Chapter 18 Scarlett
CHAPTER 18
SCARLETT
S he was out.
They had come for her.
Sorin had crossed borders and lands and torn the fucking realms apart to get to her.
She was out, but her world was still burning around her.
She clung to Cassius’s still body, willing her own life into his. She’d just spent months without him. She’d just watched him be tortured to keep her from having to make a choice that would break her. But she was about to break anyway. She was about to shatter into nothing.
But she wasn’t shattering without a ?nal ?ght.
She had just spent those same months putting herself back together. She had clawed her way out of the darkness. She had found light where it didn’t exist. She had created stars in the endless dark. She had fought for every single one of them, and she would ?ght for this one, too.
The Fates could not have him. Not now.
Not tomorrow. Not the day after.
Not until she was ready to go with him.
She could hear the others whispering behind her. She could hear them saying he would cross the Veil at any time, but she refused to accept this outcome. She refused to say goodbye. She refused to ?nally be back with him, only to watch him fade. He was her godsdamn Guardian. She needed him, and he was going to make good on the vow he made all those nights ago on a beach beneath the stars.
“You do not get to leave me here, Cassius. Do you hear me?” she cried into his bloody chest. “You do not get to abandon me after pledging to stay with me. We have revenge to seek and battles to win, and I cannot do that without you. You begged me to hang on, and now I am begging you. Hold on. Please.” She was sobbing so hard she could hardly get her words out, couldn’t get enough air down to breathe properly. “Please stay with me. I need you, Cass. I need you. ”
“Scarlett.” Nuri was kneeling on the other side of Cassius, gripping his hand in her gloved one. “He …” She swallowed, but Scarlett couldn’t meet her gaze. She could tell by her tone she had already given up. “He cannot survive these wounds. That he has clung on this long is—”
“He has clung on this long because he is the calm to my storm, and if he leaves, the storm will rage and will never cease. Do not tell me he will not live. Do not tell me he cannot survive this,” Scarlett hissed, lifting a hand and sending her ?ying back with a blast of water from her palm.
“Love.”
She looked up to ?nd Sorin standing over her, sorrow and pity in his golden eyes.
“Do not look at me like that. Do not look at me like he is already gone,” she begged. “He’s not gone, Sorin. He’s not. His heart still beats. He can’t be gone. He cannot leave me!”
He lowered to his knees beside her, reaching for her and pulling her into his chest. “Scarlett,” he rasped, his tone ringing with heartache for her.
“I need him, Sorin. I need him. I am not strong enough to lose him. I will not survive this. I need him. I need him!” she sobbed in hysterics, her tears soaking his leathers. Releasing some of her magic had cleared her head, but it had also paved the way for this soul-crushing grief to press in on her from all sides. Now, instead of feeling every emotion so intensely she couldn’t separate them, she could only feel one.
And she was not strong enough to endure it. Not a second time.
“Shh,” Sorin soothed, holding her tightly to him. “I hear you, Scarlett.” He leaned back from her just enough to see her face, bringing a hand up to cup her cheek. “Let’s take him home. Beatrix can try. She will do whatever she can.”
Beatrix.
A Healer.
They needed a Healer. But not just any Healer.
They needed the most powerful one. They needed the High Witch.
They needed Cassius’s mother.
She pushed back from Sorin, her gaze swinging frantically to the Earth Prince. “How many can you Travel with, Azrael?”
The Earth Prince was watching her with wary apprehension. “I can easily Travel with all of us here if you cannot.”
She glanced back at Sorin. He must have noticed that there were no shadows or white ?ames when she’d ?nally been able to release some of her magic. The truth was, she couldn’t reach her shadows. She couldn’t reach her darkness, and somehow, her ability to Travel was also blocked.
“But can you Travel with everyone in this building?” Scarlett pressed, because she would be damned if Cassius just endured all of that hell to leave the orphans here now. No. Everyone was coming with her. No one was staying here to be found by Alaric and face the same fate.
“Scarlett, we cannot take everyone,” Sorin said tentatively.
