Page 70 of Lady of Starfire (Lady of Darkness #5)

Sorin had flames igniting the chamber in the next breath. It was cavernous and dank, some of the walls covered in moss. Not at all the pristine cleanliness of the rest of the cliffs. Cells lined an entire wall, all empty except for one.

One that contained a Water Prince.

“Briar?” Sorin said in shock, rushing to the cell, Scarlett on his heels. “What are you doing here?”

“I do not know. I was being kept in Earth Court cells until a few nights ago. Alaric showed up and brought me here,” Briar answered. “How is Ashtine?”

“She is with the Witches,” Scarlett answered, studying the bars. They were shirastone, and the same was on Briar’s wrists.

“That is not what I asked you.”

She met his icy blue eyes. “I know.” She stepped forward, starfire flaring and melting the lock of shirastone. The door creaked open. “You are here because of me.”

“What?” Briar asked, stepping out of the cell. Scarlett was already reaching for the shackles, starfire flaring once more before they fell away too.

“I may have sent a coded message to the Shifters that got intercepted,” Scarlett said, a small smile on her lips as two daggers of ice appeared in Briar’s hands.

“To have me brought here?”

“Something along those lines,” Scarlett said. “However, I was not expecting to stumble upon you like this. Alaric is here, then?”

“I do not know,” Briar answered, falling into step beside them as they headed back to the dock. “Some seraphs brought me here. I have not seen anyone in three days.”

“Food?” Sorin asked tightly. Briar shook his head, which had a curse flying from the Fire Prince’s mouth. “How are your reserves?”

“Fine,” Briar said. “I have not been able to use them in weeks.”

“Good. Then you can freeze this stream. These won’t keep a child afloat, let alone the three of us.”

Minutes later, they were moving carefully along the ice, Sorin gripping her arm while she clutched the lock to her chest should she slip and fall.

They put the fire out when they approached a tunnel, not wanting to alert anyone to their presence on the outside.

If things had gone well, most of the seraphs were inside the cliffs searching for them now. If not …

But she knew things were going far too smoothly.

Briar being here confirmed that Alaric had indeed intercepted the “message” she’d sent to their allies in Siofra asking them to be prepared to house them should things go terribly wrong after she retrieved something of value.

She knew Alaric would not leave Briar behind.

The Fae Prince was bargaining power, and the Assassin Lord knew she valued the prince as one of her own.

She had been prepared to feign a bargain with him to see Briar released.

Finding him alone was pure luck, but such good fortune never came for free.

Sorin was tugging her to a stop as they neared the cave mouth. “There are others out there.”

She sent her shadows creeping along, staying close to the cave walls, but they weren’t like Rayner’s ashes. His magic could somehow sense what was there. All she could feel was life. It could be Rayner and Kailia as planned. It could be others.

She turned to Briar, speaking low and quick. “Once we are outside the wards of the cliffs, you need to go. Create a water portal and go to the High Witch’s Keep. Ashtine is there with Talwyn. She is not well, Briar. She needs you.”

“Ashtine is with Talwyn ,” Briar repeated.

“She sides with us now. She is how Sorin’s power was returned. They can fill you in, but we are not your worry at the moment. Getting to Ashtine is.”

“But if I can help—”

“Go to her, Briar,” Scarlett interrupted. “Before it is too late.”

“We will send word when it is safe to do so, but Talwyn and Ashtine know much of our plans,” Sorin said, clapping a hand on his friend’s shoulder.

Scarlett shifted as she glanced back to the cave mouth and the bit of daylight she could see shining through.

They had agreed not to tell Briar of Sawyer.

Not here. His focus needed to be on getting to Ashtine, but she felt like a shit friend for keeping the information from him.

He could grieve when he got to safety, though.

He could have the time he deserved to mourn his brother, and he could be with Ashtine after being separated from her for so long.

She looked up at Sorin as he readjusted his grip on her arm. “We stick to the plan. No matter who is on the outside of these walls,” she said.

“Scarlett—”

“We stick to the plan, Sorin,” she interrupted. “Make sure Briar gets through a portal.”

Sorin did not argue further. Only gently tugged her forward. She encased the lock in starfire, freezing it around the orb before adding a layer of shadows too. They kept their footfalls quiet on the ice, letting their eyes slowly adjust to the daylight as they neared the cave entrance.

