Chapter 19 Sorin
CHAPTER 19
SORIN
“ W hat is happening to her?” Sorin demanded as Scarlett’s eyes ?uttered shut, fear and panic ?ooding through him. How had he ?nally gotten her back just to have her lying unconscious on the ?oor before him?
“She is weakening,” Juliette said simply. “Exactly as she needs to.”
He had felt her. For a brief moment, he had felt excruciating pain like he had never felt before. That had ceased the moment she had slipped into unconsciousness, but their twin ?ame bond was there. It was faint, like it had been a few weeks ago when she’d managed to tell him she was with Alaric. Had this been the state she was in when that had happened? Had she been lying unconscious in a dungeon study while the Assassin Lord and Mikale, and whoever that cloaked stranger had been, looked on?
“This needs to be timed perfectly.”
Sorin looked up to ?nd Hazel standing beside the bed. She had only moved from Cassius’s side a few times. The others had all gone to help Nuri with the children that had been brought here. Someone was ?nding additional staff for the Black Halls. Cyrus was returning every two hours to give Cassius more blood.
“It will be,” Juliette answered, taking the dagger that Nuri was handing to her.
Sorin reached for it, too. Scarlett obviously needed Fae blood. That was what the cloaked male had given her. He’d thought about it the entire time he’d watched over her, but sitting in a chair beside that bed, holding her hand or rubbing her back simply hadn’t been enough. He’d needed to hold her, needed to reassure himself that she was here, that she was back with him. When she’d ?nally loosened her grip enough on Cassius to be moved from his side, he had pulled her into his lap. He’d only had her there a few minutes when she had begun to stir awake and the Oracle had shown up.
She will not be the same as when she left.
Juliette’s words had swirled in his head as he held her against his chest, felt her breathing naturally fall into sync with his own. He watched as Cyrus gave Cassius blood every few hours, his eyes on Sorin every time. He knew his Second had the same questions swirling in his mind. He could only assume by the High Witch’s vague questions and references that Eliné was not truly Scarlett’s mother, but then who was? The only bloodline that had needed Fae for magic replenishing and healing were the Avonleyans. Hazel had told them that Scarlett was born in the Witch Kingdoms, so how had an Avonelyan gotten here to birth a child? And where was she now? And what of Scarlett’s father?
He shoved all those thoughts and questions aside, focusing on his wife. He tried to take the dagger from Juliette, but she did not offer it to him. Instead, she shook her head.
“Not yet, Prince.”
“What do you mean not yet? She is unconscious. She was in horrendous pain,” Sorin argued.
“You could feel her?” Juliette asked, her eyes widening slightly with what appeared to be anticipation. “Can you now?”
“I could for a brief moment. Now it is very muted. Faint, but there,” Sorin answered, reaching for the dagger again.
“Patience, Fire Lord,” Nuri drawled sarcastically, dropping to her knees at Scarlett’s head. She was still in her full Death’s Shadow gear, clearly not having taken any time to change since arriving with the children.
“No,” Sorin snarled. “Tell me what the fuck is happening, or she gets my blood now, even if I have to rip my arm open with my teeth.”
“She cannot,” Hazel cut in. “She possesses a Mark of her own that prevents her from speaking of what she knows.”
“But she can,” he said with a jerk of his chin to Juliette.
“Trust the Fates, Sorin,” Juliette said, her tone softening a touch. “This needs to happen.”
“What exactly are we waiting for?” he demanded, his gaze ?xed on Scarlett’s face.
“Tell me when you can feel her as before. Tell me when her Mark is broken,” Juliette said, beginning to pace back and forth beside Scarlett’s still form. “They gave her enough to keep her from weakening completely. If they had let her, the Blood Mark she enacted would have shattered, the magic breaking. They gave her just enough to keep that from happening, but not enough to replenish any of her power.”
“She threw ?re and froze it,” he muttered, smoothing hair back from her face. “I think they failed.”
“Not that power,” Juliette said, glancing over her shoulder at Hazel. “The problem is, when that Mark is broken, it will reestablish all her bonds, including the one with her Guardian. A Guardian is required to do whatever is necessary to ensure the survival of their charge, including using their own power to heal them, even at the cost of their own life. She will start pulling power from him because she is so weak physically and that could …”
“Kill him,” Sorin ?nished. “If this kills him, if she knows that she essentially killed him by siphoning all his power … You know she will not recover from that, right?”
“Yes, but even with the bond blocked, she is still trying to draw power from him, especially when touching him. The physical connection … It is why he is not healing,” Juliette replied, her eyes going back to Scarlett as her breathing changed, becoming more ragged.
“Get ready, Juliette,” Nuri said, her gloved hands coming to Scarlett’s shoulders, pressing down as if to restrain her.
