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“I think the better question is what are we going to do with you,” Scarlett mused, taking in more of the space. There was a small bed tucked against a far wall. A nightstand beside it. A chest of drawers was on another wall, and atop it was the only thing with color in the space. A vase of red roses. She sauntered over to it, feeling Alaric’s eyes on her the entire time. She ran her fingers along various items as she moved before she plucked a rose from the vase, bringing it to her nose to smell it.

“It’s rather anti-climactic, don’t you think?” Scarlett prompted.

“What is?” Alaric asked, tilting his head in question as he took a sip of his drink.

“After all this, you are going to die in some underground hideout. I wish we could have made a more public spectacle of your death,” she said with a wistful sigh. “I wish Cassius were here to see it.”

Alaric’s lip curled back at the name. “When Achaz gets here, the dragons will be the first to go.”

“Achaz will not make it here, I’m afraid,” Scarlett said with a pout, twisting the rose stem between her fingers.

Alaric’s smile grew. “He is almost here already, Scarlett. I bet you can feel him. Pacing on the other side of the gateway. Eventually your new gifts will falter, and he will break through.”

Juliette and Nuri had been wandering around the room too, picking up random objects and studying them. Alaric’s gaze kept bouncing between the three of them.

“What are you two doing?” he snapped.

“Looking for something,” Nuri replied, picking up what appeared to be a small wooden box of some sort.

“And you, mydaughter,” Alaric sneered, eyes narrowing on Nuri. “How many days will you spend in the sun for your insolence on this day?”

“I am going to make you scream,” Nuri said casually, setting the box back down and turning to face him.

Alaric scoffed, knocking back the last of his drink before dropping the glass onto the desk behind him. “Your threats are becoming tedious, Nuri.”

“Why aren’t you lecturing Juliette?” she asked, slowly beginning to peel off her gloves.

Alaric’s gaze flickered to Juliette, where she was lifting the lid of a teapot and peering inside. “I wrote her off long ago. The day she let herself die.”

Juliette acted as though she had not heard him, moving on to the next item without a glance in his direction.

But Scarlett said, “Let herself die?As if you didn’t know exactly what was going to happen that night.”

Alaric shrugged. “I did not know how that night would play out, but… She did, didn’t she?”

“Fuck all the way off, Alaric.”

“Watch that mouth of yours, Scarlett,” he snarled, pushing off the desk and taking a step towards her, but the sound of something crashing to the floor had him spinning back to Juliette.

“What are you looking for?” he gritted out.

“Nothing,” Juliette answered sweetly, kicking the tin she had dropped off to the side. “When did you become so paranoid?”

He glared at her, making to turn back to Scarlett, but Nuri said, “Which side would you prefer?”

“Which side of what, Nuri?” he asked in exasperation.

“Which side of your throat should I rip out? Do you have a preference?”

“What is the purpose of this pointless conversation?”

Nuri shrugged. “I was trying to be courteous, but I can do either side. I’m not really picky. Although, I have this ache in my neck from earlier, so maybe the left side would be better. Not as much strain and all.”

“Enough, Nuri,” Alaric spat. “Stop talking. It’s an order.”

He turned back to Scarlett. Then he went eerily still when Nuri said, “But I have something to show you,Father.”

“How did you do that?” he asked in a soft tone that had once made Scarlett tremble.