Chapter 43 Scarlett
CHAPTER 43
SCARLETT
S carlett stood in that little room, forcing herself to breathe in and out. In and out. She was straining her ears, listening for the footsteps. When she heard them, it was over. She looked down at the ivory gown she was wearing, fingering the gold beading that adorned the dress. When she’d gone to bathe, she came out to find it her only option. Someone had come in while she was in the bath and taken every other piece of clothing from the room. Her long silver hair had been braided with golden beading as well. She shivered, the room as cold as ever. When those footsteps came, they would be Mikale and a Divine, a priest who could commune with the gods and had the power to unite two souls in marriage.
Her shadows swarmed her. They were the only constant she’d come to rely on. They gently wrapped and slid along her skin. The feel of them was as caressing as a lover. Sometimes their whispers sounded like him.
Where are you? Where are you? Where are you?
And probably because she was indeed going mad, she sometimes answered them.
West wing. In a tower. With no stars.
She had done everything she could these last few days. Last night had been her last hope. She knew Finn had understood her message. She knew Cassius and Tava and Drake had understood too, but they had run out of time. She had run out of options. Mikale had won their game.
The air whooshed from her lungs as she heard them. Footsteps outside her room. She went from having no air in her lungs to breathing too fast. The already cold room plummeted to freezing. Scarlett was already backing up, her shadows thickening around her. She gasped when she hit the freezing wall behind her.
But then the handle on the door was glowing. Bright and orange and as hot as a poker left in a fire.
And when the door swung open, it was not Mikale who stood there but…
Sorin?
The cloak he wore covered much of him, but she could glimpse leathers and some weapons, including the bloody dagger he held in his hand as he slipped inside and quietly pushed the door shut behind him.
But it wasn’t possible. She had to be imagining it. Scarlett stood rooted to the spot, afraid to move or make a sound, sure he would vanish. She was, in fact, succumbing to madness, she decided. Hallucinations. Fantastic. She narrowed her eyes at him, and the shadows around her seemed to loosen their grip a little.
“The dress is fine enough, but I much prefer that red number from the party,” Sorin drawled, pulling back his hood. Scarlett launched herself into his arms, the slits up the side of the dress allowing her to wrap her legs around his waist. Sorin was solid as he caught her. “Easy, Love,” he chuckled softly, but his arms held her just as tightly as she clung to him.
“Are you really here, or am I indeed going mad?” she cried, tears slipping down her cheeks. He lowered her to the ground, but didn’t let go of her. She leaned back and looked into his golden eyes. They were glowing like embers.
“I am here, Scarlett.”
“How?” she breathed.
Sorin seemed to hesitate before saying, “That is a tale to tell when we are out of here.”
“We cannot leave. You should not have come.” Scarlett pushed away from him, crossing to the door and listening carefully.
She felt Sorin behind her, and he gently turned her towards him. He took her face in his palms, not flinching once at the shadows that swarmed his hands. “Scarlett Monrhoe, I would cross deserts and oceans for you. I would cross the realms for you. Did you really think a mortal man could keep you from me?”
Tears stung the backs of her eyes once more. “Cassius?” she choked out.
“Everyone is fine. Nuri moved the orphans. Cassius put protection wards around them. Cassius and Nuri wait with Callan and the guards for us. Everyone is safe. He will not touch them,” Sorin said gently. He leaned in and kissed a tear on either cheek, then whispered, “You are not alone.”
Scarlett threw her arms around him once more, tears soaking his shoulder. He embraced her for a few seconds before asking, “How much time do we have?”
“Minutes, if that,” Scarlett answered, pulling back and wiping her eyes quickly. “I thought you were them.” When she met Sorin’s gaze again, it was full of rage. His eyes were fixed on her wrists and arms.
In the sleeveless dress, the bruises on her arms from the guards restraining her when Mikale was forcing the tonic down her throat were on full display. The black and blue marks on her wrists, though, were from Mikale. She rubbed them gingerly. “I tried, Sorin. I tried to fight. But he has studied me. He’s watched me. He knows that I am Fae, and that Nuri is a child of the night. He even claims Juliette was a Witch. You told me to fight. I tried to refuse my tonic. I tried to, but he…” she trailed off.
