Chapter 31 Scarlett
CHAPTER 31
SCARLETT
“E xcuse me?” Nuri asked, venom in her words.
“You heard him. He claims he didn’t know, Nuri,” Scarlett answered, turning to stride to Sorin’s bedroom.
“Bullshit,” Nuri spat. “He’s the godsdamn general of that infernal force. How the fuck could he not know?”
“I swear to Anala, the females in this room have mouths fouler than any warrior on a battlefield,” Sorin grumbled, crossing his arms and leaning back against the table.
“He shall prove that to me tomorrow. When I haul his ass to the Syndicate,” Scarlett said with a yawn. She was exhausted. Her soul was weary.
“You cannot take him there,” Nuri cried.
“I can and I will,” Scarlett said, beginning to unbuckle weapons from various places.
“Scarlett, we don’t take outsiders in for a reason,” Cassius said, urgency in his voice. “The Council will—”
“If he is in on whatever is happening in our Syndicate, he already knows where it is. If he’s not, like he claims, then he is on our side and will aid us in stopping it. I need him to verify something for me,” Scarlett answered calmly, pulling a dagger from her boot.
“And if he is not on our side?” Nuri asked through clenched teeth.
Scarlett looked over at Sorin as a wicked smile filled her face that even Sorin had the good sense to seem nervous about. “Then he shall learn exactly why the Black Syndicate is so feared.”
“And what of your current assignment? The Assassin Lord is already growing impatient,” Cassius warned.
“My assignment is none of your concern,” Scarlett snapped at Cassius. His eyes widened. She never spoke to him this way.
“Let me rephrase that,” Cassius said slowly. “He is very unhappy with the time it is taking you to complete your assignment. I would strongly advise against entering the Syndicate until that job is completed.”
“Your warning is noted,” she replied. “My plans remain unchanged.”
His face became stern. She could see Sorin watching their exchange with interest.
“He’s not joking about this,” Nuri cut in. “The Assassin Lord has been in quite the mood as of late. Rethink this, Scarlett.”
“Were you not the one screaming at me just last night that those orphans are the highest priority here? That our safety is not the concern?” Scarlett argued. “We have a lead. I am going to follow it. It is my responsibility .” Nuri’s lips formed a thin line.
“Scarlett, can we please talk about this?” Cassius said, trying and failing to sound patient.
“No. I’m done talking about it. I’m prepared to face whatever may come, and now I am going to bed. I’m exhausted.” She turned and walked into Sorin’s bedroom, shutting the door behind her.
She stripped off her tunic and took off her boots. She could hear low voices in the great room, but they were muffled. She didn’t care what they were saying anyway.
Scarlett stood looking out the window. The moon was hidden behind clouds, and the stars seemed muted. She was surprised he waited the five minutes he did before coming into the room behind her with nothing but a soft tap on the door.
“I have your tonic,” Cassius said, and she heard the soft clink as he set it on the bedside table.
“Thank you.”
“Scarlett,” he said gently.
She didn’t turn to look at him. What was she going to do if Sorin was indeed involved? She’d kill him, obviously, but could she really have missed something so big?
“Scarlett, talk to me.” Cassius was closer now, standing beside her. “Why would you risk this?”
“Why would I not risk this?” she finally countered, glancing at him. “I risk it for the orphans that are my responsibility.”
“They are not just your responsibility.”
“Everyone seems to think they are,” she replied grimly, turning back to the window.
Cassius was silent for a long moment. “Why haven’t you completed your assignment yet? Do you need help?”
She huffed a laugh. “No, Cass. I do not need any help.”
He gripped her shoulders and turned her to face him. His brown eyes scanned her blue ones. “Who is your target?”
Scarlett pressed her lips together as the Assassin Lord’s threat echoed in her mind. He would do it. He would hand her over on a fucking silver platter to Mikale to prove to her that he could. He would do that and still expect her to carry out her responsibilities to the Black Syndicate.
Cassius pulled her to him, his arms wrapping around her tightly. “Scarlett, talk to me.”
“I can’t, Cassius,” she whispered. “I do not want you to know. I do not want him to use it against you.”
