Page 20

Chapter 20

Scarlett

T he sun was out. There was not a cloud to be seen. Just clear blue skies and a sun so bright she had to squint against thelight.

Thank Anala, Saylah, Arius. Fuck, she’d even thank the Fates at this point. Spending so much time in the freezing northern continent had her willing to sacri?ce anything they demanded of her to just have this moment in the sun.

She propped her hands behind her head, basking in the warmth on her face as she stretched out atop a bench on the navigation deck at the back of the ship. Other than climbing the main mast to the lookout platform, this was the closest she could get to the burning ball of ?re in the sky.

Her power levels were ?ne, not full, but ?ne enough. She was trying not to take too much from Sorin, especially after Beatrix’s cryptic warning a few days ago about his magic being the cost of crossing the Veil back to their realm. She had too many other things to worry about before she could deal with the other thing Sorin had learned.

Apparently Beatrix knew the Sorceress.

But she was going to need full reserves tonight. And so was Cassius.

Which meant they were both going to need to top off their power wells.

For four days, she and Cassius had been Traveling back and forth between here and Pyry. And with each passing day, the waters they were sailing in seemed to get darker and darker. Callan had told her what Tava had said, and the Lady was right. The waters were slowly turning black.

Or they had been.

For the last two days she could swear they were hardly moving even though the Fae captain of the ship assured her they were still making progress west.

A shadow fell across her face, blocking the sun, and she opened her eyes to find golden ones staring back at her, chestnut hair falling into them.

“You’ve been avoiding me, Darling.”

“I tend to avoid assholes when I can.”

“I deserve that.”

“You deserve to be punched in the godsdamn face,” she muttered.

Cyrus sat on the bench, lifting her bare feet and placing them in his lap. “I’m sorry, Scarlett.”

“It’s ?ne.”

“When females say ‘it’s ?ne,’ it rarely is.”

Scarlett lifted her head just enough to look at him. “I know you’re hurting, Cyrus. I get it. I was giving you your space until you were ready. I know what it is like to need some time to breathe.”

She let her head fall back to the bench, something in her soul settling back into place now that she and Cyrus had worked this out. She hadn’t been mad at him. Not really. Had his words stung at the time? Like a bitch. But she really did get it. She lashed out at the ones she loved most when she was in dark places.

“You know, the ?rst time you ever spoke of Thia to me, you got ‘drunk off your ass’ is I believe how Sorin worded it,” she said, breaking their comfortable silence.

“You were such a storm of shadows and rage back then,” Cyrus said, his ?ngers moving soothingly up and down her shin. “And that night... Gods, Scarlett, that night you were so hopeless. You just wanted someone to hurt with you, to not be alone in the torment. So I dove into those dark waters, willing to drown with you if that’s what it took for you to know you were not alone.”

Tears were stinging at the back of her eyes, and she pushed up to a sitting position. She pulled her legs to her chest, wrapping her arms around her knees, and Cyrus angled his body to face her. “You barely knew me then,” she said softly.

Cyrus reached out, stroking a ?nger down her cheek. “Darling, darkness knows when it has found its own.”

“You told me that most do not understand that the darkness is not something to be survived but to befriend.”

“I did.”

“Do you still feel that way?”

Cyrus paused, his eyes darting away for a moment, before settling back on her. “I do, but just like we change, so does our darkness. And sometimes... ” He sighed, clearly trying to ?nd the right words. “Just because we’ve found the beauty in the darkness does not mean it does not still hurt at times.”

“Some days are just hard,” she whispered.

“Some days are just hard,” he repeated, his arms coming around her and pulling her into his chest. She wound her arms around his middle, hugging him tight.

“I’ll drown with you, Cyrus,” she whispered. “On the hard days, I’ll dive in with you.”

“I know, Darling,” he said, his voice thick with emotion.

After a moment, she added, “And so will he. If you’ll let him.”

“That’s what’s so godsdamn terrifying.”

