Page 216 of Lady of Ashes

“The ?re and water maybe,” she countered. “But when did the shadows start showing up, Cass? Think about it.”

“I … Perhaps you are right, but how did he do this in a dream?”

“It is connected to his own magic somehow,” she answered. “But do you know what this means?” When he stared back at her in confusion, she said, “This is why you’ve never exhibited your father’s gifts. They haven’t been awakened.”

“You think that if you give me this Mark, I will start …” He blew out a long breath, running his hand through his hair. “I think you are right, Seastar.”

She jumped to her feet, gathering both books to her chest. “Let’s go somewhere else. I don’t want the children witnessing Blood Magic.”

“Right now?” he asked, arching a brow.

“Now seems as good a time as any. The sooner it starts manifesting, the sooner you can begin learning to control it,” she answered, striding for the opening across the courtyard.

Cassius fell into step beside her, and she led them down the rocky paths along the dunes and to the beach. When they came to a section far from the Halls, she knelt, flipping back to the page with the Mark. Cassius knelt beside her, watching as she began practicing the Mark in the sand. It wasn’t nearly as complicated as some of the other ones. It would require mixing his blood with the blood of one whose gifts were already awakened. “What do you think my father’s gifts are?” Cassius wondered aloud while she worked.

“I don’t know, Cass,” she answered softly. “How are you and Hazel getting on?”

“She is … formidable, yet I think she is trying.”

“She is,” Scarlett con?rmed. “She cares deeply for you. When she learned that I knew you … She cares, Cass.”

“I know. I just cannot reconcile that fact with the knowledge that she sent me to grow up on the streets. Alone.”

“You were not alone,” Scarlett countered, erasing the Mark in the sand and drawing again. But she understood what he meant. She had felt alone in Baylorin, despite having him and Nuri and Juliette.

“She did not know that was how things would turn out, Scarlett. She had no idea what would happen to me. She did not know if I lived or if I died before I saw my ?rst year of life completed,” Cassius countered, a hard edge slipping into his voice.

“That is a fair point, but …” Scarlett trailed off, studying the Mark she’d just drawn for errors before wiping it away and drawing again.

“But?” Cassius prompted.

“The Oracle had given her a prophecy as to when you could return. That would give her reason to believe that you would live, Cassius. That would give her hope.” When Cassius didn’t say anything, she went on. “And despite the circumstances you were dealt, you not only lived, you thrived. Was your childhood one of dreams? Of course not. Nor was mine. Nor was Juliette’s or Nuri’s. I cannot imagine any of us would have chosen to be trained in how to take life. Well, maybe Nuri,” she added with a slight frown, again wiping away the Mark in the sand. “My point is, despite how you were raised and what you were trained to do, you are still kind. You are still compassionate. You are loyal to a fault. You are stillsomeone I am honored to call a friend, and I do not deserve to call you my Guardian, but I am so grateful I can.”

“Seastar,” he said, fondness clear in his tone.

Scarlett sat back on her heels, meeting his eye. “You owe her nothing, Cassius. If you wish to never speak to her, never get to know her. If you wish to have nothing to do with her, I will support your decision. But I also think you should give her a chance. I think you will ?nd when you are with her, in her element, she becomes much more approachable. She only wishes to know you.”

A half-smile curled onto Cassius’s mouth. “When did our roles reverse, Seastar? Usually I am the one giving the advice.”

“When you spend so much time around ancient, immortal Fae who speak like sages, it’s bound to rub off at some point, I suppose,” she said. “I have this down. Are you ready?”

“Ready if you are,” he replied, rolling back the sleeve of his tunic.

Scarlett pulled the dagger she had sheathed at her thigh and cut a gash along her palm before handing it to Cassius. He cut his own palm, tipping it to allow his blood to mix with hers. She mixed them in her hand just as she remembered the man doing in that dream, then began drawing with the tip of her ?nger onto Cassius’s skin.

She was starting on the second star when a furious growl sounded behind her.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

“Um, Seastar …” Cassius said, his eyes wide, staring over her shoulder.

She said nothing. Just threw up a wall of ?ames and shadows behind her to keep Sorin and whoever was with him back.

Scarlett!That same growl came down their bond, and she slammed a wall of shadows around her mind, too. She’d deal with that in a moment. She didn’t know what would happen if a Blood Mark went un?nished, but she didn’t really want to ?nd out.

Dipping her ?nger back into the blood, she ?nished the Mark. It ?ared brightly before fading to silvery-white against Cassius’s tanned skin. She dropped all her shields when she ?nished, and Cassius drew his arm back to study the Mark.

“What now?” Cassius asked.

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