“Seastar, please. This is eating you up. Tell me. Please tell me how to fix this.”
She could hear the pleading in his voice. Hear the desperation. But there was no fixing this. There had been no fixing this since that night.
There had been no fixing her.
There never would be.
Scarlett was awakened the next morning by the bed shifting as Cassius got up to get ready to report to the manor. Nuri had left last night when Cassius had brought her the tonic. Cassius, unsurprisingly, had refused to leave her at Sorin’s alone. After assuring him repeatedly that she would be fine with Sorin alone today and that she knew what she was doing taking him to the Syndicate, he reluctantly left to report for his day’s duties.
Scarlett now prowled hooded and heavily armed down the streets and alleys of Baylorin with Sorin keeping pace beside her. They had hardly spoken this morning. She had only come out of the bedroom, fully dressed and armed, saw Sorin was also ready, and said “Let’s go.”
As she turned into the Black Syndicate and led him down the main street, she said quietly, “The healer’s compound is on the right. Across from it is the Fellowship.”
“This is the Black Syndicate?” She could hear the surprise coloring his tone.
“What were you expecting?” she asked
“Something darker? Not… It looks like every other wealthy district in the city,” he replied.
“We hide in plain sight,” she said with a shrug, “but rest assured we were marked and have been watched entering from at least three blocks away. The reason you haven’t been knocked out and taken somewhere to be questioned is because I am with you.” They turned down a side street. “But should I be…needed somewhere else while here, use whatever means you can to get out.”
“Is this in regard to your assignment?” Sorin asked as they turned down another corner.
“Just don’t let your guard down,” she answered.
He remained silent, and they turned down an alley. She climbed rooftops and led him to that upper tavern room. When they had both swung in and she had closed the window, she pulled her hood back.
“I cannot believe you really brought him here,” Nuri drawled. She was sitting at the table, her feet propped on it, sipping ale.
“It’s not even mid-morning and you are drinking?” Scarlett asked, plopping down on the bench across from her.
“It’s been a long few days,” Nuri said, sliding a full mug sitting beside her across to Scarlett.
“Indeed it has.” She took a long drink of the frothy liquid.
“The Assassin Lord has forbidden me from spending time with you while you are here, but you will be fine?” Nuri asked, glancing skeptically at Sorin.
“I will be fine,” Scarlett answered tightly.
“Are you sure? Because last night he pinned—”
“I will be fine, Nuri,” Scarlett answered, taking another drink, ignoring the grin that spread across Sorin’s face. “He will let me be today?”
“As of right now. I was not commanded to bring you in, although he likely wouldn’t assign me that task, I suppose,” she said with a shrug.
“You could kindly tell him to fuck off for me when you see him,” Scarlett said, taking another drink.
Nuri snorted. “We both know he’d smile and then have someone drag you through hell the next time you were summoned to train.”
“Like all the times he’s summoned me this past year?” Scarlett asked indifferently.
Nuri’s face darkened. “You’ve been pushing him to his limit for far too long, Scarlett. Complete your assignment before he snaps.”
Scarlett snorted this time. “I’m already so broken there’s not much more he can do to me.”
Nuri went silent for a moment and then said in a hushed tone, “We both know that’s not true.”
Scarlett’s eyes snapped to hers. “Did he tell you what he threatened?”
“I heard. That day we were there, and he dragged you out of the tumbling room. I followed.”
Of course she did.
Scarlett sighed. “As I’m sure you’ll be glad to know, my wellbeing doesn’t really matter to me at this point.”
Nuri’s lips thinned. “Scarlett, Cassius is worried. You have—” She stopped herself, her eyes flicking to Sorin. “I am sorry if sending you to Callan has undone any…progress. I am sorry for the other night.”
“We’re fine,” Scarlett replied shortly.
Nuri’s lips remained thin, clearly not believing her. “The usual are stationed throughout. He sent them to positions when you were reported approaching.” She drained the last of her ale. “You will fill me in later?”
“Sure.”
Nuri stood, pulling up her hood and crossing the room. Right before she opened the window, Scarlett said quietly, “That spark has been smoldering long enough, Nuri.”
