Chapter 8 Sorin
CHAPTER 8
SORIN
S orin found himself surrounded by trees in a forest as Luan pulled them all through a rip in the world. The moon ?ltered through the leaves, glaring off the light layer of snow and illuminating some of their surroundings. He turned in a slow circle, trying to ?gure out where exactly they were.
“Eliza,” he called, summoning his general to his side. “Do you recognize where we are?”
She came stumbling over to him, and he gripped her arm to keep her standing.
Fuck.
He’d forgotten they would all be reeling from the loss of their magic here.
He glanced around at the others. Cyrus was doubled over and appeared to be doing his best not to vomit. Rayner was leaning against a tree. He would still be able to move among the smoke and ashes here, but he wouldn’t be able to wield them, and he would weaken faster. He was pale, and his breathing was uneven. Luan had his arm looped around Arianna’s waist, supporting all the Lady’s weight as her head fell forward against his shoulder, and she tugged her cloak tightly around herself. The Earth Prince met his gaze, his lips forming a grim line.
“You are all right?” Sorin asked him.
He nodded once. “We need to get everyone behind the wards. Perhaps the mortals know where we are.”
“Sloan and I will scout ahead and ?gure out how far from the tunnel system we are. That will give you all time to … adjust,” Finn said.
Sorin nodded in agreement as he led Eliza over to another tree, helping her lower to the ground atop her pack to keep the snow from soaking into her cloak. “Even knowing this was coming, I wasn’t prepared,” she muttered.
Sorin could say nothing in response. He remembered when he’d ?rst come to the mortal lands nearly four years ago. He had spent the ?rst ?ve days violently sick in a cave in Toreall, adjusting to not having his magic at his ?ngertips. It was like having a piece of your soul inaccessible to you. Being able to wield their magic was as essential as eating and breathing for Fae. Not siphoning it off throughout the day in the Courts would drive the power to seek a different outlet, making a Fae volatile, much like Scarlett’s had done when she was on her tonic. Not having access to one’s magic at all was a different kind of torture in and of itself.
“Once we ?nd Cassius, he can brew a potion for you all to have access to your magic if you want it,” Sorin said into the night.
“Fuck that,” Cyrus hissed. “You said the High Witch brewed some for you to bring with.”
“She did,” Sorin con?rmed. “But they are for emergencies.”
“This seems like a pretty big emergency. We aren’t going to be able to walk anywhere right now,” Cyrus retorted, ?nally giving in and dropping to his knees.
“Cassius will brew some when we get there, but you need to think long and hard about taking it. You did not see what Scarlett went through when she had to detox from her tonic. Hazel said it would be worse than that, and take less time to become addicted to one that grants you access to your magic than one that suppresses it,” Sorin warned.
“Fuck you, Sorin. You have that damn ring on your hand,” Cyrus bit back bitterly.
“I lived without my magic for three years, Cyrus. I know exactly what you are going through.”
“Enough,” Luan cut in. “You are Fae warriors. Start acting like it.”
“Says another with a ring on his ?nger,” Cyrus spat at him.
“Will it make you feel better to wear it, Faeling?” Luan taunted him. “Is it too uncomfortable for you?”
“Fuck you, too, Luan,” Cyrus snarled, lurching to his feet and clearly planning to take a shot at the prince.
Sorin grabbed his arm, pulling him to a halt. “Save your energy, Cyrus. When Cassius brews the potion, you can decide then if you will take it and how often. I am not your keeper, but you need to suck it up until we get there.”
Cyrus jerked his arm out of Sorin’s grip and stalked to a tree near Eliza, sliding down to the ground atop his own pack. Silence descended among them. The only sounds were the trees rustling in a light breeze and a hooting owl here and there. Sorin stood guard along with Luan and Callan, while the other immortals tried to get their extreme discomfort under control. He started a few small ?res near them all to keep them warm and sporadically sent waves of warmth through Arianna as well. She had insisted on wearing that ridiculous lightweight out?t, but it was the perfect excuse to release some of the magical tension growing in his veins.
Nearly a half hour later, the sound of twigs snapping and brush rustling had Sorin and Luan calling on their magic. Flames danced at Sorin’s ?ngertips while a long, thick vine grew in Luan’s hand, a whip waiting to strike. Finn and Sloan came into view a moment later.
“There’s a tunnel about half a mile from here,” Finn explained, coming to a stop at Callan’s side. “Can you guys make it?” He looked at the Fae seated on the ground with concern.
“Once we make it to the tunnel, how far to the safe house?” Luan asked, helping Arianna to her feet. The Shifter swayed slightly but managed to stay standing on her own. Luan still kept a supporting arm around her, though. The gods help them if something happened to the Beta. Stellan wouldn’t stop until everyone involved with the death of his sister was dead. Sorin was surely already in enough shit with the Shifter Alpha for asking Arianna to help him behind his back.
