Page 27 of Lady of Ashes

Come on, Scarlett. One word. Just one. Please.

“Alaric,” she gasped, and when she said it, something was shoved into her mouth, forcing liquid down the back of her throat. It tasted of copper and metal, and her mouth was forced closed before she could spit it out.

“Swallow, Scarlett. Drink it down.” Alaric’s voice was low and coaxing in her ear. She fought against his hold and new hands gripped her, holding her down. She had no choice but to swallow whatever it was they’d given her.

“That’s good. Good, Scarlett,” the Assassin Lord praised, as though she were indeed a prized pet.

Something smooth was pressed into her mouth again, more liquid shooting down her throat, forcing her to swallow it again. Two more times of the same before she was ?nally able to crack her eyes open and the room didn’t spin around her.

She was still held in Alaric’s lap, and he looked frantic, sweat beading at his brow. Mikale was above her, holding her shoulders down. Above them both stood Tarek, blood leaking down his arm for whatever reason.

A look from Alaric had Mikale releasing her shoulders, and the Assassin Lord helped her slowly sit up. He gently smoothed her hair back. She was so weak she couldn’t even raise her arms with the heavy shirastone shackles on her wrists.

“Get her some water, Tarek,” Alaric ordered calmly. “Mikale, go get her some food.”

A moment later, a glass was being handed to Alaric, and he brought it to her lips. “Drink or we force it down again, Scarlett,” he commanded, tipping the glass up. She took a small sip, then a big gulp as the cool water rinsed the coppery taste from her mouth. He pulled the glass back before she could take another gulp.

“Small sips, or it all comes back up,” he chided, setting the glass on the ?oor. She followed it with her eyes and saw a metal syringe beside it.

“What did you give me?” she rasped at the sight of it.

What fresh hell would await her now?

“It is nothing that will harm you, Scarlett,” Alaric answered, adjusting the fabric of the black gown she was wearing, as if he actually cared about her propriety after he’dgivenher to Mikale.

“Bullshit,” she breathed, trying to free herself from his hold once more.

The Assassin Lord chuckled low in his throat as Mikale came back into the room with a covered platter. He placed it down on the ?oor, removing the lid to reveal a small plate of eggs and toast.

Scarlett shook her head in refusal when Alaric began stabbing pieces of egg with the fork. He sighed, bringing the fork to her mouth. “You will eat, Scarlett. While I require your submission, I also require you healthy and well.” When she still refused the food, he calmly set the fork back down. “Very well, Death’s Maiden. We will do this the hard way.”

He stood, bringing Scarlett with him and carrying her to the wall where he could hook her chains to the wall. As he secured the shackles once more, he said over his shoulder to Tarek, “Send a message to Balam to come here immediately.”

When he stood, Mikale cleared his throat. “Balam will be needed for more than one reason.”

“I am assuming you are referencing the Mark along her collarbone?” Alaric ground out, walking behind his desk. He braced his hands on it, leaning forward, his head hanging down.

“You knew?”

“I just saw it this morning,” he admitted. “That suit she was wearing hid it from me the past few days.”

“It is why I brought her down early this morning,” Mikale supplied.

“It is a good thing you did. She is more powerful than I anticipated her to be at this point. She will need to be fed more often to keep it in check,” Alaric answered, lifting his head. He looked over to Scarlett, a look of wariness about him.

Scarlett was too exhausted to care. She leaned her head back against the wall, closing her eyes once more. With the water and whatever it was they’d forced her to swallow, the delirium had lifted. Her head was quiet once more, and she found herself wishing it weren’t. The hallucination of his voice had been comforting to her soul.

“I want extra security around the Fellowship and an extra guard stationed outside this room at all times, two more in the hall. When she goes up with you, the same. No one gets near her without us knowing about it,” Alaric ordered.

“You already have three guards—”

“I know what security is already in place,” Alaric said harshly. “You underestimated them once. I am not as foolish as you.”

Mikale bristled at the insult but said nothing. He crossed to the sofa, taking a seat as Alaric lowered himself to his desk chair, rubbing his temples. Scarlett remained silent, trying to focus on the conversation happening around her, but her head was still spinning.

“Do not sleep, Scarlett. You need to be awake to eat.”

“I’m not eating anything,” she retorted, her voice gravelly and hoarse.

---