Chapter 44 Sorin
CHAPTER 44
SORIN
S orin watched Scarlett as she vomited into the sea over and over again. He’d prayed to Anala that he could get her to Travel. He didn’t know how similar it was to portaling, but it was all he had to go on.
He’d known something was wrong as soon as Eliza had led him to the servant’s entrance. In her simple maid’s gown, they had entered under the guise of delivering some supplies from Lord Tyndell. Sorin had been laden down with various bags and packages, sent to accompany the maid. The Lairwood servants, not wanting to haul the items through the house themselves, had let them in to take the items to the kitchens. The servants were too busy to notice or care that the items were dumped into a supply closet and that he had then slipped along the hallways until he found stairs. She called to him. The Mark on his hand may not be visible here, but it drew him to her.
He had kept a shield around them as they’d made their way back out, stifling their scents and movements, but somehow there was a suppression on his power. He had felt other power there. Power from Mikale. Even more power from Lord Tyndell. Sorin’s magic had thrashed in their presence. He had felt it gutter as they came closer and closer. It had taken every ounce of strength to hold that wall of flame, and even then she had been hurt. Her side was still gushing blood as she wretched and convulsed in the sand.
He’d cut their palms to utilize the blood magic of the twin flame Mark, to share his own power with her. He didn’t know if it would work with her not having the Mark, but he had to give her every advantage he could. He’d needed her to dredge up that magic that slumbered so deep within. The magic that they had kept slumbering with her nightly tonic. Her magic had reacted exactly as he had hoped, manifesting as self-preservation, and Traveled her to the sea, to the sun. Traveling— a gift few Fae were blessed with, but one he suspected she possessed when Lord Tyndell had all but confirmed who her mother was.
Cassius reached his side nearly at the same time as Eliza did. The others were several paces behind them. Sorin took a step toward Scarlett.
“What the hell happened?” Eliza demanded.
They were supposed to meet them here on horseback, where they would then ride like hell for the border. As soon as they crossed into the Fire Court, he’d be able to portal them home.
“Things got a little complicated,” Sorin muttered.
“A little? She’s losing blood way too fast, Sorin,” Eliza snapped back. “She’s going to be dead before we cross the border and then you—”
“She is not going to die,” he snarled.
As he took a step towards her, Scarlett looked up at him, and he stopped. Her icy blue eyes were glowing bright. Flecks of gold danced in them like living embers and shadows swirled among them.
“Scarlett,” Cassius said, making to step to her, but Eliza shot out a hand.
“Stay back. All of you,” she said coolly as the others came to a halt beside them.
Ice shards, as sharp as glass, and small flames formed a swirling shield around Scarlett that kept them from coming any closer. Shadows wove in and out of the ice and flames. She allowed the rolling waves through and seemed to welcome the soothing feeling on her legs as she knelt in the sand. She was trying to stay grounded, to remind herself this was reality.
“Holy burning Arius,” Nuri whispered, bringing her hand to the amulet of the god of death and darkness at her throat. It was perhaps the first time she had never had a smart ass thing to say.
“Whatever happens, do not say a word, and do not come close to her, especially you,” Sorin said, eyes narrowing at Callan. “You love her and will not like what you see, but I cannot have her focus elsewhere right now. Understood?”
Callan only nodded mutely, his wide eyes on her. “Is she doing that?”
“Yes,” Sorin said, studying her shields, looking for any sign of weakness, but there were none that he could detect. “Eliza, get the horses. She will ride with me.” They had planned to each have their own horse to ride as fast as possible, but they were one horse down now that they had Traveled here instead of riding. “Nuri and Cassius, you should go. I do not know how this will end, but if it does not end soon, we will have far bigger problems than Mikale. When we are gone, disappear as quickly as possible.”
“Get her out, Sorin,” Cassius said, swallowing as he beheld her in a cocoon of swirling ice and flames and darkness. He could see the pain on his face at her suffering.
“Do not bring her back until she can control it,” Nuri said softly.
He only nodded, then took a step towards her as everyone else took steps back.
“Scarlett,” Sorin whispered, his voice catching as he watched her wild power swirl. Yes, they definitely needed to move now. The Traveling had been a small, quick burst of her magic in the land, but this? This unbridled, continued display would certainly call all the creatures of the realms to them. It was a blast of power that would surely be felt across the lands, across the seas. His own queen would likely arrive shortly at this blast of magic. He feared little, but this uncontrolled power was terrifying.