“Why? Why can’t we?” she insisted.
But he didn’t say anything. He just stared at her like she was losing her damn mind. And maybe she was, but Alaric would not take one more godsdamn thing from her.
“I would be able to, but it would take several trips,” Azrael ?nally answered. “I could not Travel with everyone at one time.”
“Nuri, gather everyone together. We leave immediately. Take only what they need. I will make sure they are cared for upon arrival.” Everyone just stared at her. “Why is no one moving?”
“Love, let’s take a moment and—”
“We do not have a moment!” Scarlett cried, and she knew ?ames ?ickered in her eyes. The temperature in the warehouse plummeted, and she reached out a hand to ?ood Cassius with heat. “Send a ?re message to Hazel. Tell her to meet us in Solembra.”
“We are not prepared to house so many, Scarlett,” Sorin tried again.
“The palace is huge, Sorin. We will ?gure it out. They are as much my responsibility as the Courts are.” She could not believe he was arguing with her right now. “It is only a matter of time until Alaric and the other Lords ?nd them.”
“Alaric is a Maraan Lord?” Sorin demanded, his eyes widening.
Scarlett barked a hollow laugh. “No, Sorin, he is not a Maraan Lord. He is a Maraan Prince. He is the son of Deimas and Esmeray, and his need for vengeance is something we are unprepared for. But these children will bring him one step closer if he gets his hands on them.”
“That is not possible. Deimas and Esmeray did not have any heirs,” Sorin balked.
“I do not have the time to argue about this and try to convince you of its validity right now. Send a message to Hazel before Cassius is out of time.”
He tried to keep the wince from his features, but she saw it. She saw how futile he thought this all was.
“She will not be able to enter the palace unescorted. I would have to retrieve her.”
“Then send Briar to do so,” Scarlett demanded. “Rayner can go to him and tell him I am in need of his services.”
“If I may, your Majesty,” Arianna interjected. “The High Witch can enter the Black Halls without an escort. She and Queen Eliné were very close, especially after the death of Eliné’s consort.”
“The Black Halls?” Her attention went back to Sorin. “Is there still staff there? Guards? People to receive the children?”
“There is a small staff that keeps the Black Halls in prime condition, and I am sure more help could be found quickly, but Scarlett—”
Her head whipped to Eliza. “Can you access your magic? Did you take a tonic today? Send a message to Hazel. Please,” she begged. Tears still streaming down her face, she pleaded with someone to do as she was asking, cursing the fact she hadn’t learned how to send such messages yet.
Eliza glanced from her to Sorin before shaking her head. “I want to, Scarlett, but we cannot send ?re messages from the mortal lands. It does not work that way.”
Her heart cracked further at no one moving. No one doing anything to help her. Her eyes landed on Rayner, his grey eyes swirling with ashes.
“Rayner,” she choked out. “Please. Please go get Hazel.”
Rayner held her eyes for a moment longer before he nodded his head once, disappearing into smoke.
She whirled back to Sorin. “If you will not help me, then get back,” she snarled, wishing she could access her shadows to force him to do so.
“I am simply trying to understand, Scarlett,” Sorin said, reaching for her once more.
“Can you not just trust me?” she demanded, knocking his hands away from her.
“The last time I just trusted you, you blocked our fucking bond and ended up here, Scarlett. Forgive me for trying to get a read on the situation before blindly following your requests once more,” he shot back. He immediately closed his eyes, wincing as he pushed out a long breath. “I am sorry. I did not mean that the way it came out.”
“I think you meant it exactly as you said it,” she replied hollowly. She turned away from him, shoving down the surge of emotions that threatened to overwhelm her. She knew that ?ght would come. She knew this conversation would have to happen, but she did not have the time or the energy to devote to it now. Not with Cassius’s life hanging in the balance.
“Take us ?rst, Azrael,” she ordered, stretching out a hand to him.
“Scarlett, why can you not Travel?” Sorin asked slowly. “Your magic should be fully replenished. You just froze ?re.”
