Page 215 of Lady of Ashes

“So that you can do the whispering?” Azrael cut in. “I think not. A snake does not shed its skin so easily.”

“Says the male who has hidden his true bloodline,” Tarek retorted. He had a point. They both had points.

“Leave us,” she said to Azrael. Before he could argue, she continued, “I will speak with him and then with you.”

“That is a terrible idea,” Azrael said. He took her chair, spinning it to face him. His hands landed on the armrests, his face stopping inches in front of hers. “He knows how to manipulate you, Talwyn.” His voice was low, intense. “He knows what words to say, what emotions to play on.”

“So do you,” she replied coldly, holding his eye.

“The difference, Talwyn, is that I would never do so. I have always been—”

“Honest?” she laughed. “Try again, Prince.”

A muscle feathered in his jaw. “I have never told you things just because it is what you want to hear. I am not afraid to challenge you. I am not afraid to hurt your feelings. This isemotional, Talwyn. You have an entire kingdom depending on you. Youneedsomeone else here.”

“That someone is no longer you.”

“Fuck, Talwyn,” he said, pushing off the chair and stepping back from her. His hands ran through his hair in frustration before he turned back to her once more. “You think I am the dishonest one here? You think you cannot trust me? That I am the one who will manipulate you?” His arm ?ung out, ?nger pointing at Tarek. “Make sure you ask him about that twin ?ame bond during your little chat. Because that Mark does not just disappear. You are smart enough to know that.”

“We could not ?nish the Trials,” she started to argue.

His hands landed on the armrests again. “In the years you had that Mark, it never grew. You never completed evenoneTrial. That is not because you did not have time. Deep down, you know why that Mark no longer graces your skin. Something never felt quite right about it. You have seen a true twin ?ame bond. Twice. You know that what Ordos convinced you that you had with him was nothing compared to what you have seen Cyrus and Aditya ?nd. Hiding from a truth is just asdishonestas keeping truth hidden.”

Without another word, he left the study, the door slamming closed behind him.

The silence was so loud in the room it was deafening, and it hung there, thick and heavy. Talwyn stared at the wall she now faced since Azrael had spun her chair. No one else would dare do such a thing, because no one else would ever dare call her out. Not like that. Only ever him. The one who had never left her alone. She knew he would come back if she asked. She knew he would—

“Talwyn.” Tarek’s familiar voice cut through her thoughts. “Let me come to you. Take these off and let me … He is wrong. Everything he just said is wrong.”

But she didn’t know that it was. Deep down, she didn’t fear that Azrael might be right. She feared that she already knew he was.

She pulled a key from her pocket and strode towards Tarek. As she turned the lock, a manacle falling free, she said, “Tell me everything.”

CHAPTER 43

SCARLETT

Scarlett sat outside on a bench in one of the courtyards of the Black Halls. Many of the children were running, playing with balls, and just generally enjoying the sunshine after having been stuck inside warehouses and secret hideaways for months, if not years. Add the balmy weather here, versus the winter chill that plagued Baylorin, and the children were thrilled.

She had a book in her lap. She’d been trying to ?nd information on these winged men they’d fought two days ago. Sorin had carried her through a ?re portal, and she’d almost immediately passed out. Apparently they had gotten her to drink some of Sorin’s blood at some point, because when she’d woken this morning after sleeping straight through the prior day, her power reserves were no longer empty. They weren’t completely full, but she didn’t feel completely drained either.

The sun had been streaming in the windows, and she’d woken to an empty bed. The sofa in her room had not been empty, however. Cassius sat, apparently holding vigil until she either woke or Sorin returned. He’d informed her that Sorin had gone with Cyrus and Eliza to the Fire Court to check on some things and make sure their forces were primed and ready to face what was coming. She wasn’t completely sure what that meant, but as soon as Sorin returned, she was sure she’d ?nd out. She also wanted to know what they’d heard from Talwyn and Prince Azrael.

“What’s this one about, Seastar?” Cassius asked when she paused the turning of her pages to skim the text. He sat beside her, his arm stretched along the back of the bench.

She sighed. “Nothing helpful. The word ‘wings’ caught my eye,but it’s speaking of different types of wings, not the beings that bear them.”

She began turning the pages again. Cassius was idly ?ipping through the pages of the book on Blood Magic. Not that he could read it well, but he was studying the Marks intently, trying to learn what he could. Hazel was still checking in with him daily. Sometimes he would ask her questions, other days he was stonily silent while she tended to him. The wound in his side was almost completely healed, and his leg was likely as good as it was going to get. She still taught him how to make an herbal compress to apply to the wound while he slept, hoping it would encourage more healing.

“This Mark matches the one on your arm,” he said, tapping on a page of the book. She glanced over to ?nd the three stars below an inverted triangle. She propped her arm beside it, comparing the two. “What is it for?” he asked.

Scarlett sat up straighter, pulling the book towards herself. “It’s how he woke my Avonleyan magic,” she murmured, her eyes ?ying over the words.

“Who?”

“The man in my dream. The Lord of Night or whatever,” she said, growing more excited the more she read. “He gave me this Mark in one of my dreams. It wasn’t until after that, my magic started getting out of control.”

Cassius was shaking his head. “No, Scarlett. Your tonic was keeping it suppressed.”

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