“What is happening?” Scarlett rasped, her throat hoarse from vomiting. She stared at the shield swirling around her like she didn’t really see it, digging her fingers into the sand. He could see her trying to steady herself, trying to control all the emotions he could scent on her.
“Scarlett,” Sorin said again, dropping to his own knees so he was level with her. “I can explain all of this. I have tried so many times. I can tell you everything, but I need you to trust me. I need you to lower your shields.”
“You have kept secrets from me,” she said. Her voice was barely a whisper, hollow and empty. The shadows seemed to reach for him across that shield. “So many secrets. You’ve kept things from me when I have shared so much with you.”
Shit . This was going on too long. She was sending a beacon into the realms, telling the world who she was. He speared his magic into her shield, trying to snuff out her flames or melt the ice, but the shadows latched onto it like fangs sinking into flesh. His magic jerked back.
“Scarlett, look at me,” he said, his voice calm but commanding. An order. She slid her eyes to him. He could feel ice rising in his veins. “You need to let me in. You need to let me come to you. You are going to bleed out.” He could feel his blood slowing as it got colder and colder, beginning to freeze. She was freezing him from the inside out. Her power was unyielding. An unrelenting wave that kept crashing into him. His magic thrashed as those shadows attacked him now, sinking claws in deep.
“Aditya—” Cassius breathed behind him, but Sorin held up a hand to silence him.
“I can take you somewhere to keep you safe,” he choked out, his lungs straining to take in the cold air that was blanketing the beach. He was sure the others were freezing as well. She was freezing the whole godsdamned beach. “I need you to trust me. I need you to let me in. You did it, Love. You got us out. You saved us all. You kept us all safe. Let me do the rest. Let me help you.”
“These seem to be all the help I need,” she said thoughtfully, hollowly, watching the shadows float along her arms. They caressed her, stroking her cheek, down her throat. They swirled along her torso, her breasts, her thighs, as if seducing her.
“Yes, but the shadows do not love you. The shadows cannot heal you.”
“Oh, you are quite mistaken. The Darkness indeed loves me.” The smile that filled her face was as terrifying as the magic encompassing her.
“Not as much as Callan does. Not as much as Nuri does. As Cassius does. Not as much as I love you.”
“Sometimes love is not enough,” she sneered at him, and tendrils of those shadows began to wrap around him.
“No, Love,” he gasped. The shadows burned where they touched his skin, coiling tight like snakes. “Sometimes love is not enough, but it can shine like a star.”
“The stars have all gone out,” she said. “There are none left to guide the way.”
“The darkest nights produce the brightest stars, Scarlett,” he managed to ground out.
“There are no stars left,” she repeated. “Not any more.” She stared at him, unblinking. Her eyes were glazed. Those shadows danced around her, taunting him as they slithered along his body. She was completely lost in the thrall of her magic, uncoiling from being suppressed for so long. Too damn long. He could feel it waking up, stretching, suddenly realizing it’d been slumbering, realizing it had freedom within reach. Now it was angry at being forced to sleep, at being forced into a cage.
“Sorin…” came Eliza’s voice, warning in her tone. “We need to go.”
“Let me in, Scarlett. Let me help you,” he rasped.
“Let you in? You hurt me, Sorin.” When Scarlett met his gaze this time, her eyes were not icy blue or gold or full of shadows. They were silver, as bright as starlight, glowing and radiant.
“Holy gods,” Eliza whispered.
“I will help you kill the Fire Prince,” he whispered. The last words he’d be able to utter, not even sure if she’d hear him.
But the words hit home. Her shadows seemed to flinch, loosening their hold. Her shield fell to the ground, flames extinguishing, and ice shards sprayed as they shattered. He felt some of them cut his arms, his knees, his cheek, sharp as knives. He didn’t care as he fell forward onto his hands, gulping in the sea air and feeling the warmth of the sun on his skin, feeling his blood begin to flow again. He heard the others coughing and gasping for breath behind him.
“Scarlett?” he whispered, not daring to move towards her until she gave him permission. The shadows had receded back to her, but they hovered, preparing to strike. “Can I come to you?”
When she said nothing, Sorin crawled forward and brought his hands to Scarlett’s face, forcing her to look at him. He grimaced as the shadows lashed at him, slicing across the backs of his hands, his neck, his face. “Scarlett, I swear to you that nothing is going to happen to you if you let me take you from here. I swear to you that I can take you to all the answers you are looking for. But right now, you shall either need to summon more ice and fire than you just did and wield it well, or you will watch everyone you love die on this beach.”
