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Scarlett clicked her tongue. “That’s different.”

“She won’t hurt her,” Sorin said, pushing to his feet. “Scarlett is well-versed in Marks. The idea of there being more than one Source Mark is intriguing to her.”

“If you attempt anything,” Theon warned, his darkness making an appearance.

“That’s cute,” Scarlett said, patting his arm patronizingly as she stepped past him. White flames at her fingertips left faint singe marks on his shirt.

Axel bit down on his bark of laughter, but Tessa didn’t.

Coming to a stop a few feet in front of her, Scarlett said, “Show me.”

Lifting her right hand, Tessa showed her the first Mark, three inverted triangles.

Scarlett’s brows rose. “That is the Arius symbol. Not a Mark.”

“It must be more than a symbol,” Tessa groused. “The moment it was given, I could feel his presence, and he could feel mine.”

At that, Scarlett’s brow furrowed as she reached for Tessa’s hand. “May I?” Scarlett studied it for a long moment before turning her hand over and running a finger over the Marks on her inner wrist. “And these?”

“Identification marks,” Tessa answered before giving a simple explanation of each.

“You said you have two of these so-called Source Marks?” Scarlett asked, her tone even tighter now.

Tessa reached up, pulling down the collar of her shirt to reveal the swirling Mark atop her heart.

“What does it do?” Scarlett asked.

“We can feel each other’s emotions,” Tessa said flatly.

Turning to Theon, she said, “Show me the last two Marks.”

Theon’s eyes narrowed. “Why?”

“We cannot interfere with this, Scarlett,” came Sorin’s low voice. He’d moved to stand beside her as she’d approached Tessa, and Axel could swear there was a hint of sadness in his voice.

“Not interfere? You cannot be serious,” Scarlett argued, rounding on her husband. “Do you not see what I see? What they’ve done?” She punctuated this by holding up her left hand, where a Mark of her own matched the one on the back of her husband’s hand.

“I see it, Love,” Sorin said softly. “This could change…too many things.”

“When have I ever cared?”

“And what prices have you paid by not carefully considering the costs?”

The female’s lips pursed. Finally, she said, “I can’t do nothing, Sorin.”

“Someone needs to explain. Right fucking now,” Luka snapped. “For fuck’s sake, it’s like being in a room with Cienna.”

Scarlett and Sorin again seemed to have some sort of argument only the two of them could hear, but Kat’s arm brushing against his startled Axel from whatever he was observing. The rush of warmth along his skin had him unwittingly leaning towards her, but she was entirely focused on the couple.

She’d been so quiet this entire time, other than a couple questions for which she’d quietly apologized to him for, not that she’d needed to. But she was absorbing all this the same way Theon was. Kat was completely enthralled by the idea of beings from another realm coming here.

After a long, tense moment, Scarlett sighed, her hands going to her hips. “Fine,” she snapped at her husband. Turning to the rest of them, she asked tightly, “Who bestows the Marks here?”

Theon and Luka exchanged a look before Theon said, “The Priestesses do most of them.”

“And the Source Marks?”

“Certain Priestesses are trained specifically for that purpose.”