A grin as dark as a moonless night spread across Nuri’s pale face. “Then fan the flame, Sister. And for Juliette, for you, let it godsdamn burn.”
She slipped out the window, and Sorin closed it behind her. “She really is terrifying, you know,” he said casually, coming to sit beside Scarlett on the bench. “I would pay good money to see her interact with some of those in my Court.”
“Is she different from other Night Children?” Scarlett asked, sipping at her ale now.
“Most definitely, although in other ways, she’s exactly like them.” There was a swirl of flames on the table and a mug of ale appeared before him. Scarlett raised her brows. “If you two are drinking this early in the morning, something tells me I should be, too.”
Scarlett huffed a laugh, and she swiveled to face him, drawing one leg up onto the bench. He was studying her, an air of curiosity around him. “I did not realize you were given an assignment.”
“The Assassin Lord offered me something I greatly covet as payment for this job once completed,” she answered.
“You do not get along with the Assassin Lord?”
“We always butted heads, but after last year… No. We do not get along.”
“Last night, Cassius and Nuri seemed…concerned,” Sorin said carefully. “About you.”
Scarlett didn’t say anything. She just toyed with her mug of ale.
After another beat of silence, she said, “Sorin, I need to know. Are you… Are you part of what is going on with our children here?”
Sorin set his own mug down on the table. “I swear to you, I had no idea what the High Force was doing, Scarlett.”
“If you did, if you knew…” she swallowed. “Please just tell me, and I will let you leave and go home if you promise not to come back. I will tell the others a lie, but I cannot show you what I am going to show you today if you are involved…”
She trailed off as he stared at her, a small smile tugging up on his lips. He leaned in, looking into her eyes. Her heart skipped a beat and her face felt hot, and for a moment she let herself get lost in his golden eyes.
Then she mentally slapped herself.
She pulled back slightly and snarled, “Stop doing that.”
“Stop doing what?”
“Looking at me like that. Acting like you’re going to kiss me,” she snapped.
“But it’s so fun,” he answered with a smirk.
“Which part?”
“Must I choose?” he asked innocently. She hissed at his response, and he chuckled, a low sound in his throat. Then his face turned serious again as he sat back and said softly, “Tell me what I need to do to make you believe me.”
Without answering, Scarlett merely stomped her foot three times on the floor. After a moment, there was an answered thump from below. A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door and a piece of paper was slipped underneath it. Scarlett scooped it up, read the words, and headed for the window without another word.
As she led Sorin down the streets of the Syndicate, she pointed things out every once in a while until a comfortable silence fell between them. She led him to a little restaurant tucked into a side street. The hostess recognized Scarlett immediately and took them right to a secluded table in the back.
“I didn’t eat breakfast. I need to eat before I take you there,” Scarlett said when they were handed menus.
“Where exactly are you taking me?” Sorin asked with a nod of thanks to the hostess.
“All in due time,” Scarlett answered simply, smiling slightly.
When they had ordered and the silence crept in again, Sorin ventured cautiously, “Do you want to talk about what I told you last night? About you being—”
“Nope,” Scarlett said, taking a drink of her water.
“You need to—”
“Nope.”
“Tell me about Juliette then.”
Her eyes widened at her name on his lips. “Absolutely not.”
“Then let’s talk about you and Callan,” he said, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms.
Scarlett narrowed her eyes at him. “What of him?”
“Last night?”
“Last night was about getting information, which I did successfully,” Scarlett said, her voice going cold.
“So you will just continue to lead him on until the mystery is solved and then what?” Sorin asked. His voice had hardened, and she could see his fingers curling as if he was fighting clenching his fist.
“I told you that I have done and do terrible things to get what I need. I warned you about what you would see last night,” she said sharply.
“So did Nuri and Cassius. Everyone felt the need to warn me about it.”
“Why does it bother you?”
“It doesn’t,” he retorted.
Scarlett raised a brow, leaning back in her own chair. “It does. It does bother you. You either don’t like that I’m using our relationship to get information, or you don’t like our relationship entirely. Which is it?”
Sorin leaned forward then, resting his forearms on the table. “Which do you think it is?” His voice was low as he held her in an intense stare.
