Page 68 of Lady of Starfire (Lady of Darkness #5)

Scarlett

“T here are seraphs everywhere,” Rayner said before he’d fully stepped from his ashes. “In the skies. Around the perimeter.”

That was fine. Not ideal but fine. They’d expected as much. Scarlett knew it had been too much to hope for anything else.

“And the entrance?” Sorin asked, arms crossed as he surveyed the dense foliage around them.

“Easily a unit of forty,” Rayner answered, grey eyes swirling.

The Ash Rider was tense. Simply being here put him on an edge that Scarlett rarely saw from him.

Kailia was in the same state. The Avonleyan Queen was rigid, her grip on her bow so tight her knuckles were white.

She always wore a black gown, but today she was clad in tight-fitting black pants and a black tunic.

She had fighting leathers in place, a quiver at her back, and Scarlett was fairly certain the dagger in her belt was a deathstone blade that she would be asking about if they all survived this day.

“Kailia?” Scarlett ventured tentatively.

Amber eyes snapped to her. “I can take care of a good number of them from a way back, but once the initial surprise wears off, it will be more difficult.”

“That’s not what I was asking,” Scarlett said softly. “You know you do not have to do this, right?”

“I am aware of my freedom,” she answered, eyes sliding back toward the cliffs.

Scarlett was fairly certain that if Cethin had had any semblance of his full power, she would have found her shadows locked in a battle against his darkness when he learned she had approached Kailia about coming with them.

“She will never breathe the air of those islands again. I promised her that.” Cethin had snarled, advancing on Scarlett when she met with him the morning after she’d spoken with Kailia.

“Stop right there, Cethin Sutara,” Scarlett had said sharply, holding up a hand. “If you make me tap into my power right now, I swear to Arius, I will make you regret it. It will fuck up everything.”

“I cannot believe you went behind my back and asked her to do this,” Cethin had said, his fists clenched at his sides.

“I asked her to do nothing,” Scarlett had retorted. “She deserves the opportunity to be part of this. Have you ever thought that maybe she needs to do this?”

“I cannot go with her,” he had all but roared at her. “Do you have any idea how hard it is to have to sit back and watch all of you go and fight while I can do nothing? How do I protect her from across the fucking sea?”

“You trust she can do this. She is one of the fiercest females I have ever met. I have watched her fight the Hunters, Cethin. You think she cannot do this?”

“You have no idea what she was forced to do beneath those cliffs, Scarlett. What happens if being there triggers something, and she freezes? What happens if she is captured by Alaric again? Answer me that,” he’d returned, taking another single step towards her. “If anything happens to her—”

“It won’t,” she’d interrupted. “Trust your wife, Cethin.”

“I trust Kailia with everything I am. It is everyone else I have no faith in,” he’d said before he’d turned and stormed out of the room.

“You are sure about this?” Scarlett asked Kailia now, finally letting her shadows out to breathe as they slithered over her witchsuit to form her shadow armor.

“I would not have come if I was not sure,” Kailia replied. She looked at Rayner. “You control the wards now. Where do we enter?”

“There is a hidden balcony on the side facing the sea,” he answered. “But we will need to climb.”

Scarlett still did not understand why he could not just let them pass since the wards around the cliffs were now tied to him, but after he’d explained for the third time it was simply the magic of the wards, she’d given up.

They would Travel to the base of the cliffs and then climb.

They’d debated flying in, but they were hoping not to be detected until they were inside. After that …

Well, they’d survive this part first and then worry about the rest. Cassius and Cyrus would stay outside to keep watch and discreetly take down seraphs when possible, while she and Sorin went in with Rayner and Kailia.

Scarlett closed her eyes, breathing deep. She rolled her shoulders back, stretching her neck from side to side, and when she reopened her eyes, she found everyone looking at her, waiting for instruction.

“Let’s start a fire,” she purred darkly.

Cassius Traveled Cyrus, while she grabbed Sorin’s hand and did the same.

Rayner and Kailia moved among their ashes and smoke.

It took nearly three hours to reach the hidden balcony, and it would have taken longer if Cyrus and Sorin hadn’t used their fire gifts to help keep everyone dry.

This included their hands and boots to prevent them from slipping on the cliff-side that was drenched with spray from the sea.

The sun hadn’t reached this side of the cliffs yet, so they were already partially concealed.

