Page 76 of Lady of Ashes

“No,” Scarlett snarled.

Hazel stiffened slightly before turning to Beatrix and beginning to speak with her in a low voice.

Scarlett felt a light touch to her lower back, and she looked up to ?nd Sorin looking down at her, his features tight and wary. “Hazel is right, Scarlett. You need to rest.”

“I am not leaving his side,” she snarled again.

“I know, Love. I hear you,” he answered, his tone softening slightly. “Sleep here. I swear no one will take you from this room. If something happens, I will wake you.”

At his words, the ?ght she’d been prepared for slipped from her body. She nestled back into Cassius’s side, and she felt Sorin gently rubbing her back, making a soothing path up and down her spine. The exhaustion she’d been adamantly ignoring took over, and she was asleep in minutes.

She woke off and on over the next several hours. Whenever she did, Sorin pressed a glass of water to her lips and tried to get her to eat something. Hazel made sure Cyrus was giving Cassius blood every few hours. They tried to question her about what she had learned and what was going on when she’d wake, but despite the rest, she was still weakening. She’d make sure Cassius was still breathing, drink a few sips of water to appease Sorin, and drift back to sleep.

When she rose from the depths of sleep this time, though, she was not nestled on a bed next to Cassius. There was a hand stroking down her hair, and she was being held tightly against a hard chest. She sighed deeply, her hand coming up to rest against the tunic that covered the broad muscles where her cheek rested. She felt lips press to the top of her head and a wave of heat swept through her tired limbs. She could hardly crack her eyes open, let alone lift her head.

“I need some answers, my Lady,” Sorin was gritting out, whispering in an attempt to keep from waking her.

“You can get them from your queen when she is ready to tell you,” Hazel replied shortly. “I would assume you know that I could not break a Bargain Mark even if I wanted to, and certainly not a Blood Mark.”

“She speaks the truth, Fire Prince.” It took a moment for Scarlett to place the voice of the Shifter Beta.

“And do you know of the queen’s true mother?” Sorin asked, his tone rising slightly as he fought to keep his temper.

“I do not,”Arianna answered.

“How is Cyrus’s blood keeping Cassius from crossing the Veil?” Sorin asked, clearly trying a different tactic.

“The same way Fae blood kept the queen from weakening too much while she was held captive,” Hazel answered.

“Are you saying that she is going to need to … do the same thing we are doing to Cassius?”

There was no answer, and Scarlett again tried to pry her eyes open. They cracked open a little bit, and she winced at the light that assaulted her.

Sorin began to say something else, but there was a rustling sound of some sort. His grip around her tightened slightly, and a low rumble emanated from his chest at whoever had entered. Scarlett sighed internally, realizing that his overbearing protectiveness was about to increase tenfold. She felt him stiffen even more, and then she felt fur and a cool nose nudging against her hand.

She forced herself to open her eyes further, and they landed on a black feline with silver eyes. Shock rippled through her, not that she had the energy to show it. Her ?ngers ?exed in Shirina’s fur. How was she here? The bond was blocked. She would need to go to the Fiera Palace and dig through her books to ?gure out how to ?x this monumental disaster she’d created.

“For now, yes, she will need to replenish some of her magic this way.”

Her eyes ?ew open at that voice, and she tried to push herself away from Sorin’s chest.

Juliette was here.

“Scarlett,” he murmured, his hold tightening to keep her in his lap.

She tried to speak, tried to say Juliette’s name, but her tongue felt thick and her mouth was dry. A moment later, a glass of water was being pressed to her lips. She took a few sips, but it did nothing.

“What do you mean for now she will need to replenish some of her magic this way?” Sorin demanded, pulling her back against his chest once more. She tried to push away from him again, but it was futile. She hadn’t felt this weak, this helpless, since that morning Alaric had panicked at her state of wellbeing.

“We can discuss that at a later time,” Juliette replied, steppinginto her line of sight. “Sister,” she murmured, reaching out and squeezing her ?ngers that were still buried in Shirina’s fur.

“What do I need to do then?” Sorin asked. “She needs blood, right? Fae blood?”

“Yes, but not yet,” Juliette answered. “She needs to weaken completely.”

“That is not happening,” Sorin snarled, his ?ngers ?exing against her skin and digging in.

Juliette released her hand, her features hardening. “Do you want your twin ?ame bond repaired or not, Prince of Fire?”

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