“Let her go,” Sorin snarled, reaching to shove her back, but Nuri hissed at him, her fangs sliding free.
“She will be feral when she wakes,” Nuri snapped. “Her magic will have taken over. She will be in a state of survival.”
“I can handle it,” Sorin retorted.
“You fool,” Nuri laughed coldly. “She will be at your throat before you have a chance to stop her.”
“Are you saying she will be like a Night Child?” he asked, understanding trickling through him.
“Yes, but not always, Sorin,” Juliette cut in. “There are other ways the Avonleyans siphon power. They banished feeding this way centuries ago. This is a last resort, only to be used when there is no other option.”
“So she is an Avonleyan then?” he asked, seeking con?rmation for what he already knew.
“That is something to discuss with your twin ?ame, Prince,” Juliette replied. “Can you feel her?”
He refocused on Scarlett, reaching down their bond. The ?ssures in that wall blocking their bond were deepening. She was right there. Right on the other side.
“Call for her,” Juliette whispered.
Scarlett.
He felt Juliette grasp his wrist, pulling his arm toward her. “Again.”
And he felt the tip of the dagger gliding along his forearm, blood already welling and running down his skin.
Scarlett.
“ She is close,” he heard Hazel call from the bedside. “His heartbeat is faltering.”
There were no other signs, though. Scarlett hadn’t moved. What they were waiting for, he didn’t know. His blood was dripping onto the ?imsy black gown she still wore, mixing with her own dried blood and Cassius’s. Beatrix had healed the wound on her abdomen while she’d slept.
“Again,” Juliette ordered.
Scarlett.
Her eyes ?ew open, muted, icy-blue irises settling him. “Hey, Love,” he said softly.
She didn’t answer him, though. Her nostrils ?ared, and her eyes went to his arm, her pupils dilating so much, her eyes almost looked black.
“Now, Prince,” Juliette said, shoving his arm towards Scarlett. “We will make sure she doesn’t take too much.”
Nuri’s teeth were gritted as she struggled to hold Scarlett to the ?oor.
One would think if she was so weak, she wouldn’t be able to struggle this much, but she was jerking and reaching for Sorin as if she were possessed by the spirit of Arius.
Juliette caught her wrists, pinning them to the ?oor at her sides, and Sorin brought his arm to her lips. Her teeth sank in savagely, and she gulped several times, pulling his life force into her mouth and down her throat.
“Easy, Love,” he ground out, because fuck. It had been uncom fortable when Nuri had drank from him, but she had been somewhat nice about it. Scarlett was just as Nuri had said she would be. She was feral and drinking from him as if his blood was a drug she couldn’t get enough of. Her teeth sank deeper and deeper into his skin, but the longer she drank, the more her limbs began to relax.
“Scarlett,” he said hoarsely when she took another long pull from his arm. Her eyes met his, and they were glowing, bright and silver. Shadows swirled among them and began to seep from her skin, snaking along her torso, her arms, and winding their way down to him. They crept along his skin, wrapped loosely around his throat, swept along his cheek, his brow, as if her own ?ngers were caressing him.
“That’s enough, Scarlett,” Nuri said after several minutes, nodding at Sorin to pull his arm back, but those shadows latched onto him, holding his arm in place at her mouth. “Scarlett!” Nuri snapped, but the more Scarlett drank, the stronger she was becoming.
“Let her go,” Sorin said, grimacing as she took another long pull.
“Sorin, she needs to stop,” Nuri said. “She will drink until there is nothing left.”
“I understand. Let her go,” he repeated.
Juliette and Nuri glanced at each other before they both released her at once, and Scarlett surged forward, her ?ngers digging into his arm. Sorin looped his free arm around her waist and drew her to him, pulling her back into his chest. He slid his arm up until his hand settled loosely around her throat, feeling her swallow against his hand.
“Love, stop,” he whispered into her ear. And he sent his ?ames to mix with her shadows. He held in the groan at the feeling of his magic mixing with hers, but she didn’t. She moaned against his ?esh, her head tipping back against his shoulder and her canines dragging his arm with her. He shifted the hand from her throat until he cupped her jaw. “Stop,” he whispered again, increasing the pressure on her jaw to make her release him.
Her shadows latched onto his hand, but he sent more ?ames into them, feeling them shudder in pleasure, their magic continuing to tangle as he kept hers distracted. She gasped at the feeling, ?nally releasing his arm, and Hazel was instantly next to him, healing the cut on his arm.
“More,” Scarlett rasped, her voice breathy and igniting a different kind of ?re in his veins. And he didn’t know what exactly she was begging for more of.
“No, Scarlett,” he answered, his hand slipping from her jaw back down to her throat, holding her against him as she tried to twist around in his lap.
“More,” she hissed again in demand, her shadows converging on the hand around her neck.
