Page 256 of Lady for Embers

“I cannot do this with someone else.”

“I do not know what else to do, Cass,” Scarlett said, agony twisting through her soul. “I do not have any other answers to this. We are out of time.”

She had never seen Cassius cry. In the entirety of the years she had known him, she had never witnessed it. But now, he wept.

“We can wait until tomorrow to talk to Sawyer,” she whispered, ?ngers going through his hair again. “Maybe...” She swallowed down her emotions. “Maybe things will look different in light.”

But they couldn’t wait any longer than that because when the sun rose tomorrow, Sorin would be powerless, and she would no longer have a Source she could draw from.

She rested her cheek against the top of her soulmate’s head, holding him close, knowing she wasn’t who he wanted.

She sat on their bed, one of Sorin’s tunics bunched at her thighs while she waited for him to come back from the bathing room. She’d spent the rest of the day with Cassius, and when he’d ?nally passed out from sheer exhaustion on the sofa in the sitting room, they’d just let him stay there and sleep.

In the morning, they would be going to Sawyer to ask him to be Cassius’s Source. She did not expect him to decline. Unless, of course, he was already someone else’s Source too, because what the hell?

She still could not believe Eliza was Razik’s Source. That she had done that without telling anyone, without tellingher. ButRazik?

Even if Sawyer agreed to be Cassius’s Source, it was going to take time—so much time they did not have—for them to get to the point of being able to move and work seamlessly with each other. The males hardly knew each other outside of council meetings and casual evenings of cards or visiting. And the intimacy that comes from the Source bond? Cassius didn’t open up to anyone. This was going to be a complete disaster, and yet it was one they could not avoid. Honestly, a female Source would be better. But the only other option was Neve, and she was acrossthe Edria with Cyrus. She also wasn’t powerful enough to be Cassius’s Source.

She shook her head at everything that had gone to utter hell in the last day. She had felt like they were making progress with all the blows they’d been able to land against Alaric. His one act of retaliation had set them back ?fty paces.

The sound of the bathing room door drew her attention to the Fire Prince walking shirtless towards her, pants on but unbuttoned as he climbed onto the bed. He settled against the headboard, and Scarlett immediately crawled up his legs to straddle his hips, looping her hands around the back of his neck.

She was already swallowing down the tears burning at the back of her eyes, but one snuck out anyway.

Sorin reached up, thumbing it away. “None of that, Love.”

She nodded, her throat working as she got herself under control. “This changes nothing,” she whispered, resting her brow against his.

“You are mine, and I am yours. Bond or not. With or without ?re in your veins. I love you, Sorin Aditya.”

“You are mine, and I am yours,” he replied. “A you and me. All the way through the darkness.”

She felt his ?ames brush down her soul, and she cherished every second of it. Of feeling his heat lick along her ?esh. Of feeling his ?re wind around her, warm her bones. She let her shadows loose to mix with them and felt Sorin tense beneath her, a shiver of pleasure skittering through his limbs that she felt in her core.

His breathing was harsh as he reached for the dagger he had set on the pillow. He drew it along his forearm, and then golden eyes met hers as she held up a shaking palm. He made the cut, and Scarlett brought her hand to the Source Mark. Their magic collided, and she sucked in the same sharp breath she always did when they did this.

Except they would never do this again.

This was the last time she would feel him in this way. This was the last time she would be able to sense his presence, feel his emotions, hear him in her mind.

At the thought, the tears she had been holding back broke free, along with a sob.

I love you, Scarlett Aditya.

The whispered words down the bond only made her cry harder,and then she was feeling him, his emotions crashing into her. And it wasn’t the agony of what was ending. It wasn’t the sorrow she was feeling clawing at her soul. It was everything they were. The love that transcended the realms. The love that had found her in the shadows, that had loved her in the middle of the darkness. The love that ?lled all the spaces in her soul that she thought no one would ever want. He was making sure that the last thing she felt from him in this way was the love that would not dim just because they would no longer have this. What they were would remain. Would still tear the stars from the sky.

She brought her other hand to his face, thumb brushing over his lips as her power ?lled, and she felt his slowing, emptying.

And then she watched as the Mark on her hand slowly began to fade from her skin. This wasn’t like last time. Sorin wasn’t dying. She didn’t feel like her soul was being ripped from her being, but the pain of watching that Mark dim wasn’t any less excruciating.

“Here, Scarlett. Keep your eyes right here,” he whispered.

And that’s what she did. She stared into golden eyes as they dimmed to a muted amber, never to be as bright as they’d once been. She held his gaze as the last of his power went into her, as he gave her every last ember.

And when it was done, when he was no longer the Prince of Fire, she rested against his chest, power thrumming in her veins. His arms came around her, clutching her close. His skin was cool beneath her cheek. Not cold, but not the warmth she was accustomed to. His hand slid up and down her spine. Fingers toyed with her silver strands. Lips brushed the top of her head occasionally.

She didn’t know what he was feeling. Was he trying to ground himself ? Adjust to not having ?re at his ?ngertips? Was he cold?

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