Page 130 of Lady of Shadows

But Sorin caught her shoulders and held them tight. “No.”

“Let go of me,” she said, her voice viciously low. She made her skin bitterly cold, and she felt Sorin’s hands warm as they held her.

“No,” he repeated through gritted teeth. Her shadows wrapped around his wrists and arms, biting into his skin. “You do not get to walk away from us. We promised each other. We do not shut each other out. Not any more.”

“Let me go!” she screamed. Tears escaped down her cheeks, and she slid to the ground as all the emotions and events of the day pressed in on her.

Sorin slid down with her, pulling her to his chest. He wrapped his arms around her while she cried into his shoulder. He stroked her hair, and she felt him press a kiss to the top of her head. He brought her hand to his chest, letting her feel his breaths. In and out. In and out.

When her breathing had evened out, he gently pulled her away and forced her chin up with his finger. He looked at her as if he could see her soul.His voice was soothing but filled with resolve.

“I will never let you go, and I will always come for you. Whether you are in the human lands, the Witch Kingdoms, or some sandy desert, I will come for you. Not because you are my queen. Not because you are my twin flame. I will always come for you because I choose you, Scarlett Monrhoe. I choose every flame, every drop of water, every shard of ice, every bit of darkness. I choose each smart ass comment and each middle finger you throw at me. I choose every way we challenge each other. I choose every night of dancing and scandalous dresses. I choose every morning of waking up next to you and watching you master your magic. I chooseyou,and I will always choose you. I am yours, and you are mine. In this life and every life after.”

More tears slipped free. She tried to turn away from him, but he held her there, golden eyes locked on hers. “I don’t know what I am doing. With any of this. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do,” she whispered.

“That has never stopped you before,” he replied, leaning in and kissing a tear away on each cheek.

“I am a mess, Sorin. I am still darkness and shadows and—”

“Scarlett, I love you like the stars love the night. All the way through the darkness,” Sorin said gently. “You are not alone, and never will be again. You get all of me, and I get all of you. We do not shut each other out. We do not get to tell each other to leave. There will forever be a you and me.”

Scarlett shifted into his lap, bringing a leg around each side of him to straddle him, and hooked her legs around his back. He grasped her hips, pulling her close. She looped her arms around his neck. “I choose you, Sorin Aditya. I choose every ember and wisp of smoke. I choose every snarky comment about my cranky mood, and every teasing remark about my love of books and shoes. I choose every time you challenge me and call me on my own bullshit. I choose falling asleep next to you every night and kissing you good morning with each sunrise. I choose to follow you to the ends of this realm and every other realm known and unknown. And after we fade,I will follow you to whatever life is next. I choose you, and I will always choose you. I am yours, and you are mine. In this life and every life after.”

Sorin’s own eyes glimmered with unshed tears as he brought his lips to hers. The kiss was gentle and perfect, encompassing everything they were to each other.

I love you, he said down the bridge between their souls.

Always,she replied, bringing her lips back to his.

Sorin pulled back and, looking into her eyes, he said, “The desert? Really? I hate sand.”

Scarlett rolled her eyes as he helped her up. “Gods, you’re such a baby. You didn’t seem to mind it on the beach that night.” She brushed off her rear and the front of her witch-leathers. Looking around, she said, “Where are we anyway?”

Realization seemed to dawn on Sorin as he muttered, “Shit.”

Sorin was staring over her shoulder, and Scarlett turned to find the male with the black hair approaching. His skin seemed even darker under the hot sun. He was flanked by two sentries, and his face was a mixture of smugness and fury. He stopped a few feet away from them, looking them both up and down. He pulled a sword from its sheath on his back and leveled it at Sorin’s heart.

“I do not believe you were invited to these lands, Prince of Fire,” the male said, his voice filled with calm rage.

“Believe me, I would never come here willingly,” Sorin remarked flippantly. “How anyone could like having sand up their ass all the time is beyond me, although it seems fitting for you.”

The ground beneath them trembled, and Scarlett felt Sorin place a hand on her back to steady her. “You do not get to come tomyCourt and be disrespectful, Aditya,” the male spat.

Scarlett glanced at Sorin.He was picking at invisible grains of sand on his tunic, still in the elegant clothes he’d worn to the meeting with the other Courts and Talwyn.

“Azrael, I can disrespect you anywhere. I would not travel all the way here just for that,” Sorin replied, his tone bored.

A sharp wooden stake appeared in the male’s other hand, and Scarlett threw Sorin an incredulous look.“He has been here less than a minute, and you have already pissed him off?”

“He’s a prick. He is always pissed off,” he drawled.

“You are such a child,” Scarlett replied, rolling her eyes.

“I am a child? You just dragged me to the middle of a desert to avoid admitting you are madly in love with me.”

Scarlett stuck out her tongue at him.

“I am sorry to interrupt whatever…thisis,” the male cut in, annoyance in his tone and all over his face as he looked between the two of them. Then to Scarlett he said, “But who are you?”

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