She pressed her sliced palm to Sorin’s forearm, her shadows and white ?ames ?aring under her skin as they swelled with the magic she was drawing from him. She held his gaze under the night sky, neither of them saying a word as she took far more than she should right now.

This is necessary, my Love.

His voice echoed in her mind as he cupped her cheek, thumb stroking along her cheekbone. She nodded, relieved that their bond was working as it should once more. There hadn’t been any more disruptions in their twin ?ame bond.

Cyrus and Cassius appeared then, having come from the direction of the other cabins. They were both in black, just as she was, swords and daggers strapped to their bodies and slid down boots.

“You all fueled up, Cass?” she asked, withdrawing her hand from Sorin’s arm, her palm already knitting itself back together.

“All set, Seastar,” he answered, coming to her side, eyes sweeping down her body. “No vambraces tonight?”

She rolled her eyes, lifting her palms and splaying her ?ngers. White ?ames sprung to life, casting them all in a ?ickering glow. “I think I’ll be ?ne.” She glanced up at Sorin. “He can be more of a mother hen than you can sometimes.”

“Careful, Love,” he replied, reaching out and ?icking her nose, his eyes darkening a touch when she stuck out her tongue at him.

She was bouncing from foot to foot, adrenaline already coursing through her in anticipation of what they were about to do. Memories of the same feeling when getting ready for jobs with Nuri and Juliette ?itted to the forefront of her mind, and she let them linger for a moment before banishing them so she could focus.

Azrael appeared next, his black hair tied back and two scimitars at his waist. Callan was the last to appear, Briar and Eliza with him. Scarlett didn’t really want to bring the Windonelle King, but he was the only one who knew the way around this Eternal Necropolis. They needed to be in and out as quickly as possible. They would need him.

“We will send messages as we are able,” Sorin was saying to Briar and Eliza. “If all goes well, we will be back in a few hours. If it doesn’t... No matter what happens, you keep sailing west.”

Briar and Eliza both nodded grimly. They’d all gone over this plan extensively the last couple of days. Everyone knew it inside and out. She and Cassius had spent extended periods of time in Pyry, planting the seed in Alaric’s mind that they had found something. They’d known it had worked when they’d found extra sets of footprints at their usual spot the last time they’d Traveled there.

There were six of them going. She and Cassius, for the obvious reason that she was going to remove his tracking Mark. Sorin and Cyrus, in case they needed to refuel their magic. She was also certain she would have had to bind them and lock them in the brig to keep them from accompanying them. The Earth Prince was coming in case she and Cassius could not Travel at the end of this.

Which led her to say, “We need to have a chat, Azrael.”

She had purposely saved this conversation for right now. Putting him on the spot would make his answers more believable, not giving him time to formulate an articulate response. The Earth Prince’s muddy brown eyes narrowed on her.

“How do I know you will not seek out your queen when we set foot on the continent again?”

His brows shot up in surprise. “You cannot be serious?”

“Oh, but I am,” she said sweetly. “You think I have forgotten where your loyalties lie?”

“You think I am loyal to her while I sail towards those whom she considers the enemy?”

“Heads and hearts can be so con?icted when it comes to split-second decisions, Prince.”

The others all remained silent, letting this play out between them.

“I do not know what you want from me, Scarlett,” Azrael ?nally said, and a grumble of warning came from Sorin at his casual use of her name.

“What I need, Azrael , is some sort of proof that should Talwyn somehow show up, you will not go to her and fuck up our entire operation.” She took a small step towards him. “I need to know beyond a doubt I can trust you before I entrust you with our lives.”

Azrael’s jaw tightened before he drew a knife from his side, slicing his palm open and holding it out to her.

Scarlett’s nose scrunched as she looked at it. “Showing me you can bleed proves nothing.”

“It is a Blood Vow, Scarlett,” Sorin explained beside her.

“Like the Blood Bond? I do not want that,” she said immediately, shaking her head and backing away.

