Chapter 29 Sorin
CHAPTER 29
SORIN
S orin didn’t say anything as he watched Scarlett cross the room to his bedroom and shut the door behind her. Her normally arrogant swagger was gone. Her shoulders curled in and her hands fisted at her sides. As the door clicked shut, he ran through everything he had just heard and seen. His fire still writhed at his fingertips at how Nuri had waited until Scarlett had moved from his side to attack, and Scarlett had barely reacted to the news that Nuri was a vampyre.
He crossed the room, knocked once on his bedroom door, and entered without waiting for an invitation. She was curled up on his bed. Her knees were pulled up to her chest, her arms wrapped around them, facing the opposite wall.
“I do not wish to talk right now,” she said quietly.
Sorin pushed the door closed behind him and heard it softly click shut. “You do not have to speak,” he answered, crossing the room. He toed off his boots and went around to the other side of the bed. She stared at the wall, refusing to look at him. He simply settled onto the bed, leaning back against the headboard.
“What are you doing?” she asked, her voice edged and hard.
“Making sure you do not blot out the stars,” he answered. When she didn’t respond, he reached up and pulled a book from an orb of flame that appeared above his hand. He could feel her watching him.
“You are just going to sit in here and read? It’s dark,” she said doubtfully.
He lifted his palm and a small glowing orb of orange flame appeared near the book between them, illuminating the pages as he opened it and began reading. From the corner of his eye, he saw her reach up and delicately touch the small flames.
“You seem…different. With your fire magic,” she said.
“It is a part of me. When I cannot access it, it is like not being able to access a piece of myself,” he answered, his eyes on his book.
“Will you read to me?”
He turned to her at the request. She still would not bring her eyes to his. “You trust my taste in books that much?” he asked, the corner of his mouth twitching up.
“I trust more than your taste in books,” she answered, tucking her hands under her cheek.
Her answer caught him off guard. “Why?”
“Just read,” she sighed, her eyes closing.
Resisting the urge to touch her yet again, Sorin began reading. Had she noticed his shredded self-control? How he couldn’t resist brushing up against her or playing with her hair? How, despite her clear dislike of the Fae, he had kissed her, desperate to taste her lips once more?
Sorin read to her until she fell asleep, and once her breathing had become even and deep, his mind wandered to everything she had told him that night. He mulled over her story of Callan. He weighed the details of the children missing from the Black Syndicate. Why were they being taken to the castle and killed? If that was indeed where they were being taken. And why only from the Black Syndicate?
He rolled flames between his fingers, thinking through it all. Why had this all fallen on Nuri and Scarlett and the third? Why had none of the others in the Black Syndicate stepped in to help? The Assassin Lord? Or the High Healer?
Then there was the name that had been dropped. Juliette. The final piece of the Wraiths of Death. Death Incarnate, who was apparently dead.
There was a light knock on the door, and Cassius stuck his head in. He noted Scarlett’s sleeping figure and his lips formed a thin line, his face tightening. He jerked his head towards the living area, and Sorin rose to follow him out.
“Is she not feeling well?” Cassius asked as soon as the door shut behind him.
“Physically she is fine,” Sorin answered, leaning against the mantle of the fireplace.
“Did you tell her?”
“Not everything. We were interrupted.” Sorin filled Cassius in on what had happened when Nuri arrived and what had been said. Every minute that passed had Cassius’s eyes growing darker and darker, and when Sorin finished, he was stalking to the spare bedroom door.
“I would be careful to pick a fight with her tonight, Commander. Tonight she acted like the wild Night Children of their realm. If she is still in that state, she will be vicious and merciless.”
“We were trained in the Fellowship,” Cassius answered, pausing to look over his shoulder. “The fact that she lost control at all would be reason enough for punishment there. I assure you, she has mastered herself by now, and if not, I can handle her.”
He threw the spare bedroom door open, and a moment later, was hauling Nuri out by her elbow, partially dragging her. She was calling him every vulgar name possible, hissing and fangs out. Sorin stood still, slightly shocked, as he watched Cassius throw her against a wall and press his forearm to her throat.
“I ought to kick your ass from here to the Pier for the shit you pulled tonight,” he snarled. His voice was lethal and as merciless as he had just warned him Nuri would be. Sorin had never seen this side of Cassius. In all the training, in all the interactions, he had never seen Cassius enraged, out of control, not like this. He didn’t even know he could be like this. His demeanor was callous and cruel and…exactly like the Witches, Sorin realized, his eyes going wide.
“Feeling territorial tonight, Cassius?” Nuri gasped out.
“Shut your fucking mouth,” Cassius hissed. “This was not her fault, and you know it. How dare you put all of this on her shoulders!”