“Hard to say,” Finn answered, rubbing the back of his neck. “I can count on one hand how many times we’ve been in this section of the tunnels.”
Sloan snorted a derisive laugh next to him. “I’m pretty sure the only time we’ve been in this section of the tunnels was when we were trying to ?gure out how she was getting into the godsdamn castle undetected.”
“Let’s just get moving,” Eliza said from where she sat at the base of the tree. “We need to be in that warehouse before the sun rises. We’re wasting darkness.”
Sorin couldn’t agree more as he crossed the clearing to help her to her feet. He left her leaning against Rayner, and he moved over to Cyrus and extended a hand. “You got this?” he asked the male quietly when he pulled him up.
“This is nothing like when we cross near our border,” Cyrus replied, his jaw clenching.
It was true. The closer they were to Fae territory, the less they noticed the strain of their magic being suppressed. When they had crossed to converse with the Night Children, it had hardly registered. But here? Miles from any Fae border?
“I can’t believe you did this for three whole years,” Cyrus gritted out.
“It gets easier, but the ?rst week kicks your ass,” Sorin agreed grimly, clapping him on the shoulder.
Finn, Sloan, and Callan led the way into the thick of the trees. Luan and Arianna were behind them in case the Earth Prince’s magic was needed to protect the Crown Prince. Sorin made his Inner Court go in front of him while he brought up the rear, making sure no one got left behind.
It took them double the time it had taken Finn and Sloan to get to the tunnel, having to move slower due to the incapacitated Fae in the group. Sorin and Luan may have maintained their magic, but their Fae senses had still become muted here with the shift to mortal forms. They moved cautiously, straining their hearing and eyesight for any sign of being hunted or followed. When they slipped into the darkness of the underground passage, Sorin lit a few balls of soft, glowing ?ame to help guide them through. The tunnel continued straight for quite a ways, until it branched off into three separate directions.
“Which way?” Arianna asked, seeming to be adjusting to her lack of gifts faster than his Court. It made sense. She was older than any of them here, having had more decades to learn to adjust quickly to not having access to her gifts.
“Well, we need to head west towards the sea,” Sorin reasoned. “I would think we would need to either continue straight or take the passage to the right.”
Murmurs of agreement came from the group, and in the end, Sorin made the executive decision to take the right passageway. If they kept going west, they’d have to reach the docks eventually.
They had only been in the passageway a few minutes when he scented her, but before he could say anything, Sorin was thrown face ?rst against the rocky wall, a cut being gouged along his cheek, and a dagger was pressed to his spine.
“Now this scene is awfully familiar, Son of Fire,” a voice of silk and honey purred into his ear. “Me sneaking up on an unsuspecting Fae bastard.”
“No one fucking move,” Sorin snarled to his companions, as he heard weapons being drawn from their sheaths.
“Why the fuck are we not running this bitch through?” Cyrus demanded.
“Because that is Nuri,” Eliza replied, stepping from Rayner’s side and sliding her blade back into the sheath at her back. “She is Death’s Shadow.”
“I told you when you returned that you and I would have some fun,” Nuri crooned into Sorin’s ear, sliding the dagger up the side of his throat.
“That you did, Nuri dear, but you seem to have failed to notice my back-up,” Sorin taunted in reply.
Nuri only huffed a laugh. “You mean the back-up you brought because you knew you wouldn’t be able to best me on your own?”
Sorin growled at the implication and challenge. “We will have to test that theory another time, Daughter of Night. We are here for Scarlett.”
Sorin felt the dagger leave his throat as Nuri released her hold on him. “Is she not with you?” She glanced around at his companions, clearly searching for that head of silver hair.
Sorin shook his head. “No. She was taken from us. A few days ago.” Nuri reached up and yanked her hood back. The soft glow of the ?ames allowed him to make out the fury dancing in her honey-colored eyes. “You had one task, you asshole. What the fuck happened?”
“Maybe the explanations and hair braiding can wait until we are behind some wards and the Witch has brewed us a potion to give us back our godsdamn magic?” came Cyrus’s irritated voice from down the tunnel.
“Who the fuck are you?” Nuri asked, her tone saying she really didn’t care, as she whirled to face Cyrus.
“Someone not in the mood to listen to your bitching at the moment,” he snarled back.
Nuri’s lip peeled back and her fangs lengthened. “Careful, Fae bastard, I’ve developed quite the taste for your type of blood.”
Cyrus just smirked at her. “Sweetheart, you’d have to take it by force.”
“For fuck’s sake,” Luan muttered from his position near the mortals. “Can we just get to the damn safe house? Now that she is here, I am assuming she knows the way so we can meet our other allies? Get moving, vampyre.”