Sorin’s hand came to her lower back, the touch immediately soothing. “No, Scarlett. The Blood Bond forces eternal submission. A Blood Vow is a promise, an agreement made between two people. If either party breaks it... Well, the result is unfavorable.”

“What happens?” she asked curiously, eyeing Azrael’s still outstretched bleeding palm.

Sorin shrugged. “The gods decide, I suppose.”

“Do you know anyone who has broken one?”

“For fuck’s sake,” Azrael suddenly cut in. “This is not the time to assuage your curiosity, your Majesty. We have a mission to complete.”

“No need for a tantrum, Azzy,” she clucked, and the Earth Prince’s nostrils ?ared at the nickname. She just smirked back at him.

Sorin was handing her a knife, and she sliced her palm for the second time that night as she said, “So what? We do a super secret handshake now?”

“You are insufferable,” Azrael muttered.

“Oh, Azzy,” she taunted, her voice going sultry. “Keep talking like that, and Sorin will have a tantrum.”

Azrael heaved an exasperated sigh, reaching for her wrist and slapping his bleeding palm to hers. “I vow and swear my loyalty to you, Scarlett Aditya, Queen of the Western Courts.”

The entire ship went still as a ?are of white light emitted from their palms, and Scarlett felt the vow settle in the depths of her being. She stared at the Earth Prince, unable to form words as he still held her hand in his.

“Is that proof enough for you?” Azrael asked, his voice pitched so low she was sure only she could hear him.

“I only... It only needed to be for tonight, Azrael,” she said hoarsely, unable to look away from him.

His ?ngers squeezed tighter around her own before releasing them, and he stepped back from her.

She swallowed thickly, looking up at Sorin, who was staring at Azrael with a mixture of shock and suspicion on his features. They didn’t have time to analyze it though. They needed to get going.

She cleared her throat before looking at everyone gathered around her. “Tonight we strike back. For all those lost.” Her gaze settled on Callan. “For Finn and Sloan and your parents.” Her eyes moved to Briar and Eliza. “For Nakoa.” She looked up at Sorin. “For Eliné and your parents.” Her eyes locked onto muddy brown ones again. “For your parents too.” And then they landed on golden ones. “For Thia,” she whispered.

Because all those deaths? Every single one of them could be traced back to Alaric in one way or another.

“Tonight we start another ?re,” she said darkly, holding out her hands on either side of her. Sorin took one while Cassius took the other. When the six of them were connected, she Traveled them to Rydeon, to the center of the continent.

It had been cloudy on the ship, but here the sky was clear, the stars having a clear view of what was about to take place.

She reached behind her, pulling up her hood, and Cassius did the same beside her, instantly falling into old habits as they went back-to-back and slowly scanned the area. She breathed deep, sinking down to the place where Death’s Maiden dwelled, and when she peered up at her husband, she found his golden eyes burning bright as they watched her. The Prince of Fire stared back at her, a grin as dark as her own lifting on his lips.

“Let it burn, my Love,” he purred, bending down and brushing a brief kiss against her lips.

Azrael and Cyrus were ?anking Callan, keeping him between them, while Cassius and Sorin ?anked her. She took in the towering stone around her, eyes falling on the square archway that was the entrance to the Eternal Necropolis.

“You ready to lead the way, your Majesty?” she asked, looking at Callan.

His chin was high, back straight. He cut a glance at her, and she sucked in a sharp breath at the king that stared back at her.

Callan said nothing, walking to the archway, and she fell into step beside him.

She sent shadows slithering before them as they climbed the long, ?at steps, and when they reached the top, ten guards already lay dead. She immediately recognized the black suits and cloaks they wore.

“They were from the Black Syndicate,” Cassius murmured beside her.

“Good,” she replied coldly. “Then they were not innocent, and their deaths will be another message to him.”