She stared at him, her eyes void of any emotion. “Do what you want with me,” she whispered. “I don’t care.”
“Sorin, we need to go now ,” Eliza snarled. He heard it then, too. The sound of clattering hooves, approaching men.
He wrapped her up in his arms, holding her tight. He looked over her head at Callan and his guards. Callan was staring at him, an expression Sorin could not read on his face as he beheld him holding Scarlett close.
“You two need to go,” Sorin said to Nuri and Cassius as he stood, sweeping Scarlett up with him. “Go before you are seen here. Do not stop until you are safely behind the wards. Lord Tyndell is in league with Mikale. Be careful.”
Nuri didn’t need to be told twice as she swung up onto her horse.
“Take care of her,” Cassius said, mounting his own horse. Sorin could see the grief and confusion in his eyes, but there wasn’t time for goodbyes or explanations.
“Give her to me, Sorin,” Eliza demanded, leading a white stallion towards them. Eirwen. Cassius must have brought the horse from the Tyndell stables. He handed her over to the female and swung up into the saddle. Eliza handed her up to him with ease.
The mortal men watched with wide eyes at the strength of the female. “Get on your horses and let’s go,” she snapped, swinging up onto a chestnut mare with a black mane and tail.
“What of her wound?” Callan demanded.
“My magic will bind it until we can stop, and I can look at it,” Sorin answered, tugging up more of his magic and wrapping it around the gash in Scarlett’s side. She was a deadweight in his arms, staring straight ahead at nothing.
“Love, stay with me,” he whispered, digging his heels into Eirwen, and the horse shot forward.
“Don’t call me that,” she whispered. “Don’t act like you care. You’ve done enough.”
Sorin tightened his grip around her as the horse ran hard, leaping over fallen trees in their path, following Eliza’s mare ahead of them. He didn’t look back to make sure Callan and his men were following. He didn’t care about them. He didn’t care if they made it. His only care was getting the female in his arms across the border alive.
They rode hard and fast for nearly three hours before they dared to stop so he could check her wound and let the horses breathe and drink some water from a nearby stream.
“Be quick, Sorin,” Eliza said, taking Eirwen’s reins to lead him to the stream. Sloan had the horses of the mortals and followed.
Callan hovered over him as Sorin gently lay Scarlett on a blanket Eliza had spread out for him. Finn stood near him, his hand on his sword.
Scarlett was still in that ivory dress, full of blood and sand. She was cold and clammy, despite the heat he’d pulsed through her as they’d rode while he held her wound together with his magic.
“I am sorry I could not get you a cloak sooner,” Sorin said thickly. “Eliza has clothes for you in a saddle bag when she gets back with the horses.”
Scarlett said nothing, staring at a point beyond him, her eyes blank. Her shadows swirled about like a mist.
Sorin turned to the saddle bag full of first aid supplies he had grabbed before Eliza had taken the horses. He opened a jar and the strong smell of medicinal herbs filled the air. He swallowed as he turned back to her, unfastening his own cloak and draping it over her waist.
“I need to lift your dress, Scarlett. I need to clean the wound out. It is going to burn.”
She said nothing.
Then Callan was kneeling beside her, gently gripping her hand. Her eyes met his, but there was no reaction. No note of recognition in those eyes that had returned to icy blue.
Sorin pulled his magic back as he gently lifted her dress. The back of his fingers grazed her skin, and he felt her tense. Gritting his teeth, he poured the antiseptic on the wound. Her body jerked, and her eyes squeezed shut. Instinctively, Sorin put his hand on her stomach to hold her still, and her eyes snapped to his at the contact. It was the first time she’d looked at him since the beach.
He held her stare, and every sound around him seemed to diminish. Her eyes were like chips of ice and radiated with hurt and betrayal and loathing. “Look at that,” Sorin said softly, “some emotion.”
Her eyes narrowed, and Sorin nearly sighed in relief at the slight reaction.
Callan cleared his throat, and Scarlett broke her stare, retreating back into wherever she was caging herself inside her mind.
Sorin could have punched the prince in his fucking throat.
“Scarlett,” the prince said tentatively. “Do you need anything?”
“I’m sure she needs some fresh clothing and a break from insufferable males,” Eliza drawled, returning with the two horses. She dropped the leads and walked around to a saddle bag, drawing a pair of pants and a thick tunic from the bag and unsnapping a clasp to free a pair of boots. She dropped down beside Sorin, pushing the prince out of the way. “Will binding be enough? If we ride through the night, we could cross the border by mid-morning.”
