Page 138 of Lady of Darkness

Scarlett hardly heard them. There was a loud roaring sound in her ears. Cassius tried to get her to stand, but her body was still trembling too badly. He didn’t miss a beat, sweeping her into his arms. He hissed under his breath at the weight on his leg. “Let me take her,Cassius,” Drake said, reaching for her. He reluctantly let him do so.

She was still wrapped in the blanket as Tava led them up to what eventually became her room. A bath was indeed steaming. Scarlett let the blanket fall from her shoulders, and Drake flushed slightly at her nakedness. “Come, Lordling,” she said flatly. “You’re handsome enough. Surely you’ve seen your share of women?” Cassius huffed a dry laugh and motioned for Drake to lower her into the water. Cassius sat on the edge of the tub and gently began washing her back. Tava seemed as uncomfortable as Drake. Scarlett rested her forehead on her knees and closed her eyes. “Do they know who I am?”

“They know very little. There wasn’t much time to explain,” Cassius said quietly, moving to wash the blood from her hands.

“They know where I am from?”

“Yes.”

“Do they know who my sisters are?”

“Yes,” he whispered

She supposed she should have said was.

Who one of her sisterswas.

“Why did you bring me here and not the Syndicate?” she asked.

“Because Alaric is in a rage like I’ve never seen, and Lord Tyndell is out of the manor for the next few days. Away on some business,” Cassius answered. “You can rest here until shit settles down there.”

She slid under the water without another word. Her eyes closed tight, she held her breath.

One. Two. Three. Four.

She counted until her mind wandered to Callan. She squeezed her eyes shut tighter. Callan holding her close while they danced. Callan saying he loved her. Callan sleeping in an armchair before a dying fire. She could feel his arms around her, his lips on hers.

Her thoughts turned to Juliette. She could feel the dagger pushing through skin and tendon and muscle. She could feel her blood coating her now clean hands. She could hear Juliette taking her rattling last breath.

She had made a bad call. She had done this. She should have done things differently. She should have—

And then there were hands under her arms, hauling her up. She gasped as her head broke the surface, her eyes flying open, pain flaring in her abdomen at the jerking motion.

“What the hell are you doing?” Cassius growled, pushing her wet hair from her face. Tava was pale behind him, and Drake was wide-eyed.

“I just needed a minute,” she mumbled. Her ribs burned as she gulped down air.

“You were underwater for nearly four,” Cassius snapped. “Up.”

He reached behind him, and Tava handed him a towel. Scarlett said nothing as Drake and Cassius helped her up and over the lip of the tub. “Sybil is going to hate me,” she whispered while Cassius toweled her off and squeezed the water from her hair.

“She isn’t,” Cassius said. Tava had left and returned with a silk nightgown and silk undergarments of some sort. Cassius helped her slip them on. The nightgown was sleeveless and cool against her skin.

“How am I going to tell her?”

Cassius had made her sit on the wide edge of the tub, and Tava was running a comb through her hair while he supported her there. She was numb. All over. And this godsdamned roaring in her ears was giving her a headache. She brought her hands to her ears, halting Tava’s movements with the comb.

Veda stabbing Cassius. Nuri bleeding out. Mikale taking her in an old office. Plunging a dagger into Juliette’s heart, feeling her fingers wrapped around hers. The images flashed on replay in front of her, one after another.

Drake was suddenly the one supporting her while Cassius was kneeling before her. She could see his lips moving but couldn’t hear what he was saying. The roaring was deafening in her ears. Cassius brought his hands up, gently gripping her wrists and prying her hands from her head.

“Scarlett, the healer needs to bind your ribs,” he said gently. “Please stop screaming.”

Had she been screaming? She swallowed, her throat raw.

Then the healer was there, and her nightgown was lifted as her torso was wrapped tightly.

Veda stabbing Cassius. Nuri bleeding out. Mikale taking her in an old office. Plunging a dagger into Juliette’s heart.

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