He reached for her, again taking her face in his large hands. “He did not break you,” he said with steely resolve.
“I do not know that that is true,” she whispered in return.
The feel of his lips on hers as he pressed them to her mouth was almost more than she could take. It was a torture. A taste of what she had almost had and would soon have to live without once more. That kiss is what she imagined an opium addict experienced when they were trying to break the habit and fell off the wagon.
When had his kiss, his mouth, his mere presence become a godsdamn drug to her?
Sorin pulled back first. “We will need to continue this conversation later,” he rasped out gruffly.
“Which one?” she breathed, wondering if he meant that kiss or her being broken.
A flash of a grin appeared on his lips. “Both, Love. Both of them.” He tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “Are you ready?”
“Sorin—”
“Do not finish that sentence,” he growled. “Do not say what you were about to say.”
Scarlett pursed her lips. “I’m sorry. You appear to keep forgetting that you do not get to give me orders. ”
Sorin’s eyes flashed with irritation as he gave her a pointed stare. “Would what you were about to say have been helpful?”
“Would it be helpful if I punched you in the face?” she retorted.
“Keep this resolve up, and we will have no problem getting out of here,” Sorin muttered, tugging her towards the door. Before she could spit out a response, he said, “The fact that he does not have guards outside your room tells me he does not know the full extent of your magic.”
“He forces me to drink my tonic. It feels stronger than my usual one,” she answered. “It makes me more tired.”
She saw a muscle feather in his jaw as he pulled a dagger from his belt and handed it to her. “I don’t suppose you have anywhere to stash this?”
Scarlett took the dagger, shaking her head. “He took everything upon my arrival.” The dagger was the same metallic black as his sword blades had been.
“We leave together,” Sorin said, taking her hand once more. The other rested on the door handle.
Scarlett gave a slight nod, swallowing the lump in her throat. She palmed the dagger as Sorin opened the door and stepped onto the landing. They crept down the spiral stairs until they came to a hallway.
“I came up the servants’ passageways. It is our best chance of not meeting anyone who would recognize you,” he whispered. Scarlett only nodded.
They walked past several rooms whose doors were closed until they came to an open doorway. There was no door in place and through the doorway were steps going down. They moved gracefully and quietly. The only sound was her dress swishing on the stairs, the beading on the bottom clanking against the stone as they moved.
“You could not have picked something quieter?” Sorin muttered as they rounded another set of stairs.
“I didn’t choose this, you ass,” Scarlett hissed under her breath.
Sorin halted, pushing her against the wall. She strained to hear what he was hearing. Muffled voices a floor or two up. They started to move again, and the beading clanked once more. She saw Sorin stiffen slightly. Scarlett gave an exasperated sigh, ripping her hand from his. She gathered the bottom of the dress and, with a few clean swipes of his dagger, cut the bottom from it. It now fell just above her knees.
“Better?” she snapped in a whisper.
“Much,” he replied, a wry smile on his lips as he looked her up and down.
“Cad,” she answered, rolling her eyes. She kicked the cut fabric to a dark corner of the stairs. Sorin took her hand and continued to lead her down.
If she’d counted the flights of stairs they’d descended correctly, they were on the main floor now, and they stepped carefully from the landing. They seemed to be at the back of the house near the kitchens and were stopped, trying to decide which way to go when they heard the yelling.
“I think he has discovered you are gone,” Sorin said darkly.
“You’re always so perceptive,” Scarlett drawled. She was trying to lighten the situation, but anxiety filled her voice, and she couldn’t stop the trembling that overtook her. She was suddenly freezing.
“Hold it together, Scarlett. Just a little longer,” Sorin said gently, warmth flooding through her. Scarlett nodded mutely in reply.