She pulled her shadows back into herself, then ?icked her wrist and incinerated the corpses before turning her attention to the symbols etched around the archway. The symbols of the gods. Some of them anyway. There were other symbols she didn’t recognize among the ones she did.

“Gods, what I would give for my magic here,” Cyrus was grumbling, standing beside one of the burning bodies, his arms crossed as he waited to move ahead. The Fae had taken tonics to stave off the effects of not having access to their magic, but Beatrix had not had the necessary ingredients to make the one that would allow them to access those gifts here.

Scarlett reached out, tracing three inverted triangles with hergloved ?nger. The symbol of Arius. “What would you give, Darling?”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Cyrus’s arms drop to his sides. “Do not fuck with me, Scarlett,” he growled, stalking towards her.

“I’m working on it,” she said. “There is something I’m still trying to work out, but if I can, then I will be able to do it. Cassius ?rst, though. I will free him, and then I will free you.”

Her head was tilted back as she stared up at him, his expression full of disbelief. “If Sorin wouldn’t make me bleed for it, I would kiss you right now, Darling.”

She laughed. “Let’s make sure I can actually accomplish it before we risk that pretty face of yours.”

Cyrus smirked, and they both turned back to the archway. She found Callan waiting patiently for all of them at the entrance to the stone network. “Ready?”

Scarlett nodded. “Everyone stay on alert. They likely already know Cass is here, and they know he wouldn’t come alone.”

As soon as they stepped through the archway, the path began to narrow until they were following Callan in a single ?le line. Various passageways led off of the main path, the stone walls towering so high, they nearly blocked out the sky. She’d tossed small ?ames in the air above them to light their way, and the only sound was their footfalls echoing off the walls.

They’d been walking for nearly an hour before the path widened again, and a few minutes later, they emerged into a large circular chamber. Callan hadn’t been exaggerating. There were mirrors embedded between every tomb. The magic-wielders fanned out, moving among the chamber.

“How did none of us know this was here?” Azrael asked, examining a mirror across the chamber.

“We took little interest in mortal customs,” Sorin answered, studying some writing on the tomb he stood in front of.

Scarlett was stopped in front of a mirror, the chamber re?ected back to her, but something was off. The re?ection didn’t seem to match up perfectly. The stone walls were... almost darker than the ones here. She stepped closer, as if she could get a better viewing angle, which was ridiculous considering it was a re?ection.

“That one always seemed different to me,” Callan said. “I have only been here twice, but I remember, even as a child, this mirror feeling... different.”

He trailed off, and Scarlett knew what he meant, her head tilting as she studied it more.

“Why would you have been here as a child?” Cyrus asked from their left, standing in front of another tomb. This one appeared to have more than the usual birth and death dates etched into the stone.

“For the burial and entombment of the last of the Middell bloodline. The king, queen, and prince,” Callan replied, moving to stand next to Cyrus. “The crown went to one of King Dalton’s dukes when the young prince died.”

“They died the same day?” Cyrus asked.

“The king died of a wasting disease. When they learned what he was sick with, it was too late to contain it. Everyone who’d been in contact with him died within days. The queen and his son died only a few days after him. The prince was only four.” Callan paused, rubbing his hand over his jaw. “At least, that was the story we were told. Obviously now we know it was... ”

“Alaric,” Scarlett supplied simply.

The chamber fell silent again, each lost in their own thoughts as they examined the room. She really needed to get that Mark off of Cassius. It was a miracle no one else had shown up yet. She was about to turn away when movement in the re?ection caught her eye.

Scarlett looked back over her shoulder; expecting to see one of the others, but there was nothing. She turned back to the mirror and froze.

A male was staring back at her, eyes of the deepest emerald green she had ever seen. Raven black hair fell forward onto his brow, and his hands were in the pockets of pants that looked like they had been tailored to ?t him perfectly. He wore a white shirt with buttons up the front and some sort of cloth was tied around his neck, hanging down the front of the shirt. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, and his head was cocked as he studied her the way she was studying him.

