Page 194 of Lady of Ashes

“Nowthattarget I remember,” Nuri said. “Very creative that night, Sister.”

“It seemed ?tting for someone who was keeping eleven young women in his basement and ‘lending them out’ as he put it,” Scarlett said with a shrug.

“Wait, so he choked on his …” Cyrus trailed off under his breath.

“I am thinking so,” Sorin supplied.

“Oh, it was more than that,” Nuri said, cackling with manic delight. “Fingers. Eyeballs. His actual ba—”

“I got it,” Cyrus said, cutting her off and wincing.

Such a vicious thing,Sorin shot down the bond.

My only regret is that I couldn’t make him suffer longer.Her voice was dark and cold as it echoed in his mind.But we had another engagement to be at, so he was blessed with only six hours.

Gods, I love you.

She looked back at him from her horse, and he could clearly see the look she shot him. His blood heated at the sight of it.

“Calm down,” Cyrus muttered. “I am not going to ride beside you smellingthatall day.”

Scarlett snorted a laugh as she fell back into conversation with Nuri and Juliette.

“This is good for her,” Cyrus said after a time.

“It is,” Sorin agreed. “A small sense of normalcy in the midst of whatever this is.”

“Are we going to do anything about the Night Child that has been following us since we entered the territory?”

“I am assuming he is reporting back to the Contessa. Until he proves otherwise, we will let him be,” Sorin answered. “Nuri has seen him. So have Luan and Talwyn.”

Sorin had scented him a few minutes after they’d crossed, and he caught flashes of movement in the trees along the road they traveled. He knew the Night Child ahead of them had immediately marked him as well, and Luan and Talwyn were as trained as he and Cyrus were. If Juliette or Scarlett had noticed him, they hadn’t given any indication, and Sorin was content to let her have this time to not worry about anything.

Twilight was just settling over the land when they crested a small hill and looked down on a sprawling villa below. A high stone wall surrounded the property with iron gates at the entrance. The place looked deserted. There were no guards at those gates, no movement beyond them.

“Do not tell me we just traveled all day to spend the night on the ground,” Scarlett grumbled when Sorin brought his horse to a stop beside her.

“We knew she might not be here,” he replied, tossing her a pear. They’d stopped to eat several hours ago, but they had all agreed to push through dinner and eat when they arrived at the villa.

She caught the pear and took a bite as she mused, “Any chance we could still sleep in there rather than in the dirt?”

“You want to break into the Contessa’s villa?” Cyrus asked in amusement.

“No,” she admonished. “I want to see if someone is home and ask if we can sleep in a comfortable bed.” She took another bite of the pear. “Then if no one is home, yes, I want to break in.”

Cyrus laughed, sliding down from his horse. They were going to walk the remaining distance and let the horses start to cool down. Cyrus took Scarlett’s reins from her when she dismounted, and Sorin slid to the ground as well.

“Do you mean to tell me you never slept on the ground when traveling for all your jobs with the Wraiths?” Cyrus asked.

“Rarely,” Scarlett said, her eyes scanning the countryside. “My sisters always found beds.”

“So I heard,” Cyrus said. “And you?”

Scarlett shrugged as she said with a wink, “I broke into villas.” Then she sauntered over to join Nuri and Juliette.

“Rosalyn is not here,” Talwyn said.

Sorin turned to face her and Luan making their way over, Luan leading both of their horses.

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