Page 48 of Lady of Starfire (Lady of Darkness #5)

“There it is,” she purred. Flames of red and orange, yellow and blue, reflected in her silver irises. “Keep them burning, Prince.”

Before he or Rayner could stop her, she was tossing starfire and freezing it in the air. Godsdamn steps that went higher and higher into the sky.

The beings were hissing, their swords cutting through his flames as they pushed forward, but his fire flared right back to life. He was scarcely scratching the surface of his power well.

“Be ready to catch her,” he snarled at Rayner.

“Already prepared,” he muttered, his eyes fixed on the queen leaping from flames in the sky.

When she was a good seventy feet in the air, she lifted her arms, all the frozen steps of flame coming to her and creating a stage in the sky.

Her braid was floating among shadows that were thickening and swirling around her, strands of silver falling from the plait.

Her gaze connected with his, and she fucking winked at him as she unclasped her cloak and let it fall from her fingers, the black material fluttering to the ground.

Then, as if she were pushing them down, her shadows plummeted when her arms dropped.

Darkness crashed into his flames, and he staggered under the weight of it.

Her shadows latched onto his fire, merging with it.

She was walking along her platforms of ice, leading the dark flames along.

He’d seen her use this before with her own fire.

Shadowfire she had called it, but she’d had to split her power between shadows and flames.

Now, though? Now she could put her full strength into her shadows, and their twin flame bond let her combine them with his fire.

His fire magic was now more powerful than an Avonleyan.

“Holy gods,” Rayner murmured.

Where she pulled, the shadowfire went. She was a dark goddess that could claim the world for her own or burn it to nothing.

The beings were screeching, golden swords clattering to the ground as the shadowfire consumed them.

And while he kept his focus on his fire, making sure it flared back whenever one of the beings cut through it, he could hear her laughing in delight.

From her vantage point, she could see every one of them.

“She is terrifying,” Rayner muttered again.

Sorin chanced a glance up at her and found her staring straight at him. Her crown of shadows and starfire sat atop her head, that same wicked grin in place.

And he grinned back as a crown of flames flared above him.

“Drop your shield, Rayner,” he ordered.

“Sorin—”

“Do it.”

His ashes disappeared, letting Sorin clearly see the beings remaining.

He yanked on the flames, and he saw her stumble a bit before she tipped her head back and laughed again.

She let him have control of the shadowfire, giving him free rein of her shadows, and as he dragged it around and finished off the few remaining beings, she spun atop her stage of frozen starfire, dancing to a dark song only she could hear.

His breathing was ragged as the last being was burned among shadow and fire.

The air was filled with ash that did not belong to Rayner.

It drifted down to the ground like gently falling snow, and Scarlett was floating amongst it all atop one of her frozen flames.

She was still ten feet in the air when she leapt from the ice and into his arms.

“Fucking hell,” Rayner muttered when Sorin caught her with a bark of laughter that mixed with her own. They were covered in a fine layer of ash, but her mouth crashed into his. Her legs wound around his waist, and she was pure darkness as her tongue met with his.

You planned this , he said down the bond.

She pulled back, unable to hide her smirk. You wouldn’t let me near when you were using your power. You left me no choice, really.

How did you know it would work?

She shrugged. I didn’t, but I had a backup plan.

His brow arched as he slowly lowered her to the ground.

We’ll save it for another time , she said with a wink. Wouldn’t want you to get bored.

Sorin shook his head in awed disbelief, but he couldn’t keep the smile from his face as he tugged her back to him and kissed her deeply.

“Why didn’t you do that in the crevice?” Rayner asked when they finally broke apart.

“I didn’t know how much space we would need in case things got out of control,” she answered. “And I wanted to know if combining our power would work on these beings. I could kill the other creatures on my own.”

“It is why you didn’t take more power when I tried to fill your reserves,” Sorin said as Scarlett nudged one of the golden swords with her boot.

She glanced up at him from beneath her lashes. “I knew you’d only access it around me if my life was in danger.”

Cunning, wicked goddess , he sent down the bond, feeling her desire spike at the words.

“That was …” Rayner trailed off, still surveying the destruction they’d wrought. Finally, his grey eyes settled back on them. “The two of you can bring this world to its knees.”

“This world doesn’t have to worry,” Scarlett said darkly. “Only those who should have never come here.”