Page 127 of Lady of Ashes

He stacked his own hands on his stomach. “I know these things, Love, but what thoughts called you to them tonight?”

“I couldn’t sleep. Nightmares.”

He started a little, his head turning from the sky to her. “You had nightmares last night?”

She nodded.

“Gods, Scarlett, I am—”

“Do not apologize to me, Sorin. I did not wake screaming. I did not wake unable to breathe. I did not wake thinking I was somewhere else,” she said, her shadows brushing along her skin as though they were soothing her.

And he never thought he would be jealous of ?oating darkness, but here he was, wishing he was one of her shadows so that he could soothe whatever was threatening her stars. But there wasno way to force trust. He knew this better than anyone. He could nudge her towards it. He could make not trusting him dif?cult. But just as he couldn’t make himself entirely trust her right now, he couldn’t force her to entirely trust him either.

“Mikale was in my dream,” she whispered, snapping him from his thoughts.

“As in you were dreaming of the past, or …”

“The latter,” she answered. “He was controlling my dream. He took my magic from me there. I couldn’t access it.”

“Scarlett, why didn’t you wake me?” he asked, his voice low, trying to hide the disappointment he was feeling.

“He didn’t … I mean, he touched me, but not like that. He held me over a balcony railing—”

She paused at the low snarl that rippled from his chest.

She gave him a side-long glance before she cleared her throat and continued, “He said he was delivering a message from Alaric.”

“And the message?” Sorin gritted out. When she didn’t answer for several minutes, he prompted again, his tone softer, “What was the message, Scarlett?”

He heard her swallow, and he rolled onto his side, propping himself on an elbow so he could look down at her. Tears were pooling in her eyes, and he cupped her cheek, turning her head to look at him. When her eyes met his, he could ?nally make out everything she was feeling, could see those emotions looking back at him.

Dread.

Guilt.

Heartache.

“What did he do to you, my Love?” he whispered.

“He told me that Cassius would die because of me.”

“But Cassius lives. He will wake any day.”

She swallowed again, her eyes darting away from him. “Yes, but he is my Guardian. He will be driven to risk his life for mine, at any cost.”

“He chose that, Scarlett. Hechoseto be your Guardian. That was his choice,” Sorin argued gently.

Her eyes ?ashed back to his, anger ?ashing in their depths. “When he wasten, Sorin. He was a child. He didn’t know what he was committing to, what was being asked of him. We were both children.”

Sorin opened his mouth to say something, but what was there to say to that? She was right. He didn’t know how the Guardian bond came to be, what was all involved in that. Scarlett had only mentioned her dream in the middle of other discussions, and it was not the most pressing matter at the time.

His hand slipped from her cheek as her gaze went back to the sky, the last star winking out as the sun crested the horizon, spreading its light and warmth over the beach.

“Alaric’s message was that eventually Cassius, everyone I love, will give their lives for me. That is their curse for being in my life, for choosing to be in my corner.”

“Scarlett,” Sorin said quietly, his tone ringing with pain as he felt her guilt down the bond.

“He’s not wrong, Sorin. Look at the people already caught up in this mess simply because they are a part of my life— Cassius, Callan, Tava, Juliette, those innocent children. He’s not wrong,” she whispered.

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