Scarlett used her shadows to hide them even more.

Rayner was helping Kailia over the ledge, and they all took a moment to catch their breath and regroup. No one spoke, and she nodded to Rayner after a moment. Ashes spilled from his hands, seeping under the glass doors as they all stuck to the shadows.

“Two inside,” Rayner said in his low tenor.

“Does the Reaper get them or Death’s Maiden?” Scarlett asked with a wicked grin.

Rayner’s own smile was just as dark. “You can watch, your Majesty.”

Scarlett stuck her tongue out at him. Cyrus and Cassius moved forward to check the doors, and when they found them locked, Cyrus used his fire to melt the handles.

“Be careful, Seastar,” Cass said as the rest of them prepared to enter.

She winked at him. “You know better, Cass.”

He sighed. “I do. See you when this is over.”

She nodded again, and the two pulled open the doors. Rayner was already moving among his smoke, and Scarlett darted inside to see him standing between two seraphs. His hands were deep in their chests, and when he pulled them back, he held a heart in one hand and a lung in the other.

“How do you do that?” she demanded, the seraphs dropping to the ground before they could utter a sound.

The organs faded to ash in his palms, and Rayner bent to wipe the blood from his hands on some of their clothing. He shrugged. “The same way you make your shadow pets.”

“They are not shadow pets,” she scoffed. “But are you saying I could rip out—”

“No. You couldn’t,” he interrupted. “This way.”

Rayner strode towards what appeared to be a closet, and Scarlett looked over her shoulder.

Kailia was idly wandering around the large suite.

Every once in a while, she’d run her hand along a surface or the wall, ashes left behind.

She glanced at Sorin, who nodded, and Scarlett followed after Rayner.

The Ash Rider was swiping his bloody palm along a wall, and Scarlett stood back as a doorway appeared. His ashes and her shadows speared into the dark passageway, seeking any sign of life, and when they found none, Rayner took the first step inside.

Sorin and Kailia appeared behind them as Scarlett followed Rayner into the stairwell, and Sorin sent small flames into the air to light their path. It was a winding staircase with landings that branched off every once in a while, and Rayner eventually took one.

Wooden doors lined the stone corridor. Rayner walked past them all. Scarlett couldn’t help but wonder how many times he had done this. How many times had he traversed these halls? She knew the bare minimum of Rayner’s history, but his knowledge of these cliffs had been invaluable to their planning.

At the end of the hall were two heavy stone doors etched with intricate carvings. While Rayner sent ashes to the other side before they entered, Scarlett traced along one of the carvings. It was the same language she’d been struggling to decipher in the Elshira catacombs.

“Do you know of it?” Rayner asked, the first words any of them had spoken since entering the hidden stairs.

“I’m trying to, but no,” Scarlett answered. “You?”

Rayner shook his head. “Ready?”

She nodded, looking back at Sorin and Kailia. “Were you ever in here?”

“No,” Kailia answered. She offered nothing else. Scarlett couldn’t blame her.

Rayner pushed open the doors, and when Scarlett stepped through them, she felt the wards bending as Rayner allowed them passage.

Sorin sent more flames into the air to light up the space, and they all just …

stopped. Tables of papers and potion supplies littered with dust took up most of the space. The room smelled musty and stale.

“When was the last time someone was in here?” Scarlett mused aloud, stepping further into the room.

“The day I killed Moranna,” Rayner answered. “Do you need anything else before Kailia and I go to the other levels?”

“I don’t think so,” Scarlett said, watching the dust filter through the rays of the soft glow of the room. She glanced back at Rayner. “Send a message if you need us. Otherwise, we’ll see you outside as planned. Make sure you have enough magic left to Travel from here if necessary.”

“Be mindful of what you touch,” Rayner said. “She could have enchanted anything.”

When the heavy doors had closed behind them, Scarlett faced the apothecary room once more, planting her hands on her hips.

She had no idea what she was looking for with this lock, but apparently this was the best place to start looking.

Rayner had said that if the Baroness had wanted to hide something, it would most likely be here.

According to Saylah, Moranna had also been trying to experiment with it, so having it nearby in her workroom seemed logical.

“I still find it hard to believe Saylah has no insight as to what this lock looks like,” Sorin said, moving deeper into the room with her.

Scarlett hummed in agreement. “Apparently, it has taken on different forms since its creation.”