His arm around her waist tightened, tugging her against him more ?rmly. Then he wrapped ?ames around her shadows just as tightly. She groaned in clear ecstasy, her entire body relaxing into him, the ?ght going out of her. Her nails raked sensually along his arms, and gods, feeling her touch again …
He took a deep breath, forcing down the desire coursing through him. She was riding some kind of high. She wasn’t in the right state of mind. He didn’t know what she’d endured at the hands of Mikale and Alaric. He didn’t know if she would be ready for anything like that any time soon.
And there were other people present, so fucking her on the ?oor with their magic swirling together probably wouldn’t be the best choice at the moment.
“Enough, Scarlett,” he ground out when her hands dropped to his thighs, ?ngers slowly dragging up. “You need to rest, and we have things to discuss.”
“No,” she breathed, shaking her head, pushing her ass back into him, grinding against his hardness.
“Scarlett.”
“Please, Sorin,” she begged, reaching back and looping a hand around the back of his neck, trying to pull him down to her. “Please. I need more.”
He shook his head again, standing and bringing her with him. “No, Love. Not now.” He kept her back to him, knowing if she got her mouth anywhere near his ?esh, she’d sink her teeth back into it.
“Sorin!” She said his name half in rage and half in pleading.
Hazel stepped forward when Scarlett started thrashing in his arms again, her shadows raking down his face. “I can make her sleep.”
“No!” Scarlett shrieked, her entire body locking up. “No! Please don’t, Sorin! Please don’t!”
“Scarlett, I’m sorry,” he rasped. “Gods, I am so sorry.”
She will not be the same as when she left.
He didn’t recognize her. He hadn’t recognized her since he’d laid eyes on her at the Fellowship. She had hardly spoken while they’d fought their way out. Then she had exploded with rage at not having her chains off. Grief and panic had dragged her under, and now this.
This wild, feral thing in his arms.
Tears fell from her face, dripping onto his hand still grasped around her throat, her shadows clawing at him, ripping open his ?esh. The fresh scent of his blood making her even more crazed.
Scarlett!
“I need more,” she wailed. “Sorin, please!”
Before he could reply, Hazel’s hand landed on her cheek. It took longer than it usually did for a Healer to make someone sleep. He watched as the High Witch gritted her teeth in clear concentration, ?ghting against Scarlett’s strength and power, but she ?nally went limp in his arms. The hand from her throat dropped, his arm looping behind her knees so he could cradle her to his chest.
“Take her to sleep somewhere,” Hazel said sharply, going back to Cassius’s side. “When she wakes, she will be calmer. In control.”
“You are sure? She will be in control, I mean,” he clari?ed, because he would do just about anything to be alone with her right now.
Hazel nodded. “You have seen Night Children when they are starving,” she replied. “She will no longer be that.”
Sorin nodded, glancing at Nuri and Juliette. The Oracle took a step towards him, seeming to hesitate. “I …” She stopped, clearly debating whether she should say something or not. She cleared her throat before saying, “I know you love her, Prince of Fire, but you cannot shield her from everything.” She held up her hand before he could say anything. “You cannot shield her from what you are feeling, Sorin.”
“I do not know what you are talking about,” he bit back, holding her stare.
Her lips tilted in a sad smile. “You should rest, too. You should both be fully rested for what is to come.”
Sorin didn’t say anything. He simply turned and left the room. He knew these halls. He could ?nd his way around with his eyes closed, even if he hadn’t been here in nearly two decades. In a few short minutes, he had climbed a set of stairs and walked down a short corridor, pushing open the door to the queen’s chambers with his shoulder. He crossed the space, refusing to notice how absolutely nothing had changed since Eliné had lived here.
He went straight through to the bedchamber, pulling the heavy quilt back, and laying Scarlett among the sheets and blankets. Then he crossed the room, spinning an armchair around to face the bed so he could watch over her while she slept.
Because despite saying he didn’t know what the Oracle had been talking about, he did. Now that Scarlett was back with him, now that everything with Cassius seemed to be settling down, and now that it appeared she was going to be okay, his relief at ?nding her was shifting. It was morphing into something hot and acidic that had been overshadowed by his panic and terror for his wife.
She had blocked their godsdamn bond. She had kept things from him. Big things. After they’d had a lengthy discussion about not doing that exact thing. She had promised not to keep things from him like Eliné had. He had promised the same. They had promised things to each other.
She will not be the same as when she left.
And she wasn’t. She wasn’t the same in so many ways. He was sure there were other things he had yet to discover.
But she was also exactly the same. She still had secrets.
She still kept others out. She still kept him out.
She will not be the same as when she left.
The words were on repeat in his head while he watched her sleep. An omen that he couldn’t turn off.
She will not be the same as when she left.
And she wasn’t.
But neither were they and what they once were.