“Again, something I do not currently have time to discuss. Are you coming with me or not?”
“You think I would let you out of my sight right now? When I cannot ?nd you through our bond?” he growled, reaching out to lay a hand on her arm.
“I will stay behind and help get the orphans together,” Nuri said. “I will come with the last of them.”
“Thank you,” Scarlett answered, holding her gaze for an extra moment. She nodded once, her expression unreadable. That reunion would come soon enough, too.
And then Azrael was pulling them through a rip in the world. She was still kneeling next to Cassius when they emerged in a suite of some sort. A plush rug across a stone ?oor was beneath her knees, but she hardly noticed her surroundings.
“This was my quarters when I would stay here,” Sorin said, looking around the room.
“I ?gured here would be better than the queen’s rooms,” Azrael replied. “The layout is identical to the White Halls. I assumed these were once yours.”
“Someone ?gure out where Hazel is and bring her here as soon as she arrives,” Scarlett said, leaning over Cassius once more, pressing her ?ngers to his neck. His pulse was somehow still there, but so, so faint.
She felt a hand on her back, and then Sorin was speaking softly into her ear. “If he will hold on for anyone, it will be for you.”
She swallowed against the tears building in her throat, refusing to let more come. Rayner appeared in a swirl of ashes, a water portal appearing a moment later. Briar stepped through and behind him came Beatrix. Rayner must have somehow alerted them while going to the High Witch.
“Move him to the bed, Prince,” Beatrix ordered Sorin.
“No,” Scarlett argued. “Don’t move him again. Not until Hazel gets here.”
“Scarlett, it would give him a better chance if Beatrix could start,” Sorin said, gently trying to pull her from where she was clinging to Cassius.
“Don’t take me from him, Sorin,” she half-hissed, half-cried at him. “Love, I am trying to make sure he is not taken from you at all. Let us move him to the bed so Beatrix can try.”
She reluctantly let him pull her back from Cassius, and Cyrus stepped forward to move him. Sorin tried to help her up, but she was already crawling over to the bed, climbing onto it and grasping Cassius’s hand. It was cold and clammy in hers, and she pressed some of her ?re magic into his body again. She felt Sorin come up behind her, but he didn’t reach for her, didn’t touch her again.
Beatrix’s hands were hovering over Cassius, a faint white light emanating from her palms. Her eyes widened with a mixture of horror and sorrow.
“Just try, Beatrix,” Sorin murmured. “Please.”
Scarlett kept her eyes ?xed on Cassius’s face, where one eye was swollen shut from when Alaric had to have shattered his cheekbone with his ?st after hitting him multiple times. That was better than his other eye though. It looked swollen shut as well, but Alaric had cut into his chocolate brown eye with a long, thin dagger, effectively blinding him. There were various other cuts and bruises along his face, dried blood beneath his nose and along his lips. He’d endured so much. Broken bones. Hits to his head. Stabs and burns. There was little Alaric had not done. She had sat and watched everything, never allowing tears to fall. Never allowing Alaric and Tarek to see her break. And when he hadn’t regained consciousness for hours, when they couldn’t wake him, Alaric had decided they’d done what they could. He’d chided at her that this was all her fault, that she had sat by and watched him be beaten and tortured, and now she would watch him die as he’d slid a shirastone dagger between his broken ribs. He’d pulled the dagger from his side, before ordering him removed from where he’d been chained to the wall. He’d been laid just out of her reach, leaving her to watch as his life bled from him, and she could do nothing.
“I am sorry, Sorin,” she heard Beatrix murmur. “I can ease some of the pain, but there is too much …”
“I understand,” Sorin replied. She felt him shift closer, as if preparing to intervene somehow.
“Where is Hazel?” Scarlett demanded, panic rising and edging into her tone. Beatrix was one of the best Healers in the realms. She’d hardly done a thing. Cassius didn’t look any different. His chest was still barely rising and falling.
