Page 13 of Lady of Shadows

A single tear slid down her cheek, and Sorin gently wiped it away with his thumb. She leaned forward, her forehead resting against his shoulder, and he brought his arms around her. With a thought, her wet hair was dry, and he stroked it, breathing her in. Her shadows swirled around him tentatively. He’d been watching her sleep for days, grateful she’d been asleep for what her body went through to overcome the withdrawal of that drugging tonic. But what had she endured in her dreams? What had occurred to make her question reality so much?

“I hate that you made me hate you.”

“I hate that I did that too,” he managed around the lump in his throat.

“I wish I didn’t hate you because I need you, and I can’t have you,” she whispered, and she pushed herself away from him.

He’d been wrong.

He couldn’t take it as he watched her walk away from him and back into the bedroom.

SCARLETT

Scarlett settled into one of the overstuffed armchairs near the fireplace in Sorin’s bedroom. The fire crackled in the hearth. She pulled her knees into her chest, hugging them close. The shadows caressed her face, her arms. She was safe. This was real. She wasn’t going to marry Mikale. She wasn’t locked high in a room.

She could see it all. That bronze and black room with the uncomfortable bed. The look of triumph on Mikale’s face every time he entered. His viciousness each time he forced her tonic down her throat. Plunging a dagger into Juliette’s heart. Veda stabbing Cassius. Nuri bleeding out. Mikale taking her in an old office. Mikale—

“I didn’t know if you were hungry,” Sorin said, coming in from the great room and pulling her from her thoughts. She jumped, and he gave her an apologetic look. He carried two plates piled high with fruit, roasted chicken, bread, and cheese.

“Thank you,” she said quietly as he set the plates on an end table near her chair. She didn’t even glance at the food. Sorin sat in the chair opposite her, his unbuttoned shirt falling open to reveal his toned body and those tattoos once more. “So you’ve always had those?”

Sorin followed her gaze to his chest where a Mark adorned the upper left side. “I always had most of them, yes,” he replied. “They were hidden by the glamour.”

Scarlett gave a slight nod of her head. “And that one?” she asked, nodding towards his left hand.

“That one is new, but a tale for another time,” Sorin answered, studying the Mark that flowed along the back of his hand and down two fingers. Scarlett gave him a scrutinizing look, and she could have sworn he squirmed a little. “I swear to you, Scarlett. The Mark has a meaning, and I will share it with you, but there are some other things we need to discuss first.”

Scarlett looked away from him to the windows. “You live in the mountains."

“Yes, but when fire runs in your veins you don’t mind the cold,” he shrugged.

“I didn’t mean it was a bad thing. They’re beautiful.” Scarlett still hugged her legs to her chest and rested her chin on her knees. “How long did I sleep?”

“Five days.”

Five days?Holy gods. And yet she found herself utterly exhausted. She found herself wishing she could just crawl back into bed. She didn’t have to feel when she slept. She didn’t have to deal with all of this.

She took a deep breath before she said, “If you aren’t planning to…use me or turn me over to the Fae Queen, why didn’t you tell me about my mother sooner? When you figured it out?”

“Because I didn’t quite believe it. I still don’t know how it is possible. I told you that Queen Henna went to fight Esmeray because the Western Fae Queen didn’t have an heir. When Esmeray learned that Queen Henna had a daughter a few years after she had killed her, she came back once more and killed Queen Eliné’s husband to ensure an heir would not be born in her line either. As far as I knew, she had never had another companion she would have considered having a child with, and I did not scent a child on her the last time I saw her,” Sorin replied.

“You can scent that on someone?” Scarlett asked, her brows rising in surprise.

Sorin’s head tilted to the side. “You will quickly find that you can scent emotions and…other things with your heightened Fae senses.”

Not sure what to exactly think of that, Scarlett asked instead, “So you can’t be sure your Queen Eliné was my mother then. Maybe my mother just had the same name.”

“Scarlett.” His tone was impossibly gentle and overly patient, like he knew she didn’t want to hear or believe any of this. “Only the Fae Queens exhibit more than one power. Even if a Fae child has parents from different Courts, they will still only possess one power. Eliné’s gifts were water and fire. Just like yours.”

“That makes me what, then? A princess of the Fae lands somehow?”

“That is currently up for debate,” Sorin answered. “You are a princess of the realm, yes, but you could also rule.”

She finally turned to look at him. “How could I possibly rule a land I know nothing about?”

“It is your birthright,” Sorin replied simply.

“I grew up in a world where birthright and privilege decided how you were treated in life,” Scarlett answered bitterly. “That is not a world I would wish to be a part of any longer.”

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