Nuri dragged her eyes up and down the Earth Prince. The mannerism was so similar to one that Scarlett would have made, that Sorin’s chest tightened at the action. A wicked grin tilted up the corners of her mouth, and she tilted her head to the side. “I don’t know who the fuck you are, and I couldn’t care less. What I do know is that should you try to give me an order again, I will taste your blood and cut off body parts while I do so.”
Luan sneered at her. “I do not have time for petty Night Child egos. I am here to do one thing, and it is my understanding you are essential to completing our task. So fall in line or—”
“Fucking hell,” Sorin said in exasperation. He knew that Cyrus and Nuri meeting would be a nightmare. He had not accounted for Nuri and Luan clashing. He stepped between the Earth Prince and Death’s Shadow. “Nuri, we need to be safely behind wards before the sun begins to rise. I can only assume you know the tunnels better than Callan’s guards, seeing as you snuck up on us. For Scarlett’s sake, can you please get us to the safe house where we can meet up with Cassius and ?gure out how to get my godsdamn wife back?”
Nuri sucked in a breath at the word, a gloved hand grabbing his left hand where his black-gold marriage band adorned his ?nger. “Just wife or …?”
“We both bear the twin ?ame Mark as well,” he con?rmed. “We have one Trial left to complete and the bond can be Anointed.”
A wide grin spread across Nuri’s face at that, and she let out a sharp whistle. A boy appeared behind them from the way they had come. Sorin instantly recognized him as Malachi, a young boy with a chip on his shoulder that he had met when Scarlett had taken him to meet the orphans in the Black Syndicate. His younger brother was one of the orphans who had gone missing, likely dead and likely because they were pure-blooded Night Children, just like Nuri.
“We’re taking this lot back with us, Malachi,” Nuri said. “Bring up the rear. You know what to do.”
The boy nodded as Nuri jerked her head for Sorin to follow her, going back the way they had come. Sorin moved to her side, looking over his shoulder to make sure everyone was accounted for. When they reached the area where the passageways split, Nuri made to follow the one that went straight, but before they stepped into the tunnel, Luan called out to them to halt. He moved to Sorin’s side and said, “Get out your map, Aditya. I need to see in what general vicinity we are located.”
Nuri gave him another once over. “I really do need to know who this is, Sorin.”
“Meet Azrael Luan. He is of the Earth Court,” Sorin replied, summoning the map from a pocket of ?ame.
Understanding ?ared through Nuri’s eyes at what he meant. He was unable to come right out and say that Luan was the Earth Prince, courtesy of the enchantment that kept all Fae from identifying Fae Royalty in the mortal lands.
“He is also a Traveler and by knowing exactly where we are, he can be prepared to move us back to this place should we need it,” Sorin continued, unrolling the map.
Nuri took an edge in her hand and pointed to a section north of the main docks. “We will take the tunnel before us for another mile or so, then we will turn west. We should be at the warehouse within the hour, assuming there are no surprises along the way, but as we have people patrolling this section of the tunnels at all times, we should be ?ne.”
Luan gave a nod before gesturing for them to continue along. They moved as quickly as they could and met no one as Nuri led them along the tunnel system. When the tunnel emptied out onto a beach from the side of a cavern, Nuri informed them the warehouse was ten minutes from their location.
Sorin’s Court was waning when they ?nally reached the safe house. It was just as Sorin had remembered it from when he’d helped Nuri get the children here all those months ago. An abandoned warehouse, the four- story brick building loomed before them. The wards Cassius had created made it look far more decrepit than it actually was and made it appear it was seconds from collapsing. In reality, however, save for some broken windows and the garbage and junk that had littered all the ?oors, the warehouse was in pretty decent shape. The ?rst ?oor was one wide open space, and they left it that way for the most part in case anyone did manage to make it inside. The second ?oor held a kitchen, so it was converted into the mess hall and general congregating area. The third and fourth ?oors were of?ce spaces that they converted into bedrooms that everyone shared.
As they came to the entrance, Nuri stopped before one of the men on guard. “Send word to Cassius to get here as quickly as possible. Tell him they’ve returned.” She paused, then added, “And if we can get a message to the Tyndell heirs, that’d be best as well.”
The man took his leave, disappearing in the shadows of the night, and Nuri led them inside and up to the second ?oor. A young woman with lightly tanned skin and brown hair braided down her back, met them at the top of the stairs. She gave a small smile to Sorin.
“Lynnea,” he greeted warmly. “Good to see you again.”
“And you,” she answered with a small nod of her head. She shifted her gaze to Nuri. “Take them to the kitchen. I will get some soup and bread warmed up.”
“Thank you,” Sorin said, following Nuri once more. She led them into the moderate kitchen space, and the Fae all collapsed onto chairs around the small table to the left of the space. Lynnea immediately moved to the stove and began adding various vegetables and some meat to a large stock pot, before getting out two loaves of bread and slicing it for them.
