Page 42 of Lady of Ashes

Scarlett.”

She was wrapped in blankets in that bed she slept in with Mikale. True to his word, Alaric had made sure she was taken care of. Physically, at least. She was still chained to the wall in his dungeon study every day, but she received three small meals a day that Alaric himself fed to her. He refused to let anyone else do so, ensuring he was associated with her receiving food. Every day at varying hours, Mikale hauled her to Juliette’s old room to sleep. Sometimes it was night. Sometimes the sun was shining through the windows. The dungeon study was located near the stairwell that led to Alaric’s private wing of the Fellowship. Some were given the “honor” of having their rooms in his wing. The Wraiths and Cassius were some of those gifted such an honor. But with the dungeon study just outside his private wing, there was no one else in the hallways other than the guards Alaric had ordered to be on duty at all times. She didn’t recognize any of them, which meant they likely didn’t know who she was either. There was no one else to see that she was here. No one to recognize she was back. No one to let it slip in a passing conversation where she was. No way to get word to Cassius and Nuri. No way to tell Sorin.

But here, in the depths of sleep, she could pretend. She could pretend it was his body pressed to hers. She could pretend she was in a palace in the mountains instead of some extravagant manor in the heart of the Black Syndicate. She could pretend she wasn’t alone in the darkness. She could pretend the stars still shone in alltheir brilliance. She could pretend she could truly hear his voice, and this wasn’t all a dream.

But now she was beginning to wake. She was slowly coming up out of that slumber, and she clung to it with desperation. She needed to hear his voice one more time. Just one more time before she had to face another day without him.

“Scarlett.”

But her soul didn’t sigh in relief at his voice. She didn’t feel the comfort that usually came from his slight accent skittering along her bones.

“Scarlett.”

But that was his voice, and she was no longer in the depths of sleep. “Scarlett. Wake up. I am here. We need to go.”

She felt her shoulders gently being shaken, ?ngers skating down her cheek.

“Scarlett, please wake up. We need to go before we are discovered.” Her breath caught in her chest, and she slowly cracked her eyes open.

The room was dark, but in the glow of the ?re in the hearth she could make out piercing, golden eyes staring down at her. Raven black hair fell across his forehead and into his eyes that were full of urgency. She didn’t dare move. Because this? This wasn’t possible. There is no way he could have gotten into the Fellowship undetected.

“Come, Scarlett,” he whispered, reaching for her and helping her to a sitting position, her legs hanging over the side of the bed. He ran his hands down her arms, his ?ngers skimming the shirastone at her wrists before clasping her hands in his. “Are you going to say anything?”

She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Because this didn’t feel right. Something was off. Something was wrong. She just couldn’t put her ?nger on what exactly.

He crouched down before her, looking up into her face. “We really do need to go, Scarlett. Prince Callan is in danger. Are you well enough to walk?” He glanced down at her bare feet.

“Where is Mikale?” she ?nally managed to ask.

His eyes came back to hers, and he reached to tuck her hair behind her ear. “He is being distracted for the moment, but not for long. We need to get back to Prince Callan.”

“Where is he?” Scarlett asked, scooting to the edge of the bed.

“Where you left him.”

Her brows pinched together in confusion. “How is he in danger if he is in the Fire Court?”

His lips pressed together, forming a thin line as though he was displeased with what she had asked. He pulled a key from his pocket and reached for the shackles on her ankles.

But Alaric was the only person with a key, so how had he gotten it? “Sorin?” she asked tentatively. He paused, looking back up at her in question. “Where did you get that key?”

His eyes dipped to the key in question. “That is not important right now. We need to go, my dear.”

Scarlett’s eyes went wide, and she jerked back from him, drawing her knees to her chest.

“How did you get that key?” she asked again, her voice nothing more than a whisper.

“Scarlett, we need to go,” he repeated, rising to his feet and reaching for her once more.

She shook her head, swallowing down the lump in her throat. This wasn’t him. He wouldn’t call her “dear.” His touch wasn’t the same. He didn’tfeelthe same.

“I told you this wouldn’t work.” Mikale’s voice ?oated in from somewhere beyond.

“She was speaking to him. She said where Callan is,” another voice argued.

Lord Tyndell.

A vision. He had trapped her in a vision again. He’d been doing this randomly over the last several days, and she was ?nding it increasingly dif?cult to differentiate between his visions and reality.

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