Sorin tugged her towards a hall. As they crept along, the sound of clanking pots and pans grew louder. Surely all the exits were being watched by now. When they heard heavy footsteps coming down the hall, Sorin opened the nearest door and shoved her in. She had expected a closet of some sort, but instead, they found themselves at the top of another set of stairs.
Sorin illuminated a small flame in his hand and held it up. “It is a cellar,” he said. “Maybe there is a way out at the bottom. If not, a place to hide for a bit.”
“They’re going to search everywhere, Sorin. We can’t hide. We need to get out,” Scarlett said. She heard the footsteps at the same time Sorin did, ending any debate they were about to have, and they both scrambled down the stairs.
He shoved her under the stairwell behind several boxes of canned vegetables and potatoes. “Fuck,” he hissed. “We are so close. There is a horse positioned for us outside to take us to where everyone else is waiting.”
She could hear the stomping steps of men upstairs and muffled voices, but she couldn’t make out what they were saying. The cool stones of the house cellar dug into her back, yet what she found herself focusing on more was Sorin’s body against hers. A wall of hard muscle pressed against her, shielding her from whatever brought the fear and panic he was trying to hide in his eyes. She could feel his hair against her cheek. Could feel each breath as he struggled to keep his breathing even.
They heard the cellar door creak open. Sorin tensed even more against her. She heard a gruff voice snarl and could hear the smile in his voice as he said calmly to his companions, “Here. They are down here. There is nowhere for them to go.”
She recognized that voice. It wasn’t Mikale, but… No. That wasn’t a possibility. She was imagining it. Had to be imagining it.
“Sorin, that’s—”
“I know,” he ground out darkly. “I know who that is.”
There was no movement above, and Scarlett realized he was going to wait for Mikale. She looked at Sorin again and saw the dread in his eyes, confirming her realization. A moment later, the man began a lazy stroll down the cellar steps as more guards reached the doorway. Sorin swore again under his breath.
“You have my ring,” Scarlett hissed at him. “Do something!”
“I already have a shield around us, but there is…something here. There is something stifling my magic. I cannot access my full well of power.” He was tense against her, but when his eyes met hers, he whispered, “It is going to be okay.”
“Sorin, I can get you out. I can keep you safe. I am what Mikale wants.” Her heart was hammering in her chest. It wasn’t even a hard decision. She would give herself back to Mikale in exchange for his safe release.
“No, Love. We leave here together.” His golden eyes flared brightly with resolve.
“You are going nowhere with her, General,” the gruff voice drawled.
How could he hear them?
Sorin’s eyes widened as if he’d just realized something. He gripped Scarlett’s shoulders. “You can get us out, Scarlett. Your magic can get us out.”
Scarlett stared at him in disbelief. She had never accessed her magic intentionally. She didn’t even know if she could access it on demand. She felt something cool and metallic against her finger. He had slipped her mother’s ring onto her finger. “I can’t Sorin. You know I can’t. I don’t know how.”
“It is no use. We have kept her magic locked up tight. She cannot access it,” the man said again.
Then from the top of the steps came Mikale’s snarling voice. “She is mine.”
At the sound of his voice, Scarlett began trembling anew. She couldn’t help it. The shadows coiled tightly, pressing into her. Sorin pressed a hand to her cheek, his eyes holding hers. “Stay with me, Love,” he whispered.
“I am well aware that you have claimed her,” the first man drawled. “Although she has almost slipped through your fingers— again. How many times am I going to need to deliver her to you?”
“She bears their Mark,” Mikale snarled again. “Get to her.”
And to her horror, Lord Tyndell stepped into view.
“Sorin Aditya,” he sneered. “After all I have done for you, you try and take her from us?”
Sorin turned to face the Lord, blocking Scarlett from his view with his own body. “How long have you known who I am?” His tone was bland and bored as he pulled a shirastone dagger from his side.
“Ever since the Witch child figured out the wards around my estate,” Lord Tyndell replied coldly. “Although I suspected you were Fae shit much sooner.”
