Chapter 30 Scarlett
CHAPTER 30
SCARLETT
S carlett came out of the bedroom to find Cassius and Callan standing near the entry door. Nuri was leaning against the far wall, hood up, and one foot tucked up behind her. Callan turned to Scarlett, a glimmer of joy crossing his features— until Sorin came out of the room behind her. His eyes hardened as they took in the tall, muscled general of lethal grace and mask of stone. She had rarely interacted with Callan with anyone else around. Most of their encounters had been secret and private, just them. He had no idea that she often slept next to Cassius on hard days or that she cared so little for propriety in front of others, that her coming out of a room with another man was nothing.
“Hello, Callan,” she purred, letting herself slide further into that place that she needed to be tonight. She could smell Sorin behind her. His ash and cedar scent seemed to caress her as if to say, I still see the stars. She stepped away from him, not sure she could do what needed to be done with him so close. Her eyes went to Cassius. “Were you followed?”
“Only by one of his,” he growled, jerking his head to Callan.
Callan glared at him, but before he could retort, Scarlett asked, “Finn or Sloan?”
“Finn,” Callan answered, his eyes flitting to her but then returning warily to Sorin.
“That,” Scarlett said, noting his gaze, “is General Renwell of your father’s armies. He is a friend, Callan.” She crossed the room, taking his hand. She hooked a finger under his chin and brought his eyes to hers. “Relax, Prince,” she cooed softly. “No one knows you are here who shouldn’t, unless Finn and Sloan can’t keep their mouths shut.”
“They can and will,” he said through gritted teeth.
“I hope so,” she said a bit sharply.
Callan raised a brow. “You do not trust them?”
“I do not trust anyone outside the people in this room,” she answered darkly.
He narrowed his eyes at her. “You cannot honestly believe either one of them would say anything. After all this time?”
“Finn? No. Sloan? He’s an ass,” Scarlett answered. She tugged his hand gently to lead him farther into the room, but he resisted. She studied his hazel eyes, cocking her head slightly. “What is wrong?” she asked, her tone going tender.
“I have information for you.”
“I know. That’s why we’re here.”
Callan shook his head. “I will not tell you in front of everyone here.” His eyes went from her to Nuri to Sorin.
“I have them here for a reason, Callan. They’re my friends. They are helping me. They need to hear it, too.”
“No,” he said. “I will tell you, and you can tell them if you wish, but I think you should hear it yourself before you make that decision.”
“Callan—”
“No.” His voice rang with authority. The voice of the Crown Prince of Windonelle.
Cassius stiffened beside them, and she saw Sorin casually slide his hands in range of his weapons. Nuri pushed off from the wall and stretched her arms dramatically above her head. Callan noted all their movements, going slightly pale.
Scarlett sighed. “So protective of me, aren’t they?”
“I was not aware you needed protection,” Callan retorted.
“I don’t,” she said pointedly, looking amongst her three companions. “But they’re all like mother hens. Come, Prince,” she said, tugging the hand she was holding. Still, he resisted.
Delightful. Tonight, of all nights, he was choosing to be stubborn.
Fighting the urge to sigh in resignation at what she must now do, she stepped close, releasing his hand and running her own up his arm. She rose up onto her tiptoes to whisper into his ear. “Come with me, Callan. Come tell me what you’ve learned, and I’ll share some new things I’ve learned.” Her voice was low and sultry, and she nipped playfully at his ear as she again took his hand and led him toward the spare bedroom. She heard Nuri’s low chuckle as she shut the door behind her.
“I told you to prepare yourself,” Scarlett heard her say.
She tuned it out as she turned to face Callan.
He visibly relaxed at the click of the door, unclasping his cloak and laying it over a chair near the window. “Come here.”
A coy smile danced across her lips. “We are not in your rooms, my dear Prince,” she said, leaning against the door instead. “You get very loud.”
Callan pursed his lips, raising an eyebrow. “If I recall correctly, my Wraith, you had to bury your face in a pillow last time.”
There was the ringing of feminine laughter from the drawing room, and Scarlett realized then that Sorin and Nuri would be able to hear every word they said with their enhanced hearing abilities, possibly Cassius, too. She gritted her teeth. This was all wrong. She wasn’t used to having to interact with him in front of others, with an audience. It all just felt wrong.
“You are different tonight,” Callan observed.
She swallowed. “Yes. We discovered information of our own last night.” His brows rose in question. She crossed the room and took his hand again, leading him into the attached bathing room, shutting the door behind them. “My friends are very nosy,” she said by way of explanation. She perched herself upon the vanity, and Callan leaned beside her, his back to her. She placed her hand on his shoulder and rested her chin upon it. “We discovered the bodies of many of the children that have gone missing,” she said quietly.