Scarlett leaned forward as well. The table was small, and as she did, she was close enough to him that their breath mingled. “I think you didn’t like seeing me take him into a bedroom. I think you didn’t like seeing me kiss him.”
“What would it matter?” There was a sharpness to his voice. A hard edge she wasn’t sure what to do with.
“Why does it matter?” she countered, holding his gaze.
A muscle feathered in his jaw, and he ground his teeth together before he finally said, “It matters because I like kissing you. It matters because I do not know if I am just another person you are using to gain information. It matters because your friends are concerned about you and that makes me concerned about you. It matters because I have to return home soon, and the thought of not seeing you any more is as unpleasant as it was for me to hear you tell the mortal prince you will go to him tomorrow night.”
Scarlett blinked. Before she could think of something to say, the waitress appeared with their food, setting their plates before them. Sorin didn’t say anything else as he picked up his fork and began eating, so Scarlett did the same.
They ate in silence, his words on repeat in her mind. When they had finished, she led him down a few more streets until they stood before a three-story building. The sign advertised the various businesses of leather making, apothecary needs, and jewelry repair. She led him around the back, nodded to two men in the alley, and pushed through the door.
The interior was dark save for a torch along the wall every ten feet or so. Silently they went up sets of stairs. When they reached the top landing, before she opened the door at the top, she turned to face Sorin. He merely gave her a pointed, expecting look.
“You are not just a means to an end, and I am not using you to gain information,” she said. She turned back to the door, not waiting for a response, but before she pushed it open, she said over her shoulder, “It is why I do not know if I can bear it if you are part of this. Please don’t be part of this, because if you are, it will crush me to gut you.”
Scarlett stepped through the door into an open room. The sunlight poured in the windows from the opposite wall, and Scarlett blinked against the sudden brightness.
“Scarlett!” A little girl of around four years old came running and launched herself into Scarlett’s arms. Scarlett caught the child with ease, swinging her around. The little girl had blonde hair with tight curls that went in every direction.
“Hello, Little Tula Bug,” Scarlett said, full of affection. Tears glimmered in her eyes. It had been an age since she had visited the orphans. Tula’s arms tightened around her neck, and then she stiffened as she noticed Sorin standing behind her.
“Who’s that?” Tula whispered, her baby blue eyes going wide.
Scarlett set Tula down and crouched down beside her. Looking up at Sorin, whose face was one of pure shock, she said, “That is my friend, Sorin.”
“He looks mean,” the little girl said, looking him up and down.
“He is, but if you give him treats, he smiles,” Scarlett said, rising and tousling Tula’s curls. Sorin threw her an incredulous look, to which she only smiled sweetly and said to Tula, “Where is Malachi, Little Bug?”
“This way,” Tula sang. The child gave Sorin one last suspicious glance, then took Scarlett’s hand and led her across the vast room. The space was full of children of all ages. The older ones taking turns wrangling the younger ones. Some waved to Scarlett as she crossed the room. Others glared suspiciously at Sorin, who was keeping silent, no doubt taking in everything, and she hoped gleaning what she had brought him here to confirm.
Tula led them to another long room that was set up as a training area. There were targets at the other end for archery and knife throwing practice. Two smaller training rings were at the other end, with a number of rudimentary weapons in a corner. A tall dark-skinned boy with dark hair was instructing a younger boy on how to properly nock an arrow when he looked up and saw Scarlett. A thin line spread across his lips as he took in Sorin, and he prowled over to them. He crossed his arms across his chest, looked Sorin up and down with a sneer, and said, “Who is this bastard?”
Sorin raised his brows and a wicked grin curled up one side of his lips. Scarlett sighed. “Malachi, this is Sorin. Sorin, Malachi.” Malachi only gave Sorin an unimpressed glare. “I’d be careful, Malachi,” Scarlett said with a smirk. “If you spare him your lovely fourteen-year-old charm, you may be able to convince him to show you some fancy knife throwing maneuvers.”
“He doesn’t look all that impressive,” Malachi said, scowling at Sorin.
Sorin’s wicked grin grew wider. He pulled a dagger from his hip and threw it from where he stood, hitting the farthest target dead in the center. Malachi looked at the dagger, back to Sorin dismissively, and said to Scarlett, “Why is he here?”