“She cannot go that long,” Sorin replied, using a clean cloth to wipe the antiseptic from the wound. Scarlett flinched at the pressure. “Sorry,” he murmured.
Eliza unscrewed a lid and handed him a jar of ointment. He dipped his fingers in and began applying it to the edges of the wound. Blood still seeped from it. It wasn’t gushing as it had been before, but her skin was pale. The ointment was from the Fae lands and would start the healing process, but it would be slow. “This is not going to be enough,” he said to Eliza. “I can just keep it patched with my magic until we cross the border.”
“You cannot keep that up, Sorin. You know this. You are already far too drained. You need to stop touching your magic until we cross the border, or you will have nothing left to portal us home.” Eliza slapped a roll of bandages into his hand. “Unless you wish to drag her all over the Fire Court and through the Fiera Mountains.”
Sorin bared his teeth at the female. “You seem to keep forgetting who gives the orders here, General.”
She huffed a laugh. “I think it is you who keeps forgetting one’s place. Bind it, and I will help her change. We need to get going, especially if we’re stopping to camp tonight.”
Sorin returned his attention to Scarlett, pulling the cloth back from the wound. She had returned to staring beyond him, her eyes locked on Eirwen.
“What exactly is the ranking here?” Finn asked tentatively. Sorin met the guard’s eyes as he looked back and forth between him and Eliza.
“What an excellent question,” Eliza replied sarcastically. “Would you like to answer it, Sorin, or would you like me to take this one?”
“Eliza,” Sorin warned, studying the wound. “She should change before we bandage it.”
Eliza sent the mortals away, Callan reluctantly obeying her orders. Sorin stood and stepped off to the side as well, waiting for Eliza to summon him back. When she did, Scarlett was standing, her lips bloodless as Eliza supported her. Her eyes met his briefly, and she wordlessly lifted her tunic to allow him access to the wound.
Sorin quickly and efficiently bandaged the wound after applying a bit more ointment. When she lowered her tunic, she shrugged out of Eliza’s grip and walked slowly to Eirwen. She reached up and gripped his bridle. Gently pulling his head to her own, she placed her forehead against his, stroking his cheek.
“I can see why she was kept hidden away. She is strong in more ways than one,” Eliza said quietly beside Sorin, both of them watching her. Sorin opened his mouth to reply, but snapped it shut as Callan approached Scarlett. “Easy, Sorin.” He felt Eliza grip his arm hard, digging in her nails. “Unless you intend to tell her, you need to keep yourself under control.”
Scarlett had turned and was facing Callan, but she didn’t say anything to him. Callan brought his hand up as if he were going to touch her cheek, but she stepped back from him, and his hand dropped to his side.
“Did she say anything to you?” Sorin asked Eliza.
“No. Not a word. She just did everything I asked her to when I helped her change.”
“She hasn’t spoken since we left Baylorin.”
“We need to get going,” was all Eliza said, turning to go to her mare.
Sorin reached Eirwen as Scarlett reached up to the saddle horn. He brought his hands to her hips to help her up, and she froze at his touch, her eyes fixed straight ahead. “You have a deep wound up your side, Scarlett. Let me help you up so you do not strain it until we cross the border.”
“Maybe she should ride with me,” Callan said from behind them.
“She is not riding with you, Prince,” Sorin clipped out, his hands still on her hips.
“Maybe she should make that decision herself,” he replied snidely.
“She needs to ride with the—” Eliza stopped abruptly as she came up beside Eirwen on her mare. “She needs to ride with Sorin, your Highness. As we near the border, there will be threats that he is better able to protect her from.”
Silently, Scarlett lifted her foot to the stirrup, and Sorin caught the slight grimace she tried to hide. “Do you want a cloak before we go? I do not know when we can stop again.” She lowered her leg back down in acceptance, and Eliza tossed him a folded bundle from her horse. He quickly unfolded the brown cloak and placed it around Scarlett’s shoulders, then gently turned her to face him so he could do up the buttons. When he was done, he hooked a finger under chin, lifting her face to his.
“Can you say one word to me, Scarlett? Just one,” he asked softly. “Please.”
Her eyes finally met his and held for a moment before she whispered hoarsely, “It hurts.”
She turned back, placing her foot in the stirrup and hoisted herself into the saddle, reaching back to pull her hood up over her silver hair.