Callan started, jerking around to face her. “Where?” he demanded.
“A secret tunnel from the castle.”
A muscle feathered in Callan’s jaw. He reached for her, wrapping his arms around her. “I am sorry,” he murmured. “I am sorry we could not prevent it.”
She swallowed down the tears that threatened to pool in her eyes as she said softly, “But you can help prevent more.”
He straightened then, pulling back from her, but he kept his arms around her. “How well do you know General Renwell?”
Scarlett couldn’t mask her surprise. “I know him very well,” she replied. “We have spent a fair amount of time together and converse often.”
“You know what part of my father’s army he leads?”
“The High Force,” Scarlett answered.
“And you trust him?” His voice was slow, deliberate, as if feeling her out.
“I do.”
“Either you are incredibly stupid, or he is a very, very good liar then,” Callan said, his face darkening.
Scarlett stiffened at the words. “Be very careful, Callan.”
Callan ran his fingers through his brown hair. “Are you involved with him?”
“Is that what this is about?” she asked. “Ryker and I are friends. Just as I am with Cassius.” Callan was pacing back and forth in the bathing room. “Callan.” He didn’t stop. She watched him— back and forth, back and forth, his hands going through his hair again and again. “Callan.” She hopped down, stepping into his path. He stopped, and she reached up to cup his cheek. She brushed her thumb along his cheekbone. “Callan,” she whispered, “tell me what is wrong.”
He leaned down, and Scarlett let him kiss her. She let him press her back against the vanity as he brought his hands to her hair. The kiss was urgent and hurried. It all felt wrong here. “The next time I have information for you,” he growled, his voice low and gruff, “you come to me to get it.”
Her mouth curled upwards as she traced along his collarbone with her fingertips and said, her voice hoarse, “You still haven’t given me the information you brought tonight.”
“Because I know as soon as the words cross my lips, you will storm from this room,” he said, the longing and lust leaving his face.
“Why?” she asked, her fingers pausing their movements.
“Because I found out who exactly has been abducting the children,” Callan answered, his voice tight.
“Well spit it out then, Prince,” she snapped.
He paused, brushing one last kiss to her mouth and said, “The General of the High Force. He sends soldiers under his command into the Black Syndicate to find the children as training exercises. He has a contact there that tells them where they are hidden.”
Scarlett’s entire world stopped. Her stomach dropped to the floor, and she was fairly certain she was about to be sick. She gripped the vanity to keep from sinking to the floor, and Callan’s hands gripped her waist. “Scarlett,” he said, murmuring her name. “I am sorry. It is why I did not want to tell you in front of them when I saw him. I knew exactly who he was. I have been trying to find out as much as I can about him since I learned this information.”
“And what else did you discover?” she asked, her shock now turning to lethal and unyielding rage.
“Many of the children are sent to the north or south. Across the borders to the Fae,” he said. “What happens to them from there, I do not know.”
“How?” Scarlett managed to get out. “How did you discover this?”
“One of his newest men came to me when he learned of it,” Callan answered softly.
“Anything else?” she asked, her voice like ice.
Callan shook his head. She started to stride for the closed door, sliding her shirastone dagger from her weapons belt, but paused when he said, “You—” She turned, looking over her shoulder. His face had drained of color as he looked her up and down. “You are one of the Wraiths of Death.”
In all her time spent with the prince, she had been so careful to keep that detail from him. He had never seen her so unleashed. He had never seen her give into the calm rage filling her veins. A rage that was darkness itself.
“Yes, Prince,” she purred as she wrenched open the door. “ This is what slept next to you all those nights. Now decide if it was brave or stupid.”
She stormed out of the bathing room and through the bedroom door. He had used her. Sorin had wormed his way into her life somehow. He had gained her trust, and she had told him so damn much. She practically handed the orphans over wrapped with a godsdamn bow.
There was also the splitting ache in her chest that she was adamantly shoving down as she entered the great room. Sorin, Cassius, and Nuri all turned to face her and froze at the rage written all over her body.
“Scarlett,” Cassius said slowly, noting her palmed dagger.
“Not Scarlett,” she said derisively. “Not tonight.”
“Where is Prince Callan?” Cassius asked, worry filling his voice.
“I am fine,” he said, emerging from the room. He did not come to her side. He stayed behind her, against the wall.