“I am sorry, your Majesty,” she said softly. “There is too much internal injury, and I—”
“Where is Hazel?” Scarlett demanded again. She nestled into Cassius’s side once more, praying to any god that would listen, praying to the god of death himself.
The room was silent. There was nothing anyone could do. There were no words that would offer any sort of comfort to her shattering world. There was no touch that would ease the grief she was adamantly shoving down.
“Move.”
Scarlett let out a sob of relief at the High Witch’s sharp tone. Her head snapped up, her gaze instantly landing on Hazel. Her normally golden-brown skin was leached of color, but other than that, she looked every bit like the stern High Witch that everyone found dif?cult to deal with. Her lips were set in a thin line, pursing as she came to a stop beside Beatrix.
“My Lady,” Beatrix murmured, bowing her head. “The injuries are too numerous and too severe.”
“He is not like others,” Hazel replied, her violet eyes sweeping over Cassius. She brought a hand to his cheek, and Scarlett saw it tremble slightly.
“He was protecting children,” Scarlett whispered, her voice cracking as her last hope met her eyes. “He was keeping children safe, Hazel. Please. I need him.”
“Tell me, your Majesty, have you learned of your mother?” Hazel asked, white light beginning to emit from her palm where it pressed against Cassius’s cheek.
Scarlett’s brows came together in confusion. She glanced at the room of gathered Fae, not understanding why this was relevant, when Cassius could take his last breath at any moment.
“Yes,” Scarlett answered slowly.
“His father was one of you,” Hazel replied.
“What?”
“His father was like your parents. His father was like you,” she said again.
Scarlett shook her head. “I don’t understand.”
“You need to understand,” Hazel insisted. “You need to set your grief and panic and fear aside for a moment and think about everything that you have learned and discovered. His life depends on it, and even then, I do not know that it will be enough.”
“Can you not just tell me?” Scarlett cried, and Sorin’s hand came to her shoulder, squeezing gently in warning. But she didn’t give a fuck. She didn’t care about the reputation of the Witches being ruthless and brutal. She didn’t care that she was being disrespectful. She didn’t care that the room was full of godsdamn royalty.
“I cannot,” Hazel replied, her eyes narrowing. “Just as Eliné was sworn to secrecy, so was I.” She pulled up the sleeve of her witch-suit where a Bargain Mark indeed stood out. “So listen very carefully, Scarlett. Do you know how your mother’s kind replenished their power? Do you know the cost the Fae paid for their magic when it was bestowed upon them?”
“What? Why would that matter?”
“Because it is also how they can heal from fatal wounds,” Hazel answered. “Do you know?”
Scarlett was shaking her head, trying to sift through memories of history she’d read and research she’d come across. She was trying to push down her panic and terror of Cassius dying, but she couldn’t focus. She couldn’t think straight. Because Cassius was dying. Cassius was going to leave her. Cassius was going to—
“Scarlett,” Hazel said sharply, pulling her from her spiral into darkness. “They must have given you something to keep you from weakening,” Hazel insisted, a slight pleading entering her voice.
And realization slammed into her. The tonic they had given her was always coppery and metallic tasting. Alaric summoning Tarek when she was weak. His arm bleeding. Tarek pressing his bleeding wound to her mouth in the yard earlier, not even an hour ago.
Tarek.
Who was Fae.
Sorin’s words from all those months ago atop a horse as they traveled to the Fire Court came ?ooding back to her.
Avonleyans need Fae for magical sustenance. They feed on their magic for healing and strengthening their own powers.
Her eyes widened in understanding, and she whipped her head around, her eyes landing on Cyrus. He was standing near the end of the bed, his face solemn as he watched everything play out.
“Cyrus, I need you,” Scarlett said, reaching for him.
“Scarlett?” Sorin questioned, but she ignored him, motioning for Cyrus to come to her side.
As soon as she could grab him, she gripped Cyrus’s hand, pulling him towards her. “I need a dagger,” she said, holding out her other hand.
