Page 136 of Lady for Embers

“No,” Cethin answered. And then she felt her power draining as his darkness latched onto her shadows. “I inherited Arius’s gift of being able to sense power and end it.”

He released her then, and she sucked in a sharp breath. “Alaric can do that,” she rasped.

“He killed a Legacy of Arius to obtain that power,” Cethin answered. “It was a strategic move on his part, but also a foolish one.”

“Does not seem all that foolish to me,” Scarlett said. “He can literally take my power from me to strengthen his own.”

“True, but he would have been better off stealing a gift not found in this world,” Cethin answered, a sly grin ?lling his face. “Because I can train you to defend against him, Scarlett. Together we can free our people—both in Avonleya and those across the sea. Together, he will fall, and the Darkness will take it all.”

Chapter 27

Sorin

"Saylah is your mother,” Cyrus repeated.

They were all seated around the breakfast table back at the estate. Sorin and Scarlett had slept late after their night with Cethin. Scarlett hadn’t even changed when they’d ?nally gone back to their rooms. It had been well into the night, and she’d simply slept in the dress she’d worn. Sorin was fairly certain she had been asleep before she’d even landed on the bed, too exhausted and overwhelmed by everything she had learned. Now it was mid-day, and she was eating a pear while the others stared back at the way she had casually dropped that she was the daughter of a goddess.

Because why not randomly reveal that nugget of information in between asking for the juice and taking a bite of fruit?

“I guess so,” Scarlett sighed, head resting on her hand with her elbow propped on the table. He could tell with only a quick glance she was only half here, lost in her own thoughts.

“The actual goddess?” Cyrus said.

“Yes, Cyrus,” she replied listlessly.

“The goddess of shadows and night? Daughter of Arius and Sera?na?”

“Gods, yes!” she snapped, sitting up a little straighter. “I am glad you know your gods and goddesses, Darling.”

“So what does that make you? A godling?” Cyrus mused.

The pear left his wife’s hand, ?ying at Cyrus’s face. “Donotcall me that,” she snarled.

Sorin recognized that slow smirk that ?lled his Second’s face as he leaned to the side to avoid the fruit.

“Of course not...” Cyrus said with feigned innocence.

Silence fell around the table. The others continued to stare at her, different expressions of shock on their faces. Scarlett either did not notice or did not care. He assumed the latter, as she began spreading jam on a piece of toast.

“Did you learn anything else interesting last night?” Cassius ?nally asked.

“More interesting than learning her mother is an actual goