Page 72 of Lady of Ashes

She was out.

They had come for her.

Sorin had crossed borders and lands and torn the fucking realms apart to get to her.

She was out, but her world was still burning around her.

She clung to Cassius’s still body, willing her own life into his. She’d just spent months without him. She’d just watched him be tortured to keep her from having to make a choice that would break her. But she was about to break anyway. She was about to shatter into nothing.

But she wasn’t shattering without a ?nal ?ght.

She had just spent those same months putting herself back together. She had clawed her way out of the darkness. She had found light where it didn’t exist. She had created stars in the endless dark. She had fought for every single one of them, and she would ?ght for this one, too.

The Fates could not have him. Not now.

Not tomorrow. Not the day after.

Not until she was ready to go with him.

She could hear the others whispering behind her. She could hear them saying he would cross the Veil at any time, but she refused to accept this outcome. She refused to say goodbye. She refused to ?nally be back with him, only to watch him fade. He was her godsdamn Guardian. She needed him, and he was going to make good on the vow he made all those nights ago on a beach beneath the stars.

“You do not get to leave me here, Cassius. Do you hear me?” shecried into his bloody chest. “You do not get to abandon me after pledging to stay with me. We have revenge to seek and battles to win, and I cannot do that without you. You begged me to hang on, and now I am begging you. Hold on. Please.” She was sobbing so hard she could hardly get her words out, couldn’t get enough air down to breathe properly. “Please stay with me. I need you, Cass.I need you.”

“Scarlett.” Nuri was kneeling on the other side of Cassius, gripping his hand in her gloved one. “He …” She swallowed, but Scarlett couldn’t meet her gaze. She could tell by her tone she had already given up. “He cannot survive these wounds. That he has clung on this long is—”

“He has clung on this long because he is the calm to my storm, and if he leaves, the storm will rage and will never cease. Do not tell me he will not live. Do not tell me he cannot survive this,” Scarlett hissed, lifting a hand and sending her ?ying back with a blast of water from her palm.

“Love.”

She looked up to ?nd Sorin standing over her, sorrow and pity in his golden eyes.

“Do not look at me like that. Do not look at me like he is already gone,” she begged. “He’s not gone, Sorin. He’s not. His heart still beats. He can’t be gone. He cannot leave me!”

He lowered to his knees beside her, reaching for her and pulling her into his chest. “Scarlett,” he rasped, his tone ringing with heartache for her.

“I need him, Sorin. I need him. I am not strong enough to lose him. I will not survive this. I need him. I need him!” she sobbed in hysterics, her tears soaking his leathers. Releasing some of her magic had cleared her head, but it had also paved the way for this soul-crushing grief to press in on her from all sides. Now, instead of feeling every emotion so intensely she couldn’t separate them, she could only feel one.

And she was not strong enough to endure it. Not a second time.

“Shh,” Sorin soothed, holding her tightly to him. “I hear you, Scarlett.” He leaned back from her just enough to see her face, bringing a hand up to cup her cheek. “Let’s take him home. Beatrix can try. She will do whatever she can.”

Beatrix.

A Healer.

They needed a Healer. But not just any Healer.

They needed the most powerful one. They needed the High Witch.

They needed Cassius’s mother.

She pushed back from Sorin, her gaze swinging frantically to the Earth Prince. “How many can you Travel with, Azrael?”

The Earth Prince was watching her with wary apprehension. “I can easily Travel with all of us here if you cannot.”

She glanced back at Sorin. He must have noticed that there were no shadows or white ?ames when she’d ?nally been able to release some of her magic. The truth was, she couldn’t reach her shadows. She couldn’t reach her darkness, and somehow, her ability to Travel was also blocked.

“But can you Travel with everyone in this building?” Scarlett pressed, because she would be damned if Cassius just endured all of that hell to leave the orphans here now. No. Everyone was coming with her. No one was staying here to be found by Alaric and face the same fate.

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