Mikale came into view then, stepping to the Lord’s side. “Come out, my pet,” he purred. “We had a deal. You know the consequences of going back on it.”
“Do not listen to him, Scarlett,” Sorin called to her. He reached behind him, finding her hand, as if he needed to make sure she wasn’t going to go to Mikale. “We have made sure everyone you love is safe and secure.”
Scarlett closed her eyes, trying to steady her breathing. The loud rushing water sound was back in her ears. It was deafening as she tried to sort through all the information crashing down on her. Lord Tyndell knew Sorin was Fae because of Cassius’s wards? If he knew that, then he knew—
Scarlett found herself stepping around Sorin and coming to his side, pulling her hand from his and palming the dagger she still held. “Scarlett,” he hissed, attempting to shove her back again, but she dug in her feet.
“You’ve known?” she said, addressing the Lord. “You’ve known I am Fae? Since Cassius put up these wards?”
“My dear girl, I have known what you are since the day you were born,” the Lord answered. “After all, I knew your mother. I know what power flows in your veins.”
“How?” Scarlett demanded. “How did you know my mother?”
“I think the question you should be asking is how did he know the woman you call your mother?” The Lord’s gaze dragged to Sorin as he spoke the words, and Scarlett whirled to him.
“What is he talking about, Sorin?”
“I did not know right away. It took me a while to piece it together—”
“How long have you known?” Her voice was shrill, and she realized she had her dagger pointed at him.
“Scarlett, let’s focus on getting out of here and then I will tell you everything—”
“How long?” Scarlett nearly screamed the words.
“Since the night of the party at the Pier, but I am still not sure—”
Scarlett whirled back to the Lord and Mikale. Mikale’s face was one of amusement, but he kept silent. Lord Tyndell was watching her carefully. “Are you finally going to complete your assignment?” the Lord asked softly.
“What do you know of my assignment?” Her breathing was shallow as she tried to force more air into her lungs.
“Quite a bit. I was the one who contacted the Assassin Lord about employing your services. Once I learned who and what he was, obviously I could not have a Fae in our company,” the Lord answered, taking a single step towards her.
“Why didn’t you just take care of him yourself? You had plenty of opportunities.” Scarlett still had her dagger pointed at Sorin, but she watched the Lord and Mikale from the corner of her eye.
“Because I thought you would enjoy the retribution against a Fae from the Fire Court for your mother’s death, of course,” the Lord replied with another step. “Tell me, Scarlett dear, do you know why he is in our lands?”
“He is here on orders from his queen to find a weapon that is apparently hidden and guarded here,” Scarlett answered.
“Is that what they call it?” The Lord took another step. “A weapon?”
Unsure of what he was asking, Scarlett kept silent.
“Scarlett,” Sorin whispered.
“Shut up!” she snapped. “Do not speak.” A half grin tilted on the Lord’s lips. It reminded her of the entertained smile he sometimes displayed when she was less than polite at the dinner table. “Do you know what this weapon is?” She addressed him now.
“It is something we have indeed kept heavily guarded,” he replied calmly, taking another step. He was maybe six feet from her now. “It is something we kept hidden from view for nearly ten years since Eliné was so tragically taken from us. Something we keep a close watch over. We know how coveted the power it holds would be and sought to keep it from the wrong hands. We kept it hidden deep in the Black Syndicate, protected by those who also have power in their veins. When it became apparent that it was no longer safe there, I arranged a deal with the Assassin Lord to bring it to my home. To keep you safe.”
“You lie,” she whispered. She felt cold at the sound of her mother’s name. The entire cellar felt cold. She could see her breath in front of her in a cloud.
“Do I?” the Lord asked with a raise of his brow. “He knows.” He nodded his head towards Sorin. “Why has he not returned home yet? Why has he risked his life to get you out before he goes?”
Scarlett’s eyes slowly drifted back to Sorin’s. She couldn’t read the expression in his golden ones when she met his gaze. It seemed like a mixture of dread and horror and regret.