“Scarlett, you need to tell us—” Sorin started, but Hazel was already pressing one into her hand. She was slashing it across Cyrus’s forearm before anyone could make a move to stop her, and she tugged him towards Cassius’s mouth. Pressing the bloody wound against his lips, she glanced back at Hazel.
“How will we know if it works?”
“With wounds this extensive, it will take days,” Hazel answered, her eyes on her son. “But we should have some idea within a few hours.”
“I cannot ask Cyrus to stand here for hours,” Scarlett replied.
“Of course not,” Hazel said. “As long as he still breathes, we give him more every couple hours.” Her eyes ?icked to Scarlett’s. “You need to go rest.”
“Not until I know if he will live,” Scarlett answered, shaking her head in refusal, gripping on to Cassius.
“You will be of no use to anyone if you cannot even stand,” Hazel retorted. “I can help you sleep if you wish.”
“No,” Scarlett snarled.
Hazel stiffened slightly before turning to Beatrix and beginning to speak with her in a low voice.
Scarlett felt a light touch to her lower back, and she looked up to ?nd Sorin looking down at her, his features tight and wary. “Hazel is right, Scarlett. You need to rest.”
“I am not leaving his side,” she snarled again.
“I know, Love. I hear you,” he answered, his tone softening slightly. “Sleep here. I swear no one will take you from this room. If something happens, I will wake you.”
At his words, the ?ght she’d been prepared for slipped from her body. She nestled back into Cassius’s side, and she felt Sorin gently rubbing her back, making a soothing path up and down her spine. The exhaustion she’d been adamantly ignoring took over, and she was asleep in minutes.
She woke off and on over the next several hours. Whenever she did, Sorin pressed a glass of water to her lips and tried to get her to eat something. Hazel made sure Cyrus was giving Cassius blood every few hours. They tried to question her about what she had learned and what was going on when she’d wake, but despite the rest, she was still weakening. She’d make sure Cassius was still breathing, drink a few sips of water to appease Sorin, and drift back to sleep.
When she rose from the depths of sleep this time, though, she was not nestled on a bed next to Cassius. There was a hand stroking down her hair, and she was being held tightly against a hard chest. She sighed deeply, her hand coming up to rest against the tunic that covered the broad muscles where her cheek rested. She felt lips press to the top of her head and a wave of heat swept through her tired limbs. She could hardly crack her eyes open, let alone lift her head.
“I need some answers, my Lady,” Sorin was gritting out, whispering in an attempt to keep from waking her.
“You can get them from your queen when she is ready to tell you,” Hazel replied shortly. “I would assume you know that I could not break a Bargain Mark even if I wanted to, and certainly not a Blood Mark.”
“She speaks the truth, Fire Prince.” It took a moment for Scarlett to place the voice of the Shifter Beta.
“And do you know of the queen’s true mother?” Sorin asked, his tone rising slightly as he fought to keep his temper.
“I do not,”Arianna answered.
“How is Cyrus’s blood keeping Cassius from crossing the Veil?” Sorin asked, clearly trying a different tactic.
“The same way Fae blood kept the queen from weakening too much while she was held captive,” Hazel answered.
“Are you saying that she is going to need to … do the same thing we are doing to Cassius?”
There was no answer, and Scarlett again tried to pry her eyes open. They cracked open a little bit, and she winced at the light that assaulted her.
Sorin began to say something else, but there was a rustling sound of some sort. His grip around her tightened slightly, and a low rumble emanated from his chest at whoever had entered. Scarlett sighed internally, realizing that his overbearing protectiveness was about to increase tenfold. She felt him stiffen even more, and then she felt fur and a cool nose nudging against her hand.
She forced herself to open her eyes further, and they landed on a black feline with silver eyes. Shock rippled through her, not that she had the energy to show it. Her ?ngers ?exed in Shirina’s fur. How was she here? The bond was blocked. She would need to go to the Fiera Palace and dig through her books to ?gure out how to ?x this monumental disaster she’d created.
“For now, yes, she will need to replenish some of her magic this way.”