“Cassius,” Scarlett said, her voice barely a whisper of controlled wrath. “Take Callan down to Finn. Then I suggest returning. We’ll wait.” Her eyes were fixed on Sorin, who was watching her curiously. When no one moved, she said quietly, venom dripping from every word, “I am not in the mood to repeat myself tonight.”
“Scarlett—” Cassius said again.
“That was an order,” Nuri cut in. Even her eyes darted over Scarlett with wary regard.
Callan stepped to her side. He bent down and whispered into her ear, “I am sorry.”
She turned to him, bringing her free hand to his chest, and pressed a kiss to his mouth, murmuring onto his lips, “I shall come to you in two nights. After I have dealt with a few things.”
He only brushed his knuckles down her cheek and headed for the door. Cassius had no choice but to follow the prince out lest he be spotted alone. When they were out of earshot, Nuri pulled her hood back. Sorin made to take a step towards Scarlett, but Nuri said quietly, “I would not do that, General. That is not the woman you know.” Scarlett had not moved. She stood frozen to that spot just outside the bedroom. The fire in the fireplace roared higher and heat flooded the room. Nuri sighed. “You don’t need to throw a tantrum about it.”
“I am not doing that,” Sorin said tightly.
Scarlett reached behind her back and drew her sword, leveling it at Sorin. Nuri’s eyes widened. “Scarlett,” she snapped, stepping into her line of sight, blocking Sorin. “No one is more delighted that you have emerged from that cage than I am, but we need the General.”
“Move, Nuri.” And as she spoke, frost began coating the windows.
“What the hell is going on?” Cassius asked, reentering the room.
Scarlett hardly noticed him as she said again, “Move, Nuri.”
Nuri glanced at Cassius, then stepped back but towards her. Cassius moved towards her as well. A cruel smile filled her mouth as she said with deathly calm, “Tell me about the High Force, Sorin.”
The confusion on Sorin’s face appeared genuine. “The High Force?”
Scarlett took a step towards him. Nuri and Cassius put hands on their weapons. “What does your High Force do?”
“They are a highly trained legion. They work in tandem and are an elite force for the king’s armies,” Sorin answered.
“What are they trained for? What do they do for the king?”
“As far as I know, they have not done anything for the king yet. In the nearly two years I have been training them, they have not been sent on any missions. Just intense training nearly every day.” Sorin’s voice was calm as he watched her.
“And here I thought after last night we had finally moved past the keeping of secrets,” Scarlett spat.
“What did Callan tell you?” Nuri interjected.
“It’s interesting, isn’t it?” Scarlett said, taking a step towards Sorin. “That our orphans began going missing about three years ago.”
Nuri’s eyes widened, and she turned on Sorin, pulling her scimitars as she did.
“What is she talking about, General?” Cassius said, falling back to Scarlett’s side. The three of them were now facing Sorin, weapons drawn.
“I swear to you I do not know,” Sorin answered. His eyes were on Scarlett’s as he said, “Talk to me, Scarlett. Tell me what he told you.”
“What he told me, General, is that you send soldiers from your High Force on missions at night into my Syndicate. He learned there is a contact in the Black Syndicate that tells you where our children are hidden. Who is your contact there?”
“Scarlett, I swear to you, I know nothing of this,” Sorin said again, raising his hands before him placatingly.
“Stop lying to me!” Scarlett cried as she flipped her shirastone dagger so she was holding it by the blade and hurled it at him. His eyes widened as he jumped to the side, but the blade sliced a shallow gash along his arm before it embedded itself in the wall near him. He hissed at the contact, his eyes flaring gold.
“Stop it, Scarlett,” he snapped. “Talk to me.”
“I’m done talking,” she said, and she lunged for him, pulling a second dagger, this one of steel.
Sorin met her blow with his own sword. “Scarlett, look at me. I know nothing of this.”
“You have lied to me since I met you!” she cried, swinging again and again. He blocked her and matched every thrust and lunge. He managed to make her drop her dagger, but her sword kept swinging. She could hear Cassius swearing viciously as she pushed Sorin back. He was nearly to the wall.
“Then let me tell you a truth right now, Scarlett,” he said through clenched teeth. He was panting as she continued to rain down blow after blow.
“I can trust nothing that comes from your mouth,” she spat.
With maddening ease, Sorin spun behind her, and she found herself now backed against the wall. “Control that rage, Love, and maybe you will land a blow,” he smirked.
He was teasing her! That arrogant son of a—
She threw her sword to the ground, and the confusion that crossed Sorin’s face was the only pause she needed. She struck with her fist, landing a blow to his jaw. His lip split and a drop of blood appeared.
