Page 79 of Lady of Ashes

“So she is an Avonleyan then?” he asked, seeking con?rmation for what he already knew.

“That is something to discuss with your twin ?ame, Prince,” Juliette replied. “Can you feel her?”

He refocused on Scarlett, reaching down their bond. The ?ssures in that wall blocking their bond were deepening. She was right there. Right on the other side.

“Call for her,” Juliette whispered.

Scarlett.

He felt Juliette grasp his wrist, pulling his arm toward her. “Again.”

And he felt the tip of the dagger gliding along his forearm, blood already welling and running down his skin.

Scarlett.

“She is close,” he heard Hazel call from the bedside. “His heartbeat is faltering.”

There were no other signs, though. Scarlett hadn’t moved. What they were waiting for, he didn’t know. His blood was dripping onto the ?imsy black gown she still wore, mixing with her own dried blood and Cassius’s. Beatrix had healed the wound on her abdomen while she’d slept.

“Again,” Juliette ordered.

Scarlett.

Her eyes ?ew open, muted, icy-blue irises settling him. “Hey, Love,” he said softly.

She didn’t answer him, though. Her nostrils ?ared, and her eyes went to his arm, her pupils dilating so much, her eyes almost looked black.

“Now, Prince,” Juliette said, shoving his arm towards Scarlett. “We will make sure she doesn’t take too much.”

Nuri’s teeth were gritted as she struggled to hold Scarlett to the ?oor.

One would think if she was so weak, she wouldn’t be able to struggle this much, but she was jerking and reaching for Sorin as if she were possessed by the spirit of Arius.

Juliette caught her wrists, pinning them to the ?oor at her sides, and Sorin brought his arm to her lips. Her teeth sank in savagely, and she gulped several times, pulling his life force into her mouth and down her throat.

“Easy, Love,” he ground out, because fuck. It had been uncomfortable when Nuri had drank from him, but she had been somewhat nice about it. Scarlett was just as Nuri had said she would be. She was feral and drinking from him as if his blood was a drug she couldn’t get enough of. Her teeth sank deeper and deeper into his skin, but the longer she drank, the more her limbs began to relax.

“Scarlett,” he said hoarsely when she took another long pull from his arm. Her eyes met his, and they were glowing, bright and silver. Shadows swirled among them and began to seep from her skin, snaking along her torso, her arms, and winding their way down to him. They crept along his skin, wrapped loosely around his throat, swept along his cheek, his brow, as if her own ?ngers were caressing him.

“That’s enough, Scarlett,” Nuri said after several minutes, nodding at Sorin to pull his arm back, but those shadows latched onto him, holding his arm in place at her mouth. “Scarlett!” Nuri snapped, but the more Scarlett drank, the stronger she was becoming.

“Let her go,” Sorin said, grimacing as she took another long pull.

“Sorin, she needs to stop,” Nuri said. “She will drink until there is nothing left.”

“I understand. Let her go,” he repeated.

Juliette and Nuri glanced at each other before they both released her at once, and Scarlett surged forward, her ?ngers digging into his arm. Sorin looped his free arm around her waist and drew her to him, pulling her back into his chest. He slid his arm up until his hand settled loosely around her throat, feeling her swallow against his hand.

“Love, stop,” he whispered into her ear. And he sent his ?ames to mix with her shadows. He held in the groan at the feeling of his magic mixing with hers, but she didn’t. She moaned against his ?esh, her head tipping back against his shoulder and her canines dragging his arm with her. He shifted the hand from her throat until he cupped her jaw. “Stop,” he whispered again, increasing the pressure on her jaw to make her release him.

Her shadows latched onto his hand, but he sent more ?ames into them, feeling them shudder in pleasure, their magic continuing to tangle as he kept hers distracted. She gasped at the feeling, ?nally releasing his arm, and Hazel was instantly next to him, healing the cut on his arm.

“More,” Scarlett rasped, her voice breathy and igniting a different kind of ?re in his veins. And he didn’t know what exactly she was begging for more of.

“No, Scarlett,” he answered, his hand slipping from her jaw back down to her throat, holding her against him as she tried to twist around in his lap.

“More,” she hissed again in demand, her shadows converging on the hand around her neck.

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