Page 184 of Lady of Ashes

His ?nger left again, presumably to dip into more of his blood, and when the third line of the Mark began, she felt as if ?ames and ice were being dragged from her very being. Burning cold ?ooded her veins, and she gritted her teeth, her shadows surging in a bid to protect her.

“Seastar,” Cassius gasped, his ?nger stalling. “I feel you—” “Keep going, Cassius,” she panted through her teeth.

The pressure in her head was making bright spots dance behind her closed lids. Or maybe that was her own white embers. Her back arched off the sofa when Cassius’s ?nger began moving again. She heard him suck in a sharp breath when her shadows reached for him, latched onto his arms, trying to protect her but also tugging at his own gifts.

“Scarlett,” he gasped.

“I know,” she panted. “Focus. It must be perfect.”

“Get cups,” she heard Sorin bark at someone. “They are going to need blood when this is done.”

His hands were on her shoulders, keeping her pinned to the sofa. Someone was holding her legs down. She assumed it was Cyrus. “This is the last of it, Love,” Sorin was saying.

“By the gods,” Eliza muttered. “Sorin … Her tears are red.”

“It is Blood Magic, Eliza,” Sorin snapped. “I do not know what else you expected.”

Scarlett felt it then. Blood trickling from her nose, her ears, her eyes. She could feel her shadows digging into Cassius, trying to drag his hand away. All of her strength went into holding back her magic, trying to convince it to let this happen.

“There,” she heard Cassius pant at the same moment the burning in her body stopped, but now …

Now the pain in her head was excruciating. She was exhausted. Her power reserves hadn’t felt this low since she’d fought at the Earth Court border.

“Scarlett. Look at me, Love,” Sorin said cautiously. She felt him wiping the blood from her cheeks, beneath her nose. “Open your eyes.”

“She’s still drawing from me,” Cassius rasped. “She’s too weak to stop it.”

“We’re working on it,” Eliza replied tightly.

The scent of blood hit her senses then, and she lurched up. Cassius was leaning against the sofa, his head hanging between his bent knees. Cyrus had a gash along his arm, blood trickling into a cup that Eliza was holding beneath it. Her nostrils ?ared, and she lunged forward, but an arm snaked around her waist.

“No, Love,” Sorin whispered soothingly into her ear. “One more minute.”

Her head whipped to him. His arm was bleeding into a glass that Rayner held. She wasn’t waiting. Not another second. Her power wells physically ached from the emptiness, and she was desperate to relieve any of the throbbing in her skull.

Scarlett twisted in his arm, grabbing his bleeding one and pulling it to her lips. She sucked hard on the gash, and she heard Sorin hiss, but her magic sighed deeply in relief. Her entire body relaxed as he pulled her against him, keeping his arm in place at her mouth. Her shadows ?owed around her like a mist, white embers drifting among them. It had never felt like this. Her magic felt … energized. Charged in a way she couldn’t describe. The power coursing through her with every pull from Sorin was enthralling, all-consuming. His ?ames feeding her shadows. Her focus was on needing more of that feeling. More and more and more.

“Enough, Scarlett,” she heard him say after some time, attempting to pull his arm away.

She moaned in protest, but hands were pulling her away from him. “You have to force it, Rayner,” Sorin said.

A hand gripped her jaw, making her release Sorin, and the moment she did, she was pulled back into his chest. Sorin held her there, stroking her hair, not letting her move.

“Relax, Love. Rest,” he murmured.

She melted against him, exhaustion settling into her limbs. Her ?re and ice were still depleted, but the power thrumming in her veins? Gods, it was exquisite. Was this what it was supposed to be like all the time? When she found a Source, would this be a constant?

“Sleep,” Sorin murmured again, his hand beginning to run up and down her spine.

And Scarlett let the darkness have her.

CHAPTER 39

CALLAN

“We will be gone for the next month,” Lord Tyndell was saying to the other Lords gathered for the daily council meeting.

Callan sat to his father’s left, idly lea?ng through reports before him.

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