Her eyes ?ew open at that voice, and she tried to push herself away from Sorin’s chest.
Juliette was here.
“Scarlett,” he murmured, his hold tightening to keep her in his lap.
She tried to speak, tried to say Juliette’s name, but her tongue felt thick and her mouth was dry. A moment later, a glass of water was being pressed to her lips. She took a few sips, but it did nothing.
“What do you mean for now she will need to replenish some of her magic this way?” Sorin demanded, pulling her back against his chest once more. She tried to push away from him again, but it was futile. She hadn’t felt this weak, this helpless, since that morning Alaric had panicked at her state of wellbeing.
“We can discuss that at a later time,” Juliette replied, stepping into her line of sight. “Sister,” she murmured, reaching out and squeezing her ?ngers that were still buried in Shirina’s fur.
“What do I need to do then?” Sorin asked. “She needs blood, right? Fae blood?”
“Yes, but not yet,” Juliette answered. “She needs to weaken completely.”
“That is not happening,” Sorin snarled, his ?ngers ?exing against her skin and digging in.
Juliette released her hand, her features hardening. “Do you want your twin ?ame bond repaired or not, Prince of Fire?”
“Of course I do,” Sorin answered.
“Then this is the fastest way to achieve such a thing,” Juliette continued. “Although it will also be the most uncomfortable. But if we are to save her Guardian’s life, it is the only way.”
“He is still alive. We are doing everything the High Witch instructs us to do,” Sorin argued. “Is making her suffer even more truly necessary? Has she not suffered enough at this point?”
Juliette ignored him completely, bending down so she was on eye-level with Scarlett.
“You did well, Sister,” she said softly with a sad smile. “The children are here. You protected the innocent. You saved them.”
“She is not in any shape to discuss that right now,” Sorin interrupted, trying to shield Scarlett from Juliette somehow. “Let her godsdamn recover a bit before we start involving her in any of that.”
The softness in Juliette’s eyes shifted to wickedness, as Death Incarnate stared down the Fire Prince. “You and Cassius,” she chided, “always so intent on shielding her from uncomfortable things.”
“I am shielding her from nothing,” Sorin bit back. “She was chained to the fucking ?oor watching Cassius die in front of her less than a day ago. You can give her a fucking minute before demanding more of her.”
“They certainly do like to coddle her, don’t they?” came a voice of silk and honey, and another snarl emanated from the Fae holding her.
“Get the fuck out,” Sorin ground out. “Both of you.”
“She is the Oracle, Prince,” Hazel reprimanded.
“I do not give a single fuck.”
There was a long-suffering sigh from Nuri before she said, “Relax, ?re prick, you’re going to need us shortly. I suggest we move to another room.”
“I gave her my word I would not take her from his side.”
“If you do not do this, you will be taking him from her,” Juliette retorted sharply.
Scarlett tried to say something, not wanting to be taken from Cassius, but searing pain erupted along her limbs, her veins, her very soul. She felt like she was being ripped apart. She tried to scream around the pain, but her throat was too dry. Nothing came out.
“Scarlett,” Sorin cried, his hold tightening on her again as she writhed in his lap.
She could feel pure terror.
That was separate from the pain. That was Sorin.
That was her bond with him.
“Scarlett, look at me. Look at me, Love,” Sorin said, his tone almost hysterical.
Panic was clawing its way along her spine, and she was pretty sure that was his, too, but it was nothing compared to the pain she was enduring.
She was no longer in his lap. He had moved her to the ?oor and was leaning over her, his hands on her cheeks, but she couldn’t focus on him. Her vision was blurred, the ache in her head was pounding, and the pain. Oh gods. It was as if a piece of her very being was being ripped away, and she knew. She knew deep down this was what Alaric had been referencing when he said you feel the loss of your Guardian on a soul-deep level.
Cassius was dying.
And there was nothing she could do about it. She couldn’t even be next to him when he crossed the Veil.
“Scarlett, keep your eyes open,” Sorin begged. “Please, Love.” Then there was nothing.