Chapter Twenty-Eight – Mira #3
‘Not even if it’s a choice between trusting me and dying here?’ It was half taunt, half what sounded like genuine curiosity.
Scarlett leant in closer, heedless of the way my blade nicked her skin, sending a thin trickle of blood rolling downwards. She placed her hand against my heart. Weaker – it was already weaker than it should have been.
‘If you’re not willing to do it for yourself, then do it for Lillian.’ A hint of satisfaction laced her voice as she told me, ‘Roran has her. She’s his leverage to assure my cooperation – and Aric’s.’
My grip tightened on Scarlett’s shoulder – no longer a threat, but now the only thing keeping me standing.
I was tired. So achingly tired , and I knew this was the real reason Scarlett had spared Lillian.
Not just to drive a wedge between me and Aric – but because she’d planned to u se her against me.
Saved her up like a pawn to put into play at the perfect moment.
‘You can work with me to save her,’ Scarlett said, pressing her advantage.
‘And not just her. These red and gold Warriors,’ a gesture at the men and women around us, ‘accompanied me from Ravalia and are loyal to me. As you might already have noticed, they’re also particularly strong – thanks to the magic my mother granted them.
They can help you and the shifters destroy Roran’s loyal force down below.
’ Scarlett tilted her head, considering the black veins webbing across my skin.
‘Or you can all die here. The choice is yours.’
The cold sapped the energy from my muscles, the heat from my anger. I glanced past Scarlett – towards my surviving companions – then down at the forest floor, where the shifters were still battling for their lives. This was about more than me and Scarlett. It was about Kalure.
And Lillian.
‘I accept your offer of a truce. I’ll work with you to kill Roran.’ And then I’ll find a way of dealing with you .
‘Smart choice.’ Scarlett’s smile was positively feline.
‘Perhaps in time you will come to trust me again. Aric has.’ With that last verbal slap, she stepped away from me.
I let out a gasp as warmth – life-saving, wonderful warmth – flooded back into my body, the black veins disappearing as if they had never even existed.
Aric immediately moved to Scarlett’s side, watching me with open wariness. I felt Cassius come to stand next to me, Jadis and Odessa taking defensive positions at my back.
‘What can you offer as part of this alliance?’ I lowered my dagger, addressing Scarlett rather than Aric.
Somehow, it was easier to look at her – to face the coolness in her expression, and even the faint glimmer of enjoyment in her eyes.
Anything was easier than seeing the hatred and distrust in his.
‘Quite a lot,’ she replied. ‘In addition to my contingent of loyal Warriors, I’m living in the Kalurian palace with Roran. I have inside access that you desperately need, considering my brother has an uncanny knack for finding and killing Temple spies.’
Cassius folded his arms, regarding Scarlett with thinly disguised loathing. But even he didn’t contradict her.
‘Assist the shifters,’ Scarlett ordered her red and gold Warriors. ‘Leave none of Roran’s force alive. Not a single Warrior can report back to him – is that understood?’
Arms slapped against armoured chests in a Ravalian gesture of obedience. Scarlett and I looked on as her Warriors began climbing down the trees. Ten remained to guard their princess, waiting across the central sky bridge.
‘Wait,’ I called and Scarlett glanced over her shoulder at me. ‘How will you explain this to Roran? If Lillian’s life is on the line–’
‘It shouldn’t be difficult to convince my brother that your people fought us off and I escaped with a severely diminished force.
Especially when none of his loyal Warriors remain to contradict me.
’ The sound of steel grating against steel drifted up from below, and Scarlett’s lip curled in satisfaction.
‘Cassius managed to wound a few of the Warriors accompanying me back to Taiga, which should make my case even more convincing,’ Scarlett added, with a cold glance at her younger brother.
She turned back to me. ‘But you just focus on surviving – you can’t kill Roran if you’re dead. ’
With a cool smile for Cassius, and a nod for me, she strode towards her remaining Warriors. Aric matched her steps with unsettling synchronicity, his hand resting on his sword.
I looked on from a distance, my emotions in turmoil. My heart squeezed as I noticed the way Aric helped Scarlett down the treetop steps. Apparently his warmth and softness hadn’t disappeared altogether.
It was just no longer reserved for me.
Cassius drew closer to my side, keeping his voice low. ‘You realise this truce will dissolve eventually.’
‘I know,’ I said grimly. ‘I’ll be ready when it does.’
Cassius studied my face for a moment. Then he glanced back at Scarlett and Aric’s distant figures, tracking their every movement with narrowed eyes. ‘Will you be ready to stand against both of them?’
‘Aric will come to his senses,’ I said, my heart tight as a vice. More quietly, I said, ‘He has to.’
‘And if he doesn’t?’
The continuing sound of fighting provided a welcome distraction. Relief filled me as my shifters and Scarlett’s Warriors gradually overcame Roran’s forces, the tide of the battle turning, just as Scarlett had promised it would.
But I had no answer for Cassius. Not yet.