“He will hand you over to his queen as soon as you cross the borders, Scarlett,” the Lord said gently. He was close enough to touch her now, was slowly raising his hand, reaching for her dagger.
“No,” Sorin snarled. “No, I am not going to give you to her .”
“Then what do you plan to do with me?” Scarlett didn’t quite recognize her own voice. It sounded hollow and empty and… broken.
“Her Darkness, Balam. The shadows are growing thicker,” Mikale cut in coolly.
It was true. Her shadows were becoming thicker and darker, cocooning around her. The sound of his voice snapped her entire attention to him. She had forgotten he was even here.
“Hold your tongue, boy,” Lord Tyndell snarled.
But the damage was done. The slight distraction was all Sorin needed. He was moving in less time than it took her to draw her next breath. The dagger he was holding flew from his hand, and Lord Tyndell had to jump to the side to avoid a direct hit to his chest. The dagger missed his heart but embedded in his shoulder. The Lord bellowed in rage.
Before the dagger had even hit him, though, Sorin was before Scarlett. With one hand, he gripped her wrist, his fingers pressing onto a pressure point forcing her to drop her dagger. He caught it easily in the same hand while his other grabbed her right hand and nearly ripped her mother’s ring from her finger.
Scarlett jerked her knee up to hit him in the groin, but he had already jumped back and flung a hand out. A wall of flames erupted between them and Mikale and the Lord. It was so thick, she couldn’t even see them on the other side.
“Scarlett, you need to listen to me,” he said, slightly winded.
“Listen to you? You have lied to me. Again!” she shrieked, her hands balling into fists at her sides.
“I haven’t, Love. You know this. Lies have never once crossed my lips when speaking to you,” Sorin replied. Urgency rang in his voice. “I swear I will explain everything as soon as we are out of here.”
“So you can hand me over to your queen?” Her voice was steady and calm as she slipped into a role she had played for years. She plunged into the place she went when she was taking care of assignments. Cold. Calculating. A place of dark calm.
“No. I already said I will not give you to her, Love.”
“Stop calling me that,” Scarlett seethed. A tendril of her shadows started slithering across the stone floor towards Sorin.
He noticed too and stepped back. Something hardened on his features.
Fury. Cold fury.
He was mad at her ?
It was kindling to her own temper and that careful control she had been leashing snapped entirely.
“So tell me, General , what do you plan to do with me then? Take me the Fire Prince?”
“Would you rather stay here and be handed back over to him ?” Sorin snarled, flames flickering in his eyes. “Back over to Mikale? The man who has raped you? Or stay here and be given back to the Assassin Lord who has beaten you? Who has nearly broken you?”
“He has done nothing compared to what you have done to me,” Scarlett screamed, her hands fisting over her chest where the pain was so deep a dagger may as well have pierced her soul. He hadn’t denied what she’d said, and that was all the confirmation she had needed.
He planned to take her to the Fire Prince.
Sorin’s face seemed to drain of color as it slackened in shock at her words. He was breathing hard, and Scarlett could make out the shapes of Mikale and the Lord prowling along the other side of the flame wall. He was weakening, she realized.
Sorin drew a shaking breath. “Scarlett, you need to make a choice. Choose to stay here. Choose to be given back to Mikale and shoved back into a cage where they control you. Or come to me and we go to Cassius and Nuri. Come to me, and I will take you somewhere they cannot touch you.”
“Somewhere they cannot touch me, but the Fire Prince can? So you can take me somewhere to be shoved into a different cage with other masters?” she sneered.
“The Fire Prince will not cage you. I will not allow it. You are no one’s, Scarlett. You said so yourself. This is your choice.” She could hear the begging, the pleading in his voice. She could see it in his eyes.
A dagger flew through the flames, and Sorin jerked back to avoid it. The wall of flame flickered but held.
“But you must choose now, Scarlett, or the choice will be made for you. I cannot access my full well of power here, even with your ring,” he gasped.
Scarlett stood frozen. A choice?
He was giving her a choice. About her own life.
