Page 248 of Lady of Ashes

It wasn’t lost on her that Maliq had not shown up. Another abandonment that sliced away at her soul.

What was left of it after killing Sorin anyway.

It didn’t seem real. It had all seemed to happen in slow motion. The chaos of battle around them. Sorin ?ghting his way to Scarlett, slashing through earth magic with such ferocity that Talwyn knew nothing would keep him from reaching her. He shouldn’t have been able to ?ght magic without his ring. Even trained as a Fae warrior, he shouldn’t have been able to break through the vines they sent to bind him. But the rage, the desperation, the need to protect his twin ?ame at all costs had driven him forward. He would have found a way to burn the world to the ground to get to her. Nothing would have kept him from reaching his twin ?ame.

Nothing but death.

She hadn’t realized what she’d done until it was over. Until he was falling to his knees. Until Scarlett had started screaming. Until Azrael had met her eyes. His brown eyes were full, not of accusation, but sympathy.

Because she had not planned that. That was not supposed to happen. And she couldn’t stop seeing Sorin drop to his knees. She couldn’t stop hearing Scarlett’s screams. Couldn’t keep memories of hide-and-seek and frozen cream and the name ‘Little Whirlwind’ from her mind.

“I have been trying to reach you for days,” Azrael said, pulling her from memories she could not hide from. He still held twin swords in his hands at his sides. “You locked me out of the Halls. Of … everywhere.”

“I told you that you were no longer the person I could depend on,” she retorted coldly, pushing down every emotion trying to war inside of her. Letting the numbness settle in.

“And he is?” Azrael demanded, a jerk of his chin at Tarek. “The one who let you believe he was dead for an entire decade? The one who left you? Broke your heart? Abandoned you? Lied to you about—”

“Let’s not speak of who has lied to whom here,” Talwyn sneered, cutting him off.

“He is using you, Talwyn,” Azrael insisted. “You have to know that.”

“The Prince speaks truth,” came Ashtine’s lilt when she appeared at Azrael’s side.

Talwyn blinked in surprise. “You are still here.”

“I told you my loyalty resides with you,” she replied.

“But … you do not agree with this war.”

“I do not agree with your choices,” Ashtine agreed. “But my friendship with you does not rely upon conditions.”

And Talwyn was unsure of how to answer that, because every relationship in her life had been built on conditions, hers or someone else’s. A relationship was built with her out of necessity. Eliné and Sorin had taken her in because she needed to be trained to rule. Relationships with the other rulers had been built for the purpose of building alliances and loyalty. And Azrael? Well, out of a mutual need. She needed a Second, and he was the Earth Prince. She was under no illusion that he would have given her the time of day had she not been a queen.

“They got away!” the youngest of the Lords was bellowing, raging across the room where Shirina had nearly backed them into a corner. He whirled on who Talwyn now knew was the Assassin Lord of the Black Syndicate, Alaric. Tarek had introduced them when she had Traveled them here three days ago. “You cannot tell me this was part of your plan,” the young Lord was snarling, his ?nger pointed at Alaric in accusation.

“Calm down,” Alaric said coldly. “We still have the keys.”

Talwyn looked down at Tarek’s hand where the six amulets were indeed still clasped tightly in his ?st. Fury at Scarlett having stolenfrom her ?ooded through her veins. She had known immediately where the Fae key was, as soon as Scarlett had explained the amulets to her. It had been her mother’s, passed down to Talwyn with the Semiria ring. She never wore the thing, not one to need useless embellishments. It was why Ashtine had never seen it, would not have known that Talwyn possessed it.

“We are still missing one,” the young Lord retorted.

“Scarlett will bring it to us,” Alaric said, clearly not worried in the slightest. “And until she does, Queen Talwyn can begin working on how to shift them into their original states. This is not a setback.”

“Not a setback?” the Lord snarled. “How many times will you let her go until you keep her?”

“You mean how long until I will allow you to fuck her again?” Alaric asked, his brow arching. “That is what you are really asking, is it not?” The young Lord bristled as Alaric stepped closer to him, his tone going lethal. “Do not forget whom you serve here, Mikale, and in case you need the reminder, it is not the cunt of what belongs to me.”

The Lord’s eyes dropped to the ground.

“He mourns his sister,” the older Lord said, stepping forward. “He forgets his place.”

“Then he would do well to remember it, or he will join her,” Alaric said coldly. He turned towards a shadowed corner of the room. “As foryou. You will ?ght with us next time,Contessa.”

“You cannot honestly expect me to ?ght her, Alaric,” Death’s Shadow drawled, and Talwyn couldn’t hide the surprise at how she spoke to her master. Although, it shouldn’t really shock her, considering how Scarlett spoke to him herself. “Did you want me to kill her? You know that cannot happen.”

“Of course I do not want her dead. Part of the reason for your existence these past years has been to keep the girl alive,” Alaric said. “But when Fae Royalty stand against us again, I expect you to do what you were trained to do.”

Nuri scoffed. “And the spirit animals? I suppose you wanted me to stand against them as well?”

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