And she suddenly realized why this mirror felt off, felt so different. It was a mirror gate.

So where was this male? In Avonleya with the Lord of Night? In one of the Courts? Another territory? Another continent?

She raised a hand, slowly reaching towards the smooth expanse of the glass. Emerald eyes darted to the movement before he slowly drew his hand from his pocket and brought it up to meet hers.

Then he smirked wickedly, and darkness seemed to seep from his ?ngertips.

She watched the darkness, pooling like ink on his side of the mirror, and she gave him a smirk of her own as shadows coiled up from her palm. Then she brought up her other hand, placing that palm against the glass too, and letting white ?ames ?air from the tips of her ?ngers.

The man’s eyes narrowed, a frown pulling on his full lips. -Suddenly his eyes went wide, his lips forming around a warning, and Scarlett whirled just in time to wrap her shadows around the wrist of Death’s Shadow as she cocked a dagger back.

“I was wondering when you would show up,” Scarlett sneered, her lip curling as she stared into honey-colored eyes.

“Sorry I’m late, Sister,” Nuri replied, her usual mania shining in her eyes. “My invitation seems to have gotten lost.”

Her shadows wrenched Nuri’s hands down and behind her back where Scarlett bound them, the dagger clattering to the ground. Cyrus and Azrael had moved to her side, each clamping a hand onto her upper arm.

“Who brought you here?”

Nuri tsked at her. “Gods, Scarlett, you know I can’t tell you that.”

“How long have you been following us?” Sorin demanded from where he’d made his way to Scarlett’s side.

“I saw you enter the archway,” she answered.

While the others continued to ask her questions, Scarlett glanced back over her shoulder; but the male in the mirror gate was gone, just the re?ection of the chamber looking back at her once more.

“He sent me to see what you are looking for,” Nuri was saying in response to one of their questions, and Scarlett turned back.

“Then why did you let yourself get caught?”

“I wanted to catch up.”

“And if we take you as our prisoner?” Azrael snarled, his grip tightening around her arm.

Nuri looked up at him, batting her lashes. “Your queen is so lost without you, plant prince.”

Azrael’s eyes shuttered for a moment before they became hard and unreadable once more.

“He has some sort of insurance in place on her,” Cassius said, answering Azrael’s question. “What is it?”

His arms were crossed, a dagger in one hand. He’d pulled his hood back, brown hair framing his face, patch over his eye.

Nuri sighed in her usual dramatic fashion. “If you try to keep me, I have to kill myself. You know, Blood Bond and all that.”

Scarlett and Cassius stared back at her.

“Why would that be insurance?” Azrael asked. “You are bound to the enemy? What will we care if you can no longer serve him?”

But as Scarlett held Nuri’s gaze, she knew exactly why this was insurance. Even with everything Nuri had done—the betrayal, the hurt—Scarlett wouldn’t kill her. Couldn’t kill her. And she wouldn’t be able to watch her kill herself either. It was why she had never answered Auberon when he demanded to know what she planned to do with Nuri.

Because she had no idea.

“What were your orders?” she asked quietly.

And something on Nuri’s face softened a fraction, as if she had been holding her breath to see what Scarlett would say to Alaric’s collateral.

“Leave you alive. Do not attempt to secure you. Kill any of the others I can. Report back everything I see and hear. Figure out what you’ve been doing in Pyry and what you are looking for here,” Nuri answered, her usual arrogance gone from her voice.

Scarlett nodded once, reaching for the hem of her cloak. -Cassius passed her the dagger he was holding, and she cut a long strip off the bottom. He took it, moving behind Nuri and reaching around her to tie it in place over her eyes. Nuri almost seemed to sigh in relief.

“What did you see?” Scarlett asked, reaching down to scoop some dirt into her hand.

“Not much. I heard you speaking of the past royal line, and... I saw the man in the mirror.”

Sorin went rigid beside her. “The Lord of Night?”

