Page 29 of Lady of Ashes

“What did you do?” she managed to gasp, trying to even out her breathing.

In and out. In and out.

She repeated it over and over in her mind, trying to make her lungs obey.

“I did nothing, my dear,” he replied, his tone ringing with innocence. “You are the one who causes so much death around you.”

“Those were not my fault.Heordered my mother killed,” she hissed, with a jerk of her chin to Alaric.

“Perhaps, but it was still because of you. If she had not taken you in, and agreed to act as your parental ?gure, she would still be living and breathing in the Fae lands. She was only in Baylorin because of you,” Lord Tyndell said casually.

“That …” Scarlett trailed off as she contemplated those words. Then shook her head, clearing her thoughts. “No. Stop it. Those deaths were not my fault.”

Lord Tyndell sat forward and gripped her chin once more, his dark eyes boring into hers. “You can spin it any way you want, my dear, but you know deep down that you are responsible for their deaths. It is their curse for simply knowing you. And should something happen to you, the next one will be your fault as well.”

Scarlett suddenly found herself in the Fellowship dungeons, a man with shoulder-length brown hair lying in a pool of blood at her feet.

“Cassius!” she cried, dropping to her knees and frantically searching his body to ?gure out where the blood was coming from. Cassius gripped her hand, blood smearing over her ?ngers.

“Seastar,” he rasped. He coughed and blood sprayed from his mouth. “Cassius, no,” she sobbed, leaning over him.

“You can stop this, Seastar,” he whispered, his chocolate-brown eyes so dull as he stared up at her.

“You’re going to be ?ne. I’m not going to let anything happento you,” she promised, brushing her bloodied ?ngers along his brow. “You’re going to be ?ne.”

“Eat, Scarlett,” Alaric purred into her ear as warm eggs were touched to her lips. “Eat, or what you are seeing will come to pass.” There was a promise in his voice, and she knew he’d follow through. She knew what this monster was capable of. And she knew she’d do whatever was necessary to keep her family safe.

She opened her mouth and allowed that forkful to be fed to her. “Good,” the Assassin Lord praised softly, brushing a tear from her cheek. “I knew you would see things my way eventually.”

Scarlett swallowed the eggs, opening her eyes to look at him. Alaric speared some more eggs onto the fork and before she took another bite, she said, “I am going to kill you. You and all your Lords.”

“Not before I have broken you so thoroughly, you will never contemplate leaving my side again. By the time I am done with you, you will call me Master and mean it. You will know who owns you, Scarlett. And when I claim my throne, you will be my greatest weapon to help me maintain it,” he replied. “Now eat before I summon Cassius home.”

Scarlett did as she was told, allowing Alaric to feed her the entire plate of eggs and two slices of toast. She would do this for now, but she would die before she’d allow him to use her for such a purpose. All that was left to do now was ?gure out how to eliminate herself from the equation.

CHAPTER 10

SORIN

Dammit!” Sorin snarled, ?ames hovering in his palms and embers dancing in his vision.

“Sorin,” Cyrus said cautiously. “I do not have my magic right now, brother.”

The two were in the small bedroom they were sharing. Rayner was in a room with Luan next door, mainly because he was the quiet one, and the two could pretend the other wasn’t there. Arianna and Eliza were across the hall, with Callan and his men in a room next to theirs.

They’d stayed up until nearly dawn going over what everyone knew and coming up with plans. The biggest issue was they didn’t know where exactly Scarlett was. Their best guesses had been the Tyndell manor or the Lairwood estate, but Cassius said he hadn’t felt anything different with the wards. They’d started making plans for areas to scout. Places to search. Ways to get into the castle to check the dungeons there.

They’d ?nally all had to go rest. The Fae who didn’t have access to their magic had been exhausted. Cassius had managed to make a small batch of the tonic, and Sorin’s Inner Court had all taken small doses to ease some of the discomfort. The few hours of sleep they had gotten were not nearly enough, when Sorin had been jolted from sleep, his left hand burning.

He could feel her. It was faint. So faint it was hardly there. But he couldfeelher. She was weak. Far too weak. And heheardher. He heard her say his name. His magic hummed at the sound of her voice in his mind, seeking its counterpart as much as he was seeking her physical being.

And he’d tried.

Gods, he’d tried to reach her. He’d begged her to tell him where she was. There was so much resistance down that bridge between their souls, hairline cracks ?ssuring along whatever barrier was there. He’d thrown ?ames against it, trying to weaken it further, all the while reaching for her, telling her he was coming. But he needed something. He needed a direction to go.

And just when he thought that wall blocking their bond was going to shatter apart, the cracks disappeared. It repaired itself, and a force seemed to emanate from the wall, shoving him back, away from her. But not before he heard her voice one ?nal time, full of pain and pleading.

Alaric.

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