Nuri gave him a hard shove, but he hardly moved. “She has been sitting on her ass for a year, and you’ve been content to let her do so.”
“And what have you been doing, Nuri? What have you been doing this past year? Lounging around at the Fellowship, avoiding the sunlight?” Cassius sneered back. “What stopped you from continuing to dig and look for answers? You do not need her to do so.”
“She was the one with access to our best source of information,” Nuri argued.
“You are Death’s Shadow. You can get information in other ways,” he snapped, stepping back and releasing her. She didn’t move as he stared her down, and in a voice as dark as death’s claiming, he said, “Do not ever lay your own guilt and shame upon her again.”
Interesting, Sorin thought, as he studied the exchange. Cassius turned and stalked to the other side of the room. Nuri stayed glued to the wall where Cassius had thrown her. She looked like she was burning to say something but would not allow herself to do so. He’d seen that look on soldiers before. Soldiers who wanted to fight back but were outranked. Cassius was her superior, Sorin realized. In some way, however ranking was doled out in the Black Syndicate, Cassius was a higher rank than she was. Interesting indeed.
“The sun is rising,” Cassius said, addressing Sorin now. “We need to report to the castle.”
Sorin glanced from him to Nuri and back again. “Perhaps someone else should stay here today,” he ventured.
“No,” Cassius said, shaking his head. “Prince Callan is coming here tonight. If one of us does not report today and something goes wrong, we cannot lay groundwork for us to look suspicious. We will go about our normal routines today.”
Cassius cast a look at Nuri, and as if it released her tongue, she said, “He’s right. Everything must appear as normal as possible today. Scarlett and I cannot leave here. We cannot be seen in or outside this apartment.” She paused, then added, “I will not lay a hand on her, General. You have my word.”
“The word of a Night Child is no comfort to me,” Sorin answered coldly.
“She will not lay a hand on her,” Cassius said in that lethal voice.
Sorin realized he had little choice. They were right. Everything needed to appear normal and routine today. He sighed with a nod at Cassius. “Let me change and get my things.”
He reentered his bedroom. Scarlett still lay curled on her side. He slipped into the bathing room and changed into his uniform, coming back to strap his various weapons into place. Then he summoned paper and pen from a fire orb and scribbled a quick note to Scarlett. He laid it on the pillow next to hers, and the light seeping in around the curtains glimmered off the Semiria ring on his finger. With a sigh, he removed it and laid it on the note as well. His entire body felt cold and empty as his magic vanished.
He walked with Cassius down the streets towards the castle. Despite being the end of summer, the mornings were beginning to take on the feel of autumn. He had been right when he’d slung his cloak around his shoulders as they had left the apartment. They could see their breath in puffs of air as they kept their pace brisk.
“Everything is in place for tonight?” Cassius asked conversationally, like he was asking about the weather.
“As far as I know,” Sorin answered. “I have been told little of this evening’s events or why it is being done, only that it is to occur at my apartment.”
“Scarlett did not tell you what’s been happening or the history of it?”
“I know the basics, but not the details.”
“She did not tell you of that night,” Cassius said, his voice tense.
“No.” His own voice was short and clipped. “I asked, but she refused.”
“Perhaps she will yet,” Cassius said, “but know that she speaks to no one of that night.”
“You outrank Nuri,” Sorin said, changing the subject.
“Yes.”
“How?”
Cassius hesitated. “The workings of the Syndicate are not discussed with outsiders,” he said. He sounded almost apologetic. “I suppose it’s similar to you not sharing details of your own lands, but I told you a few nights ago, when it comes to Scarlett, I outrank everyone.”
“Why did you not stop things the night Nuri and Scarlett fought then?”
“Because Nuri was not the one who needed controlling that night.”
“You outrank Nuri but not Scarlett?” Sorin asked, failing to keep the incredulity from his voice.
“In a way, yes,” Cassius answered tightly.
They were nearly at the castle now. The stone towers and turrets reaching into the dawn kissed sky. Cassius seemed to hesitate as he asked, “Are you prepared for tonight?”
“I did not know I needed to prepare anything,” Sorin answered, raising a brow.
A knowing look came over Cassius’s face. “You know of her and Callan?”
Sorin’s mouth formed a thin line. “She told me the story of that , yes.”
Cassius gave a slight grimace. “Hearing the story and seeing it are two very different things.”
“What does it matter to me?”
Cassius merely said, “Prepare yourself, Aditya,” as they walked onto the castle grounds.