“That was a nice distraction,” he said, his tongue flicking out to lick up the drop of blood. “But all you would have had to do to distract me is find a better use for your tongue.”
Scarlett screamed in rage and lurched towards him, but he stuck out his foot, looping it around her ankle. She went careening to the floor, and she braced herself for the pain of face-planting, but it never came. An arm came around her waist, and she landed on top of Sorin. She sucked in a breath as the air was knocked from her lungs.
“Scarlett!” Cassius yelled. Her eyes snapped to his as he started forward.
“No!” she snarled. “He is mine.”
Cassius froze, and Nuri burst out into laughter. “Yes,” she smirked. “Yes, he is. My money is on you, by the way, Sister.”
“Scarlett.” Sorin’s voice brought her eyes snapping back to his. “I swear to you that I have never been to the Black Syndicate.”
“No,” she sneered. “You just send those beneath you in to do your dirty work, and use me to get even more information.”
Scarlett brought her fist back to punch him in the face again, but he was so damn fast. He caught her wrist, and then the other when she brought that one back as well.
“No, Love. I would never hurt innocent children.”
“Don’t call me that!” she shrieked. She brought her knee up to strike him in the groin, but he rolled her before she made contact, until he was on top of her, pinning her hands above her head.
“Apparently we need to work more on your hand-to-hand combat skills,” he smirked, bringing his face close to hers.
Scarlett met his gaze as she ran her tongue over her lips. His golden eyes shot to her mouth. “Apparently,” she replied, her lips brushing over his cheek as she spoke. “You are easily distracted.”
She snapped her head up, cracking him in the nose.
“Dammit!” he barked, his hands releasing her wrists to cup his nose where blood now gushed from it.
With all her strength, she flipped him off of her, and he rolled to the side. She was on her feet in an instant, bringing her foot back to kick him in the side, but he caught her boot. “Don’t. I will not break your fall this time, Love.”
She paused at the unexpected warning, and it cost her. Sorin yanked on her boot, and she fell onto her ass, feeling the landing radiate up her spine. She hissed a curse at him as she kicked him in the side with her other foot. Sorin grunted, and she scrambled forward. She pulled another dagger from her boot as she pinned him to the floor.
Another shirastone dagger.
She raised it above her head, but as she brought it down, aiming for his chest, a band of flames wrapped around her wrist abruptly halting her movement. “Stop it, Scarlett,” Sorin growled.
Scarlett found herself baring her teeth at him. “You’re a coward using your magic,” she hissed.
“No, Love,” he panted. “I am smart to use what I have at my disposal. If you would give me a chance to actually speak with you, I would tell you that I could teach you how to access your own magic so that you could do some actual damage to me when you are angry with me.”
“I did do damage to—” Scarlett paused. “Wait. My magic?”
A grin spread across Sorin’s face as he reached up and plucked the shirastone dagger from Scarlett’s hand. “You know you would have actually killed me with this if your aim had been true, right?”
The flames around her wrist disappeared once the dagger was out of her reach. “That was the point,” she growled, bringing her fist towards his face once more.
Sorin barked out a laugh as he caught her wrist and again flipped her underneath him. “I tell you that you have magic, and your focus is still on hitting me?”
“Apparently, I am not as easily distracted as you are,” she spat back.
“Apparently that is the case, so allow me to say it again,” Sorin replied. “You have magic, Scarlett. Strong and powerful magic.”
Scarlett let the words sink in, and she froze beneath Sorin. “You are lying.”
“Why would I lie about you having magic?”
“You’ve lied to me about everything!”
“No, Love. I have not lied to you about everything. Actually, almost everything I have ever said to you has been a truth. The only lie I have ever told you, aside from denying my queen’s identity, was that training you would be annoying and not worth my time. It has been somewhat annoying at times, but since you are currently lying underneath me, I would say it was definitely worth my time.”
Scarlett let out a scream of frustration. “I cannot believe you are flirting with me right now.”
“Why? I think I have made it pretty clear I find you attractive,” Sorin replied with a shrug.
“Oh my gods. This is so not the time,” Scarlett muttered.
“It’s not?”
“No, it’s not,” Scarlett snapped. “You can get off of me though.”
“That does not seem wise considering we just had a brawl, and you tried to stab me with shirastone not once, but twice,” Sorin answered.
Nuri let out a cackle of laughter, and Scarlett’s gaze swung to hers. “Nothing about this is remotely funny.”
“On the contrary, Sister, everything about this is funny,” she laughed.
