Page 20 of Lady of Ashes

Mikale paused, looking over his shoulder.

“Do not let her out of your sight,” Alaric said, his tone low and dangerous. “Should you lose her again, you can consider your claim on her relinquished.”

Fury ?itted across Mikale’s face at the words. “You cannot do that,” he hissed. “I have already fucked her. I have already claimed her. You cannot rescind a claim that has been consecrated. That is the law of our people.” Alaric leaned back in his chair, his hands coming to rest on the armrests. “You may have claimed her, butyou forget it is I who gave her to you in the ?rst place. Do not make the mistake of thinking she is now yours, Mikale. Balam has had to secure her for you twice now. Should it be required a third time, I shall make sure the claim is indeed relinquished by whatever means necessary, which in this case, would be your death.”

Scarlett’s pulse increased at that nugget of information. She may not be able to get free of Alaric, but if she could escape Mikale, Alaric would take care of him for her. Of course, she had to be able to fucking walk on her own ?rst, but that was beside the point.

Mikale was seething in anger at the Assassin Lord’s words. “I will have her back in the morning as you ordered,” he replied through clenched teeth.

“That would be wise,” Alaric answered darkly, leaning over his papers once more.

Mikale tugged her roughly out of the study, slamming the door behind them. He didn’t say anything as he dragged her down the hall to the stairwell. Scarlett knew where they were. She had walked these halls more times than she could count. She stumbled up the stairs to the private wing of the Fellowship, struggling to keep up, to Mikale’s utter annoyance.

“One would think if he valued you so much, he would keep you better nourished,” he muttered under his breath, scooping her up to carry her up the stairs. They passed Nuri’s room, then her own, with Cassius’s across from it. To her horror, he came to a stop in front of Juliette’s room and placed her on her feet. Her legs almost gave out for a completely different reason.

“No,” she whispered, swallowing thickly. She didn’t care if Juliette still lived in the Witch Kingdoms as an Oracle. Too much trauma lurked beyond that door.

Mikale paused, unlocking the door and looked over his shoulder. “Have you made a choice then, my pet? Do I need to return you to the Assassin Lord so soon?”

“I can stay in another room,” she ground out, ?nding her voice.

“You are right. We can.” He turned to fully face her. “Once you have accepted that Blood Bond, you can come home with me where you will reside for the time being. This can all be remedied immediately.” Scarlett stood silent, unable to fully comprehend she was back in this situation, back to having no choices whatsoever, throwing herself pointlessly against the bars of a cage. “What will it be, my pet?”

“Unlock the door,” she whispered, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes as she heard the lock click.

Mikale jerked the chain to beckon her forward and into the room. She and Nuri had personally cleared all of Juliette’s personal effects from it, as punishment for allowing Juliette’s death. It was just a standard bedroom suite now, but memories lurked here. Memories of the three of them sprawled across her enormous bed, going through job requests or reading books. Memories of late night talks and laughter. Memories of fears spoken and dreams shared.

When Mikale started towing her towards the bathing room, she dug in her heels. “What are you doing?”

“You may be the Assassin Lord’s property, but you will be my wife. Pretty Fae marriage customs mean nothing to us. You are still to be mine, and I like my pets in their best health possible; which includes not smelling like last week’s garbage,” Mikale answered, leaning over the tub and turning the cold tap on. “However, I have been instructed to keep you … uncomfortable until you begin making better choices.”

Scarlett was silent as the tub ?lled with cold water, Mikale keeping a ?rm grasp on the chain of her wrist shackles as he began unbuckling the witch-leathers that still adorned her body. When the tub was almost full, a servant appeared with various soaps and towels. She then came forward with a pair of shears.

Scarlett jerked back. “Absolutely not,” she said, backing directly into Mikale’s chest.

The servant paused with her eyes lowered to the ground, waiting for instruction from Mikale. He leaned down to speak into Scarlett’s ear, the hand not holding the chain wrapping around her front, pressing her ass into his crotch. “My pet, I will not be removing these chains from your wrists or ankles so there is no other way to remove … whatever it is you are wearing. You can either let her remove it, or I can take you back out to the bedroom and ?nd much more creative ways to take it off your body.”

Scarlett growled but stepped forward to the servant once more. “As it appears you are not in fact needed for this, you can shut the door on your way out,” she sneered while the servant began to cut apart her precious witch-suit. It was slow going as the material was designed to withstand sword and dagger slices, so a pair of shears wasn’t making much headway.

Mikale snorted. “Were you not listening when the AssassinLord said I was not to let you out of my sight? I will not make that mistake again.” His tone turned dark and foreboding as he said that, and Scarlett glanced over her shoulder to see the ire in his dark eyes.

“Poor little lordling,” she crooned. “Did someone get in trouble for my escape?”

Mikale stared back with disdain. “Careful, my pet. I decide howuncomfortableyour night shall be.”

Silence ?lled the bathing room as the servant continued to slowly cut the witch-suit from her body. After several long minutes, the ?nal cut was made, and she stood bare before them, trying to cover herself as much as possible. Mikale stepped forward, scooping her into his arms to lower her into the tub. With the ankle shackles, she wouldn’t have been able to lift her leg over the side of the tub herself. She immediately began shivering in the freezing water as the servant began to wash her body. The metal of the shirastone against her skin added another freezing bite. Her teeth were chattering when she came back up from submerging her head to rinse the soap from her hair.

The servant stood to make way for Mikale to lift her from the tub and set her on her feet, then she toweled her off, squeezing the water from her hair. She was forced to stand naked while the servant proceeded to brush her long hair out before braiding it down her back.

“What exactly is the plan here, then? How will I get clothes back on?” Scarlett managed to get out between her chattering teeth.

“The Assassin Lord thought of that,” Mikale said with a nod towards a folded black garment that had been resting beneath the stack of towels. “As much as I would prefer to take you to bed like that, I have been told I am not allowed to fuck you again until you have accepted the Blood Bond.” Scarlett smirked at that information. “Do not look so smug, my pet. Touching was not deemed offlimits.”

The smug grin fell from her lips as the servant grabbed the black garment and unfolded it. Mikale held her steady, and she stepped into the black fabric. The servant pulled it up her body where it tied at her shoulders, creating two straps. The gown hung nearly to the ?oor, and the straps created a neckline that showed ample amounts of her chest. The fabric itself was thin and partially sheer.

She would have preferred to remain dirty and smelling atrocious in her witch-suit.

When she ?nished, the servant gave a small bow to Mikale before leaving the bathing room. Mikale tugged her chain to pull her out to Juliette’s bedroom and led her to a small table near the window. She looked out at the familiar view. Their rooms had faced the front of the Fellowship overlooking one of the main streets of the Syndicate. Despite it apparently being the middle of the night, the street was still busy. Sin and wickedness thrived inthe dark after all.

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