Scarlett shook her head, bringing her ?nger to her lips. They couldn’t speak of anything important now. It would all be reported back to the Maraans. Water pooled in her palm, mixing with the dirt to create mud.

She stepped up to Nuri. “Without the keys, we cannot get into Avonleya. We are trying to ?nd another way in. I found a book that spoke of hidden portals on the continents. We found one in Pyry, but I can’t ?gure out how to activate it. There were rumors of another here.”

Nuri swallowed. “And the man?”

“I do not know who he is,” Scarlett answered truthfully. “Per haps on another continent? Perhaps in Avonleya? I do not know.” Nuri nodded. “Anything else?”

Nuri shook her head, understanding what Scarlett was asking. Was there anything else Scarlett needed to say to cover her tracks?

“Thank you, Scarlett,” Nuri said, her voice barely above a -whisper.

“The children are safe and doing well,” Scarlett replied, as she brought the mud to Nuri’s ears. Her ?re hardened it into soft clay that she molded into Nuri’s ears before hardening it further. She tapped her ear when she was ?nished, and Nuri shook her head in con?rmation that she could hear nothing.

“Let’s get this done and get the hell out of here,” Scarlett said. “Azrael, keep a hold of her.”

The Earth Prince nodded, escorting Nuri off to the side, while the rest of them moved to the center of the chamber. A stone table stood there, the gods’ symbols carved along the edges. Six in the center formed a circle. At the top were three-interlocked triangles. It looked like Arius’s symbol only in reverse. Instead of being inverted, these triangles pointed up. Two on the bottom, one on top. Scarlett knew the other symbols in the circle: Falein, goddess of wisdom and cleverness; Celeste, goddess of the sky and moon; Arius, god of endings; Sera?na, goddess of the stars and dreams; and Anala, goddess of day, ?re, and the sun .

“There were six Firsts,” Scarlett murmured, running her ?ngers along the circle of symbols. She paused at the set of triangles at the top, looking up at Sorin. “Achaz?”

“That would be my guess,” he replied, studying the symbols as well. Something to ponder later, she supposed.

Scarlett patted the top of the table for Cassius to sit. “Take your pants off, Cass,” she purred sensually.

Cassius rolled his eyes at her, removing his boots and shucking his pants down his legs. Cyrus reached to take them from him as her Guardian hopped onto the table in the exact center of the continent. The center of the cardinal directions exactly as the spell book instructed.

She reached down, taking the book from the shadow panther she had conjured and ?ipped it open to the page she had marked, reading through the Mark one ?nal time. She pulled a knife that was strapped to her thigh, reaching for Cassius’s hand.

“Ready? It’s a strong one,” she warned.

“Don’t really have a choice, Seastar,” he replied with an encouraging smile.

“I suppose not,” she muttered before quickly cutting a gash in his palm.

She dipped her ?nger in his pooling blood and began drawing a Mark on the back of his hand. Then the other. His brow. The top of his feet.

North. South. East. West. That was the easy part.

The tracking Mark on his thigh began to glow faintly.

She dipped her ?nger in his blood once more before drawing the Mark atop the tracking Mark. She had scarcely ?nished when Cassius’s entire body tensed, his lips clamping down on a grunt, as the tracking Mark ?ared brighter.

She took a deep breath before plunging the knife into the Mark.

The grunt was a bellow this time, and Cyrus was on the table behind Cassius faster than Scarlett could blink. She couldn’t look at him though. She knew if she met Cass’s eye, she wouldn’t be able to keep going with this.

She pulled the knife out, sending her shadows into the wound, pulling the magic of the Mark towards the four Marks she’d drawn. She could feel Alaric’s magic ?ghting with hers. His draining powers latched onto her shadows, and she gritted her teeth, pouring white ?ames in to battle his power while her shadows pulled on the edges of the tracking magic— fraying it, dismantling it, drawing it up and down, right and left.

