Page 173 of Lady of Darkness

Scarlett froze. This thought had not even crossed her mind. Everyone here knew she and Callan had some unresolved thing going on. Even Eliza, she assumed. She couldn’t deal with Callan right now. The thought of him curled around her with Sorin in the same area was enough to make her breath come faster.

“You are welcome to set up your bedrolls anywhere you would like,” Sorin answered tightly.

“And if I want my bedroll next to hers?”

“Anywhereelse.”

“You are not going to sleep next to her,” Callan hissed between his teeth.

“You do not give me orders, Prince.”

In the glow of the fire, Scarlett saw Callan arch a brow. “Don’t I? Are you not a general in my father’s armies?”

The half-grin that tilted up on Sorin’s mouth made Scarlett hold her already shallow breath, but Eliza appeared by his side. “Sorin will sleep next to her for the same reason she rides with him, your Highness.”

“Sloan and Finn are just as effective,” Callan argued.

“No, Prince,” Eliza said gravely, “I assure you, they are not.”

Callan’s eyes shot to Scarlett’s. “Scarlett? You are okay with this?”

She dropped her gaze to the ground as the roaring in her head soared to a new level.And she couldn’t stand it any more. She couldn’t stand the awkwardness of what stood before her. She couldn’t stand what had been done to her the last several days, her entire life, at the hands of men who had known what she was this whole time. She couldn’t stand the betrayal of someone she had shared her heart with. She couldn’t stand the shock at what she had learned today, the secrets that had been kept. She couldn’t stand the thought of not knowing when she would see Nuri or Cassius again. She couldn’t stand the unbearable ache in her chest that seemed to go deeper and deeper every second she sat against Sorin on a horse. Every time he gently tended to her wound. Every time he cared enough to button her cloak for her.

“Stop,” she gasped. Her hands were over her ears as she tried to force air into her lungs. She pulled her knees to her chest, curling around them. The shadows around her solidified, as if they were trying to help her block out the roaring in her ears, and someone was screaming.

No.Shewas screaming.

She heard Eliza swear. “Do something, Prince!”

What could Callan do against this?

Scarlett.

The screams poured from her as images flooded through her mind, unable to keep them at bay any longer. Veda stabbing Cassius. Nuri bleeding out. Mikale taking her in an old office. A prince sleeping before a fire. Plunging a dagger into Juliette’s heart. A friend stroking her hair to help her sleep. A dark shadow leaping the rooftops with her. Golden eyes staring into hers. A star going out.

Scarlett, look at me.

She opened her eyes, and Sorin was before her, crouched down and peering into her face. His own face and neck were bleeding. Scratches marred his skin where her shadows had attacked him as he’d fought his way into her darkness.

“Hey, Love. It’s okay,” he whispered. “It’s okay.”

And she could hear him. She could hear him over the roaring in her head.She could hear him even with her hands clamped over her ears.

“I hate you,” she whispered to him. “I hate that you hurt me.”

“I know.” He reached out, wiping a tear from her cheek.

“I don’t want to sleep next to Callan.”

“I know. You do not have to,” he said quietly, his hand still cupping her cheek.

“I hate that I want you to sleep next to me.”

“I know. It is okay. It is all going to be okay. You are going to be okay,” he answered.

The shadows were lessening. The others could see them now, but she didn’t notice. Staring into his golden eyes, it was as if they were in their own world. No one else mattered. Nothing mattered.

“It hurts,” she rasped. And she realized she was rocking back and forth when he gently reached for her hands to pull them from her ears.

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