeling her drastic shift in emotions. “What is it?” he demanded, his fork clattering to his plate.

Oh gods. She had been prepared to comfort him if Talwyn had been killed when Alaric realized how he had been tricked again. A part of her had even been prepared to mourn for the female after what she had sacrificed for all of them. But this?

She hadn’t been prepared for this. She didn’t know how to tell him.

Briar.

How was she going to tell Briar?

“Scarlett,” Sorin said sharply.

He tried to grab the paper from her, but it was bunched in her hand, clutched too tightly for him to pry it from her fingers.

“Scarlett?”

That was Cassius.

Everything was impossibly loud, but their voices were muffled.

Her fault.

This was her fault.