She felt an arm wrap around her middle, holding her up. She could hear voices, but she couldn’t give any focus to what they were saying. She kept her eyes shut tight as she followed the shadows she was controlling in Cassius’s body.

She was burning through her reserves. Between guiding the magic to the exit Marks and ?ghting against Alaric’s power, she could already feel them siphoning too fast. His magic was draining her white ?ames, but they were stronger than her Fae gifts. His magic would break though the Fae ?re and water with ease. It had to be the white ?ames.

She gasped when she ?nally shoved some of the tracking magic out of the Mark on Cassius’s left hand, Alaric’s magic seeming to scream against her white ?ames, a shrieking sound clawing at her soul.

Her shadows yanked on the magic, drawing it up, the drag a little less as she forced it to the Mark on Cassius’s brow. A whimper of relief escaped her when she ?nally made it there.

She opened her eyes and wished she hadn’t. Cyrus’s hands were on Cassius’s shoulders, holding him down. Cassius had doubled over, ?ngers curled around the edge of the table, knuckles white. Sweat was dripping down his face, and he was pale.

“Keep going, Love,” Sorin was murmuring into ear. “Keep going.”

She nodded, focus going back to her shadows that were herding Alaric’s tracking magic to the Mark on the other hand. Her white ?ames stuttered, and Alaric’s magic lunged at her, latching onto her shadows.

“No!” she gasped, her knees buckling as she tried to regain control. A sting on her palm and then heat was pouring into her.

Sorin’s ?re.

It collided with hers, the white ?ames instantly ?aring brighter, and Alaric’s magic recoiled.

She sucked in a sharp breath. Stronger. Her ?ames were stronger with Sorin’s. She yanked on his magic, and she heard Sorin curse, but then she was shoving the tracking magic into the third Mark.

One left.

She rallied her shadows, wrapping them tightly around the last of the tracking magic. There would be no dragging this time. She bound it tight and sent those shadows hurtling for the ?nal Mark on Cass’s feet.

Light ?ared, sending her and Sorin stumbling backwards. He still held her tight around the middle, which was good because there was no way she’d be able to stand on her own right now.

Her gaze fell to Cassius’s thigh where the tracking Mark was fading to nothing. She made to move back to him, but Sorin’s grip tightened, keeping her in place. Cyrus was bringing his arm to Cassius’s lips, blood already welling. Cass immediately latched on, leaning back into Cyrus’s chest where he had shifted behind him.

She watched them as her reserves continued to pull from Sorin. She really needed to stop. Azrael could Travel them all home, but her magic was still so empty.

Take what you need, Scarlett, Sorin said down the bond, clearly having felt her internal dilemma.

She sighed at his permission, leaning back into his chest just as Cassius was doing against Cyrus. Until—

“Scarlett!”

She started, turning to ?nd Callan looking up, and when she followed his gaze, she saw why.

Two ?gures were falling from the barely visible sky. Seraphs.

“Azrael, get everyone else back to the ship,” she called. “Leave Nuri.”

She tightened her grip on Sorin’s arm over the Source Mark. She looked up at him as she whispered, “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” he answered, shadows merging behind them. “You want to set the world on ?re? My ?ames are yours to do so.”

“Then let’s make some ashes, Prince,” she answered, her shadow dragon releasing a roar as she climbed onto its back, Sorin with her.

Then they were shooting for the sky, meeting the seraphs in mid-air. Another roar from the dragon had ?ames spewing from its mouth, immediately incinerating the closest seraph. The other had swooped beneath them, ?ring an arrow up through the shadows.

She shoved Sorin to the side while she leapt for the other, her connection to the Source Mark broken. The seraph smiled darkly as it watched them plunging back to the stones below, but it was nothing compared to the wicked smirk she sent back. With one hand, she sent shadows spearing for Sorin, wrapping around his torso and pulling him back to her. Her other hand had white ?ames tightening around the seraph’s neck, his wings turning to ash behind him as they burned away to nothing.