When they finally emerged enough to see properly, they found no one on the ground, but there were at least twenty-five seraphs in the sky.

Rayner and Kailia were nowhere in sight, and neither were Cyrus and Cassius.

Either something had gone very wrong or very right.

The seraphs hadn’t appeared to notice them yet, but the moment Briar opened a water portal, the sound of rushing water would surely alert them.

She gave the Water Prince a sad smile before she jerked her chin. He hesitated for the briefest of moments, but then she heard the portal.

And so did the seraphs.

Five were diving for Briar in the next breath, but Sorin had a wall of fire erupting to the sky while Scarlett worked to maintain the frozen water below their feet.

“Go!” she screamed at Briar, her shadows taking shape behind her.

Giant eagles of shadows that met more seraphs in the sky as she and Sorin ran in the opposite direction from Briar.

Her feet slid out from beneath her as she ran.

She could do nothing to catch herself while she clutched at the lock, but Sorin had a band of fire setting her upright before she hit the ice.

“Keep the lock safe, and do not touch your power again,” Sorin growled at her.

And as Sorin erupted with power, she knew she hadn’t been too far off that night.

Saylah had said she may as well be a god in this world, and Scarlett was staring at another.

He may as well have been flames himself with the way the fire moved with him.

He kept a wall of flame around her, while he sent fire into the sky.

The seraphs that made it to the ground met his short swords wrapped in wildfire.

And this? This was the general who had trained her in Baylorin.

This was the Fire Prince that made his Court feared.

This was what she’d needed him to know he could harness.

He moved faster than Scarlett could track.

Whips of fire wrapped around wings and throats, taking seraphs to their knees before his blades went through their chests.

He left the bodies burning in his wake as embers trailed behind him.

A few of the seraphs, those who also had fire gifts, made it to him.

She felt each hit Sorin took, her grip on the lock tightening as she forced herself to stay put. She couldn’t touch her magic. Not yet.

Until her name being bellowed from the sky changed everything.

Cassius was there, diving for her. Panic was clear on his face, even from this far away. Before she could argue, he was scooping her off the ground and hauling her up.

“No!” she cried. “Go back! We can’t leave him there!”

“Scarlett, Alaric is here,” Cassius hissed.

“I know! We’re coming! Go back! Now!” she commanded, trying to wrestle out of his hold without dropping the lock.

“He has Cyrus and Kailia atop the cliffs, Scarlett,” Cassius snarled.

She went utterly still. Because Sorin was fighting alone, but Alaric had Cyrus and Kailia. And she had the one thing that would convince him to let them go.

Sorin …

What is going on? he demanded down the bond. He was breathless, even in her mind.

Alaric has Cyrus and Kailia atop the cliffs.

There was a long pause where he said nothing, and then, I will come for you.

She felt him take another hit to his side, a piercing, sharp strike that had her screaming his name as Cassius continued to haul her higher up the cliffside.

Listen to me, Scarlett , came a snarled order down the bond. I will come for you. Do you understand? We follow the plan. Go do what needs to be done, and I will come for you.

I love you.

All the way through the darkness. He does not own you, Scarlett. Remember who gets to consume you. It is not him.

Cassius must have felt the shift in her demeanor, because his bruising grip on her lessened as he landed on the hidden balcony where Rayner was waiting. Ashes were drifting around him, and his eyes were moving mildly, not the violent swirl they usually were.

“Do you have enough left to get out?” she asked.

Rayner nodded, eyeing her closely. “Where is Sorin?”

“He will come. He’s following the plan. Briar got out.”

His brows rose. “You found him?”

She nodded. “Tell me what is happening.”

“Cyrus and I went to the top when we got Rayner’s signal,” Cassius said.

“But Alaric somehow knew we were coming. They had a trap set for Rayner, but they caught Kailia instead. And Cyrus …” He clenched his jaw, a muscle ticking.

“He shoved me out of the way and took an arrow to the shoulder. Whatever it was, it’s stifling his magic. ”

“And he demanded to speak with me?” Scarlett asked, tossing the lock to Rayner as she allowed shadows to coat her hands like gloves. They seemed to shudder at finally being fully let out, and she gritted her teeth with the effort of holding them back.

Just a little longer.