Page 181 of Lady of Ashes

“That is why? Because he … Alaric placed a Mark on me?” The man nodded, his lips pressed into a taut line.

“The headaches?”

“From your Avonleyan gifts draining. The headaches are the ?rst sign of needing your Source.”

“Thank you,” she whispered, tears of utter relief welling in her eyes.

She reached out, laying her palm against the glass.

He brought his hand to hers. Her hand looked tiny against his re?ection. “When night and darkness meet, when dreams and stars collide, when ashes meld with shadows, you will ?nd me waiting.”

They had stayed only another hour after the man had disappeared from the mirror gate. Scarlett had known better than to ask if she could borrow any of the books from that chamber, known Ashtine would decline. But the princess had said she would be happy to escort her to the chamber whenever Scarlett wished, so she had left that for another day.

Now she raced for the door the moment she stepped through the ?re portal Sorin had created. He’d brought them to their rooms in the Black Halls, and Scarlett was in the hallway before Sorin had even closed the portal.

She burst through Cassius’s door without knocking. Cassius shot up from the chair he’d been sitting in. Cyrus, Eliza, and Rayner did the same. She didn’t take the time to think about what they might all be doing in here. She was already pulling her tunic over her head, leaving just the band around her breasts.

Cassius and Cyrus had both been coming towards her, but Cyrus faltered as she dropped the tunic to the ?oor. Cassius, however, was unfazed by her utter lack of propriety as always.

“What is wrong?” he demanded, taking her shoulders and leaning back to inspect her.

“What Marks do you see, Cassius?”

Sorin had taken his time following, the door just now clicking shut behind him. He noted her shirt on the ?oor, but said nothing, leaning back against the door, crossing his arms.

“Sorin?” Cyrus asked, but the prince just shook his head before nodding to Cassius to answer her question.

“Like your twin ?ame Mark?” Cassius asked, his eyes dropping to her left hand.

“Yes, but more like this,” Scarlett answered. “Do you see this Mark?” She lifted her right arm, exposing her forearm.

“The three stars and triangle there? Of course I see them,” Cassius answered. “Why?”

Sorin pushed off the door at that. “You can see them?” Cassius looked over at him. “I take it that is of signi?cance.”

“No one else can see them, Cass,” Scarlett breathed. “Which others can you see?”

“This one,” he answered, brushing two ?ngers along her collarbone. “Yes,” Scarlett nodded. She twisted to show him her back. “And there?” His calloused ?ngers skimmed over the Guardian Mark along the base of her spine.

“You have that one, too,” she said softly, twisting back around. “More,” she urged. “Do you see any more?”

Cassius took a small step back to see her better, before reaching out with one ?nger and swiping it above her left hip. “This one.”

At his words, Scarlett summoned her shadows, shaping them into a panther who carried the book she’d kept most guarded. She took it from the panther’s maw, the shadows immediately dissipating. Her headache had only increased throughout the day. There was a throbbing behind her eyes, and she felt like she could sleep for days.

“Find it in here,” she said, shoving the book at Cassius. “Find that Mark and show it to me.”

Cassius studied her a moment longer, before moving back to the chair he’d been sitting in and beginning to thumb through the book. Scarlett made her way to the sofa, plopping down on her back and closing her eyes.

“So … who is ?lling us in here?” Cyrus asked.

Scarlett felt him lift her feet, settling them into his lap. A second later, Sorin was lifting her into a sitting position. He slipped her tunic back over her head before lowering her down onto a pillow against his legs.

“I met the man who visits Scarlett in her dreams,” Sorin answered.

Scarlett only half-listened, letting Sorin handle explaining everything they’d learned in the Wind Court today. Sorin’s ?ngers were moving soothingly along her hairline as they discussed the man, the keys, her. She didn’t offer anything to the conversation. No input. No insights.

They were going to ?nd the Contessa in two days. All she really cared about at this point was being able to hold her own andpreserve her power levels so she could use them when needed. It was the main reason she had asked Nuri and Juliette to join her. It wasn’t that she didn’t think they couldn’t handle it, but if she wasn’t at full strength, they’d need more. She needed people she could work with seamlessly. There was really only Nuri and Juliette for that.

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