Page 22 of Lady of Shadows

“You are the only one he would trust to give himthatMark,” Rayner argued quietly.

“For good reason,” she returned haughtily.

“When?” Cyrus demanded.

She tsked and crossed her arms. “Before we returned from the mortal lands.”

“He hid it from us when he crossed the border?” Cyrus asked, gritting his teeth.

Eliza rolled her eyes. “Careful, Cyrus, you’ll give yourself a headache from all that thinking.”

Rayner stepped between the two Fae as they glowered at each other. “Enough,” he growled.

“Did either of you see her?” Cyrus asked, stepping back to lean against the railing.

“No. The last time I saw her, she was bleeding out in the Prince’s arms right after we’d crossed the border,” Eliza sighed. “Dinner tonight I suppose then.”

“Maybe he can tell you more about her on your little walk,” Cyrus said, now eyeing Callan.

“It does not sound like his opinion of her is very high,” Rayner supplied thoughtfully, studying Callan as well.

“He is jealous, Rayner,” Eliza sighed again. “Jealousy makes people say and do stupid things.”

“If that twin flame Mark is Anointed, Sorin will—” Cyrus started.

“Stop speaking,” Eliza snapped, stepping from the bridge. She gestured to Callan and his guards to follow. “Come. I will show you to the library.”

She led them away towards the back of the palace. When they were out of earshot of the bridge, he said to Eliza, “You were being sarcastic. About Sorin being in a pleasant mood, right?”

“Not at all,” Eliza scoffed. “Had he been in a foul mood, you would have indeed ended up in the river. You did not spend much time with him in the mortal lands if you thought that was a pissy mood.”

Callan swallowed, slipping into silence. After another minute he asked, “What is the twin flame Mark?”

“Nothing that concerns you,” she answered tightly, rounding a corner and stopping before a set of double doors.

“It sounded like it should be concerning to me,” Callan argued grimly.

“I tell you what, Princeling,” Eliza said, pushing open the doors before them. Inside were rows and rows and shelves and shelves of books, reaching to the ceiling. Not just the ceiling of the second floor they were on, but clear to the top of the palace. All seven levels. The ceiling was the same glass material as the bridges, and the clear blue sky could be seen through it. “You find a book in here about it, and I shall answer any questions you have regarding the twin flame Mark after you have read about it. Good luck.”

Eliza turned and left the library, closing the double doors behind her.

“These Fae are real bastards,” Sloan grumbled from beside Callan.

“I could not agree more,” Callan retorted and set off to look for a book.

CHAPTER 7

SCARLETT

Briar had whisked her away so swiftly she didn’t even have a chance to note which turns he took or hallways they went down. She didn’t care anyway. She should have had Sorin summon Briar right away. Why she had thought Callan would understand, she didn’t know. He had said she seemed different. Of course she did. He only knew bits and pieces of her. If he knew the whole, if he knew her entire being… Well, if he’d known her entire being, things never would have happened the way they did.

Briar was silent as he led her up some stairs. She eyed him in his sea green tunic and gray pants. His shoulder length hair was tied back. As if he could feel her gaze on him, he turned those twinkling, icy blue eyes to her in question. Scarlett looked away quickly and continued to follow him in silence.

After another few flights of stairs, he led her down a hallway and stopped before the second door down. With his finger he drew a symbol on the door in icy snowflakes, and it clicked open. They stepped inside, and she quickly made to go to the bedroom.

“Sometimes it is easier to take off a mask in front of someone who knows nothing of you.” His tone was gentle and soft.

She halted and slowly turned to look at him. He had followed her and now stood a few feet away,leaning back against the dining table, his hands braced on the edge. Her shadows reached out to him, and he did not flinch. They swirled around him, searching him, feeling him out. “Do not pity me,” she finally said. “I deserve what was said to me today.”

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