The minute she felt Sorin’s ?esh touch hers, she Traveled them out of there, but with so little magic left, she couldn’t be as accurate with where she took them. They emerged in the air above the ships, dark waters swirling beneath them.

She scrambled to get her shadows under them, to at least slow their descent, but it was useless. She had nothing left, and neither did Sorin.

They hit water so hard it forced the air from her lungs. Her lips parted on an involuntary gasp, water ?ooding in. She was trying to get an air pocket around her mouth while simultaneously searching for Sorin beneath the water.

No! They were not going down like this. Not in the Edria Sea so close to Avonleya. Not after they’d just pulled that off. Not like this.

Sorin! she screamed down the bond, her chest burning with the need to cough up the water she’d swallowed down.

Where was he? She wasn’t going to the surface without him. They would go together. Always together.

Sorin!

Then she was being wrapped in an icy bubble, rising to the surface. When it broke through the surface, she saw Sorin in a bubble already hovering over the nearest ship. Briar was there, saving both their asses.

She was deposited next to Sorin on the ship deck, already choking on the water in her lungs.

“I’ve got it, Sunshine,” Briar said, lowering down beside her. He brought his hand to her mouth where his magic pulled all the water up from her lungs. She heaved, sea water and bile splashing onto the deck, but she was already crawling toward Sorin where he was sitting against the side of the ship.

He pulled her into him, cradling her head against his chest, ?ngers combing through her wet hair. The bond immediately began calming the hysteria mauling every nerve in her body.

“I am here, Scarlett,” he murmured. “I am all right.”

“I’m sorry,” she rasped into his neck, clinging to his wet frame, sure if she let him go he would disappear from beneath her ?ngers.

“You fall, I fall, Scarlett,” he replied. “I will follow you up to the stars and down to the depths of the sea.”

She wasn’t sure when exactly she’d wrapped her legs around his waist, but she didn’t move when a hand landed on her shoulder, heat pulsing through her. She glanced up to see Eliza crouching beside them, a hand on each of their shoulders, drying their clothes, hair, and skin.

“Everyone else made it back ?ne,” Eliza said quietly, soft ?ames ?ickering in her eyes. “Cyrus is looking after Cassius.”

“He is all right?” she asked, her cheek pressing harder into Sorin’s chest where he’d tucked her head under his chin.

Eliza nodded. “Beatrix was checking him over, just to be sure. Do either of you need healing?”

She shook her head and felt Sorin doing the same. Eliza gave a small nod before standing and giving them some time alone.

It was some time later when she ?nally pulled back from Sorin enough to see his face. His eyes were closed, breathing deep and measured, as if he were trying to regulate it.

“Sorin?” she asked cautiously, bringing her ?ngers up to run along his face.

His eyes ?uttered open, a weak smile pulling on his lips. “I ?nally got to ride that damn shadow dragon.”

She huffed a laugh, leaning forward and softly brushing her lips across his. When she sat back again, she said, “I took too much from you.”

“You took what you needed, Scarlett. If you hadn’t, we would be dead, or you would be back with Alaric.”

She nodded, ?ghting back the tears burning at the back of her throat. How many more times were they going to be able to do this before his magic didn’t re?ll at all? How many times before his magic reserves shrunk so much they could no longer hold even an ember?

“No,” Sorin said ?rmly, his ?ngers ?exing where he still had his arms wrapped around her. “We are not doing that right now. We are not panicking about this. Not yet. Understand?”

His tone was all alpha and order and command, and she wrinkled her nose at it.

“I’m sorry. Did you think since you almost died, again, that meant you could give me orders?”

He sighed, his eyes falling closed once more. “Wouldn’t dream of it, Princess.”

“Queen,” she whispered, nestling back into his chest. They were clearly sleeping here tonight, too tired and spent to move at this point.

“Queen,” he agreed, a kiss pressing on the top of her head.