“He’s a friend of mine. He is here to help us,” Scarlett answered, sauntering over to the weapons and picking up a bow. She walked back to the boy Malachi had been instructing and handed him the bow, smaller than the one he had been holding. She adjusted his hands on the weapon as she continued speaking to Malachi. “Have there been any newcomers since I was here last?”
“No.” Short, curt.
Scarlett continued working with the boy, helping him nock the arrow now, telling him how to aim and pull back the string. She patiently adjusted his arm slightly as he drew back, and when he let it fly, it hit the outer ring of the target. His light brown eyes lit up with excitement, and she stepped back to let him try on his own.
“We have leads, Malachi,” Scarlett said softly, not looking at him, but watching the boy as he nocked another arrow. Sorin remained silent, observing. “We’re trying.”
“I don’t give a shit,” the boy answered.
“Malachi.” Scarlett’s voice was hard and gentle all at once as she turned to face him, but he just walked away and out of the room.
“He heard. About the mass grave that was found,” said a girl’s voice behind them.
Scarlett turned to find a young girl standing in the doorway. She wore a homespun cream colored dress that was stark against her bronze skin, her dark brown hair braided down her back. A dagger hung at her hip that Scarlett herself had taught her how to use.
“How?” Scarlett asked, her voice sharp.
“You know, Malachi,” the girl answered. “He’s sneaky and cunning and eavesdrops on any and all conversations.”
Scarlett sighed. “Who else knows?”
“Only Malachi, Bahram, and me,” the girl answered.
“When do you move again?” Scarlett asked.
“Tomorrow.”
“Is there a room that I can use?”
The girl nodded and turned to lead them from the room. She took them down a short hall and stopped outside what appeared to be an office of some sort. “Can I get you anything?” she asked, pushing the door open for them.
“No, Lynnea, we’re fine. Thank you,” Scarlett answered.
Lynnea nodded, gave a small smile to Sorin, and left them, shutting the door as she left. The office was small. There was a desk in the center and a small couch along one wall, a bookshelf along the other. Scarlett claimed the chair behind the desk, propping her feet upon it. A puff of dust flew up. “How many are different?” she asked then, looking to Sorin.
“What?”
“How many are different?” she asked again. “How many are not human?”
“Why do you think they are not human?” he countered.
“Because Nuri is a Night Child, Cassius appears to be a Witch of some sort, and I am apparently Fae. We have known we were different since we were children, and a vast majority of the children who end up here are also odd and different. That is why they are being targeted, and your High Force is being trained and taught all about us,” Scarlett answered. “So which of my innocent people are going to be next?”
Sorin stared at her, the realization and truth of everything she had just said clicking into place. “But…why? Why would they want the children just to kill them?”
“That, General, is what I need you to find out,” Scarlett answered. “How many are different?”
Sorin shook his head, sitting down on the small sofa. “There were too many scents in the large room, and my Fae senses are muted here. I could not scent Nuri until her blood was spilled.”
“Because we take tonics for that. To mute our scents,” Scarlett answered. “Mine is in my nightly tonic.”
“But you did not know she was a vampyre,” Sorin said.
“No, but I’m venturing to guess our daily tonics do more than we were originally told since mine seems to. The children, though, do not take anything. Not unless they are recruited by the various businesses here,” Scarlett explained.
“Many in the large room have mixed bloodlines. Some might display magic if they were not here and come of age, but I was only able to scent three that are for sure pure-blooded,” Sorin answered.
“Who?”
“Malachi. He is a Night Child.”
“He’s a vampyre?” Scarlett asked, her brows rising.
Sorin nodded his head.
“Interesting,” Scarlett said, tilting her head in thought. “That would explain his younger brother being taken.”
“He has a younger brother?”
“Had,” Scarlett corrected, her eyes darkening. “Who else?”
Sorin swallowed. “The one who brought us here.”
“Lynnea?”
“She is a Witch,” Sorin answered.
“And the last?”
Sorin’s mouth twitched in amusement. “Tula.”
Scarlett nearly fell out of her chair as her feet slipped off the desk to the floor. “What?”
“She is a Shifter.”