The day had dragged on and on and on. Finally, he was walking back to his apartment. He was alone this time, and it was later than he had planned. After he was done at the castle, he’d had another meeting to attend that had lasted far longer than anticipated. Cassius would be arriving later tonight with Prince Callan, but with the delay, that was only two hours away. He took the stairs two at a time up to his floor, and he entered to find Nuri lounging on the sofa, the door to his bedroom still closed.
“Did she come out at all?” Sorin asked, hanging his cloak on a hook.
“Hello to you, too,” Nuri grumbled, her arms crossed over her chest. Sorin only gave her a pointed look. She sighed. “Yes, she came out. Yes, she’s eaten. Yes, we spoke. No, we’re not fine, but we’re fine enough for this evening.”
Sorin only nodded and made to cross the room, but Nuri spoke again. “I…” She blew out a huff of frustration. “I haven’t fed since yesterday and can’t leave.” Sorin raised a brow, a smirk creeping over his mouth. “I don’t know what tonight will lead to,” she snapped. “I need to be at the top of my game.”
“Whatever you need to tell yourself, Nuri dear,” Sorin said, rolling up his sleeve.
Nuri gave him a vulgar gesture as he extended his arm. She drank for a good minute or two before leaning back, visibly more relaxed. There was even slight color to her pale cheeks. “Make sure she’s ready for tonight,” she said with a jerk of her chin to the bedroom.
Sorin crossed the room, knocked lightly once, and let himself in. Scarlett was sitting on his bed. She was dressed fully in her black attire, weapons in place, including her shirastone dagger. Her sword lay on the bed beside her. Her knees were pulled up tightly to her chest, her arms wrapped around them. She was staring out the window that was open wide.
“I know the window should be closed,” she said softly as the door clicked shut behind him. “But I wanted to make sure they came out tonight. The stars.”
“The light can always be found in the darkness, Scarlett, even if you have to make your own,” he answered, coming around the bed to look into her face. He leaned against the wall, and she brought her eyes to his. Haunted eyes full of pain and bitterness. “How did you get your attire?”
“Tava delivered it. Under the guise of a gift for her father’s general,” she answered. She held out her hand to him. In her palm lay her mother’s ring. “You should wear this tonight. In case we need your gifts.”
“You are sure?” he asked, taking a tentative step towards her.
She merely nodded. When he reached to take it, his fingers brushed hers, and she wrapped her own around them. He paused, bringing his eyes back to hers. He couldn’t get over how muted and dull they were, absent of their normal glimmer. “You are dreading this evening,” he said, sitting down beside her as he slid the ring onto his finger.
“Yes,” she whispered.
“Do you need to talk about it? I know I’m not Cassius, but…”
She turned to him at the words, studying his face. Then she sighed, looking back out the window. “Those of us from the Black Syndicate are called wicked and cunning and cruel for a reason, Sorin. Tonight I shall be all three, but not with blood and steel. I was raised in the darkness. It’s why I find it more comfortable there, but it’s easy to get lost in it.”
Sorin turned to look out the window before them, where a few stars had indeed started to appear. “In the Fae lands, amongst the four Courts, one particular Court is said to be…darker than the others,” he said. “One would even say their prince is wicked and cunning and cruel.” Slowly, Scarlett’s head turned to him. “The people of the Fire Court could be said to be the same.
“It is expected of them as it is expected of those who come from the Black Syndicate. We are a feared Court, probably only rivaled by one other, but there are still areas of light there. The people of the Fire Court know what they guard and protect so valiantly and do not mind being called such things. There is still love and loyalty and laughter in the darkness if you know where to look, even if others do not believe it exists.”
“When you described your home, nothing sounded dark about it.”
“Because I know where to look,” he replied, the corner of his mouth turning up slightly.
“And you may be a pain in my ass sometimes, but I would never call you wicked. I would never fear you,” she said.
Sorin cocked his head to the side. “You may be one of the only people who have said that and meant it,” he replied, “but I will do what is necessary to keep those I care for protected and safe.”
“Are you as high ranking there as you are here?”
“Something like that.”
“Do you answer to the Fire Prince?”
“I currently answer to the Fae Queen.”
Scarlett fell silent again, and Sorin studied her out of the corner of his eye. Her braided silver plait fell over her shoulder. She had a look on her face that reminded him of Fae when they were tunneling down into their power.
“No matter what you see tonight, no matter who I am, promise me you’ll…,” she swallowed, her eyes closing.
“I will find the light, Scarlett,” he said softly.
She didn’t look at him with those words. Only nodded her head once.
They sat in silence for the next hour, and when the front door opened, when they heard Cassius say “Where is she?,” he did not entirely recognize the woman that stood from his bed.
Death’s Maiden indeed.