Page 242 of Lady of Ashes

Mikale glanced at Callan, who gave one nod of his head from where he stood shielding Tava behind him. Then he looked to Tarek who merely shrugged.

Mikale’s head swung back to her, his eyes going pitch black. “You little cunt.”

Her hand came over her heart in mock dismay. “My Lord! Such foul language in front of aLady.”

“When he gives you back to me, you are going to regret every bit of that smart mouth,” Mikale snarled, raising a hand as if he were going to strike her, but Scarlett just smiled, a shadow pantherforming beside her. It probably wasn’t the smartest move to touch that magic right now, but she had a godsdamn point to make.

“There it is,” came Lord Tyndell’s voice when he entered the room with a hooded man at his side. Hood or not, Scarlett recognized Alaric. Lord Tyndell clapped his hands together. “Look at that beautiful darkness.”

They were all here. All the Lords, and trailing behind them, all bound and gagged, was the royal family— King Theodore, Queen Meredith, and Princess Eva. Callan lurched forward but halted just as abruptly, clearly torn between leaving Tava’s side and going to his family.

Sloan and Finn didn’t hesitate in the slightest, though, both rushing forward, swords drawn.

Alaric merely raised a hand, and both of them froze. Literally froze, as if they were unable to move at all.

At the display of power, Scarlett sucked her shadows back into herself. This was suddenly not the time nor place to make a point. She was going to need every drop of power to get them all out of here alive.

But then Alaric was closing his ?st, and Finn and Sloan were crumpling to the ground as though they had been hit on the back of the head. And they were not moving. Their chests were not rising.

“What did you do?” Scarlett demanded, her voice a harsh whisper as she moved towards them.

“Do not move, Death’s Maiden,” Alaric said, reaching up and pulling back his hood, revealing his face to the room.

“Oh, my pet,” Mikale crooned mercilessly. “Did I not tell you that you have yet to experience his power?”

“What did he do?” she repeated, her eyes ?xed on the unmoving guards.

Mikale leaned in to whisper into her ear. “He squeezed their hearts until they burst.”

“No!” Scarlett cried. Her head swung to Callan, who was staring in shock at his guards, his closest friends, dead on the ?oor. “Callan, I am so sorry. Callan, I—”

Mikale pulled back, a dark laugh coming from him. “There’s that curse I spoke of. Simply because they knew you. How many more will you allow to die because you refuse to submit?”

“Do not listen to anything he says, Scarlett,” Sorin was suddenlyyelling to her. “Do you hear me? You are not a curse on anyone. Their deaths are not your fault.”

But they were. Mikale was right. All because they knew her. All because they were wrapped up in whatever this was. All because—

“Enough of this.” Alaric ?nally spoke, his cold, calculating voice cutting through everything, despite the fact he spoke at a normal volume. His gaze raked over Callan and Tava. The latter had silent tears tracking down her face as she clutched Callan’s hand, staring at Sloan and Finn on the ground. “Where is Veda?”

Rage surged through Scarlett, hot and ?erce. “She’s the one with the golden wings, right?” Scarlett sneered at him.

Alaric blinked slowly at her. “Yes.”

“Dead,” Scarlett spat. Then she looked directly at Mikale. “I chased her into the sky, cut those wings from her back, sliced her up, and then let her burn until there was nothing but ashes. Not shirastone, but it seems to have done the trick.”

“That is unfortunate,” Lord Tyndell tsked. “Veda was one of our most powerful females.” He looked at Alaric. “They will not send another. Not again.”

“Pity,” Scarlett drawled.

“It is,” the Lord agreed. “For now we have no choice but to put another on the throne.”

“Your own daughter stands to take the throne,” Drake suddenly cut in. “Why were you all so adamant about Veda being on it? What does it even matter?”

“There is so much you do not understand, Drake,” Lord Tyndell said. Scarlett could swear his tone had almost softened a touch, but that couldn’t be. They were not his actual children. “You were never meant to be involved in any of this.”

“Veda being in the position of queen would have simply made this transition smoother,” Alaric said. “Like it was in the other kingdoms.”

“The other …” Callan trailed off, seeming to snap out of some kind of daze. “Rydeon and Toreall?”

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