Page 144 of Lady of Ashes

On a white chain with silver running through it.

“You have had this for years,” Scarlett murmured to herself.

“Yes. Since it was gifted to me by Alaric,” Nuri said, watching Scarlett as carefully as the rest of them were now.

Scarlett’s eyes ?ew to hers. “Alaric gave you this?”

“Yes, when I was a child. I was ecstatic because it was like yours and Juliette’s,” Nuri replied.

Scarlett’s eyes went wide at that, and she turned, dropping to her knees and beginning to write in the dirt.

“Not this again,” Cyrus muttered.

Sorin lowered to his knees beside her, relieved to ?nd her writing words in the dirt instead of Marks.

On one side she had listed out various bloodlines: Shifters, Night Children, Fae, Witches, Mortals, Avonleyans. Across from that were names: Tula, Nuri, ?, Juliette, ?, Me.

“A child of each possesses them on a chain of wind-kissed stone,” Sorin muttered.

Scarlett looked up at him, her eyes bright with excitement. “They have always been trying to get home.”

“They have always been trying to get to you,” he said. He could hear the tentative awe in his tone.

“Alaric didn’t even know what he had,” she whispered, before a laugh of disbelief slipped from her lips. “I was around nearly all of them for years.Years.So was he, and he had no godsdamn idea.”

“Are you saying our amulets are some of these keys?” Nuri demanded from where she still stood. Eliza and Cyrus were looking on, shock on their features.

“Yes,” Scarlett answered, glancing up at her before going back to the list. “If you’d been around these last few days, you’d know of my suspicions.”

“I have been around. Taking care of the children while you’ve been playing all-important queen,” Nuri bit back.

A snarl had Sorin’s lip curling up, and Cyrus had taken a step towards Nuri. One look at her face, and Sorin knew she was only half-joking. Nuri just gave him a taunting grin.

Scarlett ignored the verbal jab though, her attention completely returned to her list. “I had one. Tula had one and is a full-blooded Shifter. Juliette had the Witch key, and Nuri possess the Night Child one. That leaves a mortal key and Fae key, but that is only six bloodlines. There are seven keys. What could the other be?”

“Maraan?” Sorin supplied.

“I cannot imagine Eliné would have entrusted a key to a Maraan. That would be a little counterproductive,” she mused, sitting back on her heels.

Nuri had walked around them, stopping beside the writing. “Tula had one of these?”

“Yes,” Scarlett answered. Sorin could tell by her tone she was only half-listening, lost in thought like she often got when she was working something out. “She found it hidden in the Lairwood House the night she was held captive.”

“The night Juliette died?” Nuri clari?ed.

Scarlett’s eyes ?ashed to hers before quickly darting away once more. “Yes.”

“So where is Juliette’s now?” Nuri asked. “She must have been wearing it that night, and Sybil never got to see her body …”

Scarlett’s eyes closed, and she tried to hide the slight grimace, but he saw it. He saw that it still cut deep, even though Juliette was, for all intents and purposes, still alive.

Scarlett …

Her eyes opened, locking on his.I’m ?ne,came down the bond. Then she cleared her throat before she said, her voice quiet, “I do not know. My best guess would be somewhere in the Lairwood House? We need to ?nd out what Mikale did with her body after that night.”

“And the other two?” Cyrus asked. Sorin glanced up to ?nd his Second had gone to the same place his wife had, trying to work out a puzzle with the answer just out of reach.

“I need to think on them,” Scarlett answered, pushing to her feet. “The others were all close. I’ve been around them for years.”

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