“When do you expect Cassius to be here?” Sorin asked Nuri, while she removed her cloak and draped it over a stool. She left her gloves and weapons in place.
“I’m hoping sooner rather than later. I think the message that you’ve returned will hasten his return,” she replied.
Sorin nodded. “Let’s wait until he arrives to ?ll you in on our side of things. Why don’t you catch me up while we eat, and hopefully Cassius and the Tyndells will be here by then.”
Nuri agreed and proceeded to tell him of how Cassius had continued to work tirelessly to constantly reinforce the wards. He had apparently found some new upgrades in the books Sorin had given to him when he had visited the Fire Court. The secret of the warehouse location had been kept quiet by everyone. They hadn’t even revealed it to the Assassin Lord, which is why Nuri hadn’t reported to the Fellowship since Scarlett and Sorin had left the kingdom. Lord Tyndell apparently kept Cassius from the Assassin Lord’s wrath somehow, but they were all conscious of how quickly that could change.
Sorin was ?nishing his second bowl of soup when a man with shoulder-length brown hair and rich brown eyes came rushing into the room, followed closely by a man and woman who had matching golden-blonde hair and ocean-blue eyes. Cassius Redding and Drake and Tava Tyndell. Cassius’s eyes scanned over everyone, pausing on Sorin brie?y before continuing to look around the kitchen wildly. “Where is she?” he demanded.
Sorin stood from his place at the table. “She is not with us, Commander.”
“Where the hell is she?”
“We have reason to believe she is in Baylorin, but her exact whereabouts are unknown to us.”
Cassius’s entire body went rigid as he turned to face Sorin. “What do you mean her whereabouts are unknown to you?”
“She was taken. After she defeated several Night Children in Toreall near the Earth Court border.”
“Taken by who?” Violence and rage radiated off the Commander as he held Sorin in his gaze.
“We do not know. We were told Mikale does not currently have her, but we do not know for how long that will remain true,” Sorin answered, swallowing thickly.
“How did you let this happen?” Cassius demanded. “I left her in your care, believing she would be safe with you!”
“She was safe with me,” Sorin retorted. “You know you cannot control her. You know she does things of her own mind, often refusing to let others know her plans until she is in the thick of them.”
Cassius stalked towards Sorin and gripped the front of his tunic in his ?st, and Sorin readied himself to take the hit from the Commander. He was Scarlett’s personal guard, assigned to her in the Black Syndicate. He was so protective of her, Sorin had thought they might be lovers when he’d ?rst met her. He wasn’t surprised by his rage, and he’d allow this hit for failing in his promise to keep her safe.
But the blow never came. Drake and Nuri were behind Cassius, pulling him off of Sorin as he tried to jerk free of their holds.
“For the love of Anala,” Cyrus barked, standing and coming between Cassius and Sorin. “Everyone needs to calm the fuck down. He is the Witch, yes?”
Sorin nodded in con?rmation. “Yes, he has Witch blood along with the girl who fed us.”
“Great. Get them what they need to get started. While they’re brewing the potion, we can ?ll them in on everything that has happened. After they have heard it all, if they still deem you worthy of having your ass kicked, we will let that happen,” Cyrus said.
Sorin clenched his teeth, turning to Cassius. “Is that agreeable to you?”
Cassius nodded curtly. “I haven’t done much with potions. I do not know how much help I will be.”
“You will be able to do it,” Sorin replied, knowing exactly whose Witch-blood ran through the Commander’s veins.
“Then let’s move to the fourth ?oor. There is a small kitchenette on that level to make sure things aren’t disturbed.”
Everyone gathered their things and climbed the stairs once more, Cassius and Sorin walking side-by-side. “Since I left her last, I’ve been experiencing these … episodes,” Cassius said quietly to Sorin.
“What kind of episodes?” He glanced side-long at the Commander.
“I don’t know how to describe it. One time, I had excruciating pain in my arm and along my ribs, like they’d been broken. Other times it’s minor, ?eeting scratches, as if I were sparring. But it all stopped suddenly, a few days ago, which is when you said Scarlett was taken. It can’t be coincidence, can it?” Cassius asked, clearly hoping Sorin had an answer for him.
“Scarlett broke her arm and some ribs in an attack a few months ago,” Sorin answered. “I do not know how you would be able to sense that. None of what you just told me makes any sense.”
“It has to be related, though, right?” Cassius pressed, pushing open a door into a small room that had a tall, wooden table, ice box, hearth, and wash basin.
“It would certainly seem so,” Sorin answered, running a hand down his face. “So much has happened, Cassius. Let’s get these potions going, and we will tell you everything. Hopefully, when it is all said and done, we can come up with a plan to ?gure out where the hell she is and get her back.”