He was—
Pain lanced up her side. She looked down to find a shirastone dagger embedded in her flesh. As if in slow motion, she turned to see Mikale on the other side of the flames. A look of rage and cruelty lined his features. “You are mine ,” he snarled.
“Scarlett, choose.” Sorin was panting for breath. He didn’t move. He didn’t come to her. His arm was still upheld as though he were physically holding up that wall of flame with his palm. “You have seconds, but I beg you, please choose freedom. Please choose what I am offering you.”
Scarlett wrenched the dagger from her side, gasping out in pain. She pressed her palm to the wound, felt her own blood, wet and sticky against her palm. She crossed the distance to Sorin, and he seemed to shudder in relief.
“Tell me what to do,” she whispered hoarsely.
“I can’t explain everything, so I need you to trust me and do exactly what I say,” he rasped, pushing a strand of her silver hair back. He leaned forward, pressing his forehead against her own. “Can you do that?”
“Please, Sorin,” she whispered again. “Please do not give me to the Fire Prince. Do not let him kill me like he did my mother. Please.”
Sorin closed his eyes briefly and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “If the Fire Prince kills you, Love, I will take his life with my own hands.” He reached down and took the dagger from her hand. The one covered in her own blood. He cut his palm and hers, pressing them together, mixing their blood. Something ancient and fiery sang through her. Her shadows seemed to dance around her.
“Close your eyes. Do it.” His voice was soft and commanding, and she did as he ordered. “Focus. Feel our breaths, both of us, together. Try to make them match. In and out.”
She could hear Mikale and the Lord yelling and cursing on the other side of the ever weakening wall of flames. She could feel her blood still flowing against her hand, the pain coursing up her side.
“Ignore them. Ignore all of it,” Sorin whispered into her ear. “Focus on my breath, Love. Focus on me.” His voice caressed her soul. She could feel herself mentally reaching for him. Warmth was flooding through her. “Good. Good girl. Now think of the beach. Think of the cavern, right before we enter it to your sea star beach. Picture it, Scarlett.” She felt his other hand stroking her hair, her cheek. His breath was sensual against her ear. His lips brushed the area just under it. “Callan and Sloan and Finn are there,” he breathed. “Nuri is there. Your Cassius is there, Love. They are all waiting for you. Picture it. Feel the sun and the sand and hear the waves. People who love you are waiting for you.
“Good. Now, this is going to sound strange, but I need you to trust me in this. I know you do not have much faith in me right now, but do you trust that I do not want to see you in Mikale’s hands?”
She nodded her head, not daring to open her eyes.
“Good. Picture the beach. All of it. Picture Nuri terrorizing Finn and Sloan. Picture Cassius there, waiting to wrap you in his arms. When I say go, you need to take a step. You need to hold tight to me, and take a step forward.”
“Sorin—”
“Do not think. Just do it,” he whispered. “Trust me and go. ”
She gripped Sorin with everything she had and stepped forward, her eyes shut tight.
Then she was blinking against bright sunlight. She looked around and saw ocean waves licking at her bare feet. She could smell the salt in the air as she stood in it. They were on the beach. She looked to her right and saw the vine covered entrance to the cavern. She heard gasps and her head swiveled to the left. Callan was looking at them with his mouth gaping open. Finn and Sloan were before him with weapons drawn. Nuri was in black, her hood and gloves in place, protecting her from the sun. Cassius was rushing towards them. Another woman was with them. Her golden red hair was shimmering in the sun. She was in fighting gear, a sword was strapped to her back, but Scarlett recognized her. Alia. She was the cook who had brought her food in the sunroom. She had served them in the manor. Their eyes connected briefly and then her gaze shifted to Sorin.
Sorin, who was still holding her close, staring at Scarlett not with shock as she expected, but like knew exactly what had happened.
“You did it, Love,” he said, kissing her brow and pulling her into him even more, relief stark in his tone. “You did it.”
Scarlett shoved him back violently, dropped to her knees, and vomited into the rolling waves. The darkness engulfed her.