Scarlett’s gaze swiveled to Cassius, who was leaning casually against the wall, one foot propped behind him, a grin on his face. When her eyes met his, he said innocently, “What? You told us not to help you.”
“You can both fuck all the way off,” Scarlett snapped.
“If I let you up,” Sorin began, bringing her attention back to him once more, “can we have a conversation that we have needed to have for a while now?”
“Will you explain to me why the hell Callan told me you are the one ordering our children to be kidnapped and then shipped across the borders to the Fae Courts?”
“What?”
The shock Scarlett saw cross his face was genuine. There was no way he could have faked it. He slid off of her, extending a hand to help her to her feet. Cassius and Nuri were back on their feet as well, weapons drawn, as if they too just remembered what the brawl had been about. “I told you last night that I never harm mortals if I can help it. Why in the world would you think I would hurt innocent children?”
“Because you are Fae! That is what the Fae do! They hurt innocent people!” Scarlett cried.
“Really? All of them?”
“Yes!”
“So when I tell you that you are, in fact, Fae, you will suddenly be counted among them?”
Scarlett felt as if the air had been knocked from her lungs for the second time that night. “No. That’s not possible,” she whispered in horror.
“It is, Scarlett, and you are.” Sorin kept his distance, clearly unsure what she would do next.
“No,” she said again adamantly.
“You denying it does not make it any less true,” Sorin answered.
“Shut up!” Scarlett snapped. “Just…shut up.”
Scarlett squeezed her eyes shut tight, her hands clamping over her ears, trying to drown out the roaring in them. Her mind was reeling. Fae. She was Fae. She couldn’t possibly be. Her mother had been a healer. Her father had been a sailor. She grew up here, not in the Fae lands. Here. In the Black Syndicate, with the other children. She was one of them, dark and wild and different. They were all different.
Calloused hands gripped her wrists, and she opened her eyes to find Sorin standing before her. He gently pulled her hands away from her ears. “Breathe, Scarlett. Your heart rate is too fast.”
She closed her eyes again and drew in a deep breath. With a voice that was hollow and empty, she opened her eyes once more. “You promised you would find the light, so right now, I need you to do that, Sorin. Because my faith and trust in you is about to go out. You are the general of the High Force. How can you possibly not know about the missions they are carrying out at night?”
“I tell you that you are Fae, and you ask me about that?” When Scarlett did not reply, he sighed. “I am never at the castle at night, Scarlett. I have never been sent on a mission with them. I did not even know they had been sent on missions. That has never been discussed or revealed to me. To be honest, I have hated nearly every second of my time here, so I did not care what they did outside of the time I was there training them. I never planned to be here this long.”
“But you are the general. How do you not know what your men are doing?” Scarlett argued.
“I was only just made general, and I think it was a gesture made to keep me from getting restless because they want me to stay. I have information they desire.” He paused, as if trying to decide if he should say the next thing, but continued. “They know about the other territories I told you about last night. At least Lord Tyndell and the king do. Lord Tyndell asked me to train the High Force against more than human and Fae threats. They are currently learning how to defend against vampyres.”
Scarlett’s eyes widened. “Like Nuri?”
“Yes, but I cannot get Lord Tyndell to understand that a mortal army would never defeat any of the territories. Even the Night Children, who possess such little magic, are faster and stronger and more cunning than mortals. The Night Children are feral and savage. There is a reason the Witches and the Earth Court separate them from the mortal lands,” Sorin said.
“I don’t think that you are training them entirely to go to war with the other lands,” Scarlett said slowly. “Maybe eventually, but…”
That was a thought she needed to mull over a bit more.
“I need to go take my tonic, but tomorrow…” Scarlett said, pulling her wrists from Sorin’s grip and stepping back from him. “Tomorrow you are not going to the castle, so figure out whatever you need to tell them to explain your absence.”
“You shouldn’t take your tonic. It suppresses your magic,” Sorin replied, watching her carefully.
“All the more reason to take it,” Scarlett shrugged. “I cannot deal with that right now.”
“Scarlett, your magic is not a bad thing—”
“I cannot risk whatever my magic is getting in the way of things. Not with everything else going on. I cannot process this right now.”
“It is part of you,” he tried again.
But she cut him off once more. “Not tonight, Sorin. I have too much to sort through. I cannot do this tonight.” She could tell he didn’t like it, but he gave her a slight nod. “May I stay at your apartment again tonight?”
“Of course you can, but why am I not going to the castle tomorrow?”
“Because tomorrow, Sorin, I’m taking you to the Black Syndicate, and you can prove to me that I can trust you.”