Page 204 of Lady of Ashes

Scarlett swallowed, nodding once. He lowered his mouth to hers, the kiss full of his worry about this entire scenario.

“I do not like this,” he breathed onto her lips, so low she barely heard him.

“I know,” she whispered back. “I will be ?ne. I promise.”

With another quick brush of lips, he released her, and she stepped back. “Once we are inside, I will let you know. Then send Auberon in to help us ?nd the Contessa. The rest of you search the grounds.”

She didn’t wait for con?rmation, turning and striding to Nuri and Juliette. In unison, the three of them pulled up their hoods. Black stains against the bright early spring day. They wouldn’t be staying in the light, though. They had already spotted the shadowy valley down the hillside that would take them almost the entire way to the estate.

“It has been so long since we started a ?re,” Nuri mused when the three of them began stalking forward.

“We are not burning anything today,” Scarlett replied.

“At least I hope not,” Juliette added.

“Eliza is going to be so pissed,” Scarlett heard Cyrus mutter.

They moved soundlessly through the valley, Scarlett using her shadows to veil them even more, and when they reached a small copse around the property, they darted among them, disappearing into the trees. Nuri veered off, climbing an oak to the right. Juliette and Scarlett continued forward and waited on the edge of the copse. When Nuri did not reappear after a few minutes, they prowled forward. Nuri was either waiting for them or in trouble. She only came back if they needed to re-evaluate. Unless she’d been detained. Which had only happened once.

Or twice.

“See you on the other side, Sister,” Juliette said, a wild grin ?lling her face, and Scarlett couldn’t help but grin back. Because as wrong as it was to be a killer, to be trained to execute judgment for those who believed themselves gods, she had missed prowling through the night and the shadows with her sisters.

Juliette went to the left. Scarlett went to the right. They would each come in from separate sides of the gate. Nuri would ?nd them eventually.

Scarlett kept close to the wall, her back pressed to it, her breathing steady.

You split up?Sorin demanded, his voice ringing with disbelief and disapproval in her head.Where the fuck is Nuri?

Already over the wall,Scarlett answered.We will reunite shortly.

Why are you not together?

So that we’re not all caught at once, obviously,Scarlett said.If one of us is caught unawares, there are two others to assist.

She ran her hands along the wall. It was smoother than the one around the villa had been. There had at least been cracks in that stone wall to provide the smallest amount of grip to climb up. There was nothing on this one. It was as smooth as marble, which was rather inconvenient.

Glancing behind her, the trees were perhaps a hundred feet away. That could be enough room, she supposed. It would have to be. Slipping into the trees, she pulled her hood back and unhooked her cloak, tossing it to the side. She didn’t want to risk it getting caught on anything.

Scarlett … What are you doing?

It should work,she replied.

Scarlett!

She didn’t let herself think about it, though. She took off running, throwing white ?ames in front of her, followed by ice to wrap around that ?re, freezing it. She leapt, over and over, making the ?ames higher and higher. Steps up. One. Two. Three. She felt them shatter under the impact of her feet, leaving no room for hesitation, as she kept building ?ames higher and higher.

Her hands grasped the ledge of the wall, and she hoisted herself up. Dropping to the other side, she landed in a crouch, pulling a dagger from her boot, ready to throw it, stab someone with it. Whatever was needed really.

But all was quiet on this side of the wall. And there was Nuri, lounging against the rail along the top of the veranda. She pointed to the right, and Scarlett saw the trellis. In a matter of minutes, she’d crossed the yard and climbed to the balcony, striding to Nuri’s side.

“Juliette?” she asked, taking a moment to catch her breath.

“Here,” she answered, dropping down from the eaves of the roof.

“The front door?” Scarlett asked, turning to Nuri.

“All doors are securely locked. Warded, too, if I had to guess,” she replied.

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