Page 62 of Lady of Ashes

Scarlett pushed herself up, drawing her knees into her chest and looping her arms around them. She rested her chin atop them as she stared up at Cassius. “If the prick by the wall wasn’t in here, I would have so much to tell you,” she said.

That small smile tilted up a little more. “I’m sure there are other tales you could tell while we wait,” he replied, shifting slightly and trying to hide his grimace.

So she did. She told him of the Fiera Mountains and the Tana River and the Twilight Wild?res. They reminisced over days past, of moving through the night and drinking more than anyone should. They talked about when they were younger and he would take her to pick pears in the groves. He teased her about how awful she was with a sword when he ?rst started training her, and she teased him about how she’d surpassed his skill.

And when Alaric would return, every hour just as he promised, when he would ask where the orphans were and Scarlett wouldpress her lips together in refusal, her eyes stayed on Cassius, lending him strength the only way she knew how. She did not cry for him. She did not beg on his behalf. She gave him this gift of letting his suffering not be for nothing. When he was gone, she would shatter so completely that not even Sorin would be able to reach her any more, but until then, she would give him this. She kept her eyes on him, to remind him he was not alone. She became his ?nal star in the darkness.

CHAPTER 17

SORIN

Sorin stalked down the streets of Baylorin, cloak on and hood up, hiding his features. Beneath the cloak were his ?ghting leathers and every possible weapon he could carry. Eliza, Cyrus, and Luan prowled beside him, along with Arianna, who had shifted to look like Mikale.

Nuri had pouted incessantly about being left behind again, but they didn’t have much of a choice. They hadn’t heard from Cassius since he’d been summoned by the Assassin Lord three days ago. Sorin was hoping it was because he was with Scarlett, but he knew that was likely not the case. He also knew if the Commander was being held at the Fellowship as well, they couldn’t leave without him either. He could only hope he was easy to ?nd. They needed to be in and out as quickly and discreetly as possible. As much as he wanted to kill every motherfucker who had a part in this, they couldn’t leave a trail of bodies in their wake.

Not tonight, anyway.

But Nuri had still been invaluable. She’d spent the last three days working to get as many people as she knew they could trust into place, putting them on the rooftops so they’d turn blind eyes as they approached the Black Syndicate. There weren’t many who would dare to cross the Assassin Lord, but those who would apparently had their own grudges against the man and welcomed any excuse to go against him. Sorin hadn’t questioned it further, trusting that Nuri knew who they could count on and who they couldn’t. If they came into direct contact with any of the men on their side, Nuri had given them a codeword that would be saidimmediately. If they weren’t close enough to say the word, they knew to get out of the way.

Because there would be no second chances this night. There would be no hesitation.

When he stepped foot in the Black Syndicate tonight, he would be leaving with his queen.

On top of that, Nuri had set up an elaborate diversion that she swore would draw out the Assassin Lord. She’d told Sorin not to worry about the details, just to trust that he would be occupied for a good amount of time. He didn’t have it in him to push her further. If it would get Scarlett back to him, then he was on board with the plan.

As for Mikale and Lord Tyndell, they’d been trailing them and learning their routines. Mikale was usually gone from the Fellowship in the evenings to have dinner with his father and Veda before heading back to the Black Syndicate in the later hours of the night. Lord Tyndell’s visits to the Black Syndicate seemed sporadic and only happened when he received word from a messenger. They had eyes on them tonight with plans in place to keep them occupied if needed as well.

“Archers on the rooftops,” Eliza muttered beside him.

“I see them. It appears they are Nuri’s,” Sorin replied, a lethal calmness settling over him.

They rounded a corner and found themselves on the main road through the Syndicate. The last time he’d been here was in the light of day. Tonight they were under the cover of the waning moon.

He was immediately pulled into memories of Scarlett bringing him here the ?rst time. Of watching her scale brick walls and ?it along rooftops. Of dining at a little cafe in a back alley. Of watching her care for children.

Of watching the Assassin Lord hit her and force her to her knees before him.

“Easy, Sorin,” Cyrus muttered from his left, and Sorin inhaled deeply through his nose, quieting the ?ames in his veins and sparks ?lling the edges of his vision. The Fellowship was just ahead, and as they drew closer, he could feel the faint hum of wards. He hadn’t felt that before, but then again, Scarlet hadn’t taken him this close to the Fellowship grounds either.

The plan was to leave Luan and Eliza outside the Fellowship.They couldn’t risk their only Traveler getting caught. They’d be waiting for them at the exact spot they could Travel from to get back to the warehouse. Arianna had said the wards took effect as soon as she’d crossed the gates to the grounds, and as they drew closer, two armed men stood, exactly as Nuri said they would be. She was going to try to have people in place, but she couldn’t promise anything.

And Sorin really didn’t give a fuck at this point. He stepped towards them, Eliza at his side. The men reached for weapons, but before they had a chance to draw them, they had hands clamped over their mouths and daggers in their hearts. Sorin would have preferred to slit their throats and listen to them drown in their own blood, but he supposed a blood trail would be just as problematic as a body trail.

Luan and Eliza would be posing as the guards they’d killed, waiting for him, Cyrus, and Arianna to return. Sorin and Cyrus helped drag the dead guards to the shadows where they wouldn’t be seen, and Arianna led the way in as Luan and Eliza took up their posts.

Sorin and Cyrus tugged their hoods lower over their faces, double-checking weapons strapped beneath their cloaks. His ?ames instantly guttered when he walked through the gates, and a glance at Cyrus told him he’d felt it, too. Eliza, Cyrus, and Arianna had taken strong doses of the tonic to make sure they could access their magic tonight, but that meant nothing with these wards. He had to agree with the Shifter Beta. He’d never experienced wards like these.

Cyrus wrenched the main doors open, and they found an empty foyer, but they heard muf?ed voices from a corridor to the left. Arianna strode straight ahead, heading to a doorway behind the grand staircase that wound up to the levels above them. They passed a few men along the way, but they took one look at Arianna in Mikale’s form and continued on, clearly unconcerned. No one spared him or Cyrus a second glance.

When they pushed open the door that led down to what he’d been told were the holding cells, a guard stepped into their path.

“Lord Lairwood,” he said gruf?y with a nod of his head. He had short, cropped blonde hair, and his light brown eyes shifted to Sorin and Cyrus. “Who’ve you got with you?”

“Is that any of your business?” Arianna growled, Mikale’s voice low and threatening.

“Well … yeah,” the man said, running a hand over his head. “There are only certain guards allowed down there right now. He said I’m supposed to make sure everyone has clearance so …” Hetrailed off, clearly uncomfortable with having to question who he thought was Mikale.

“They are with me. Is that not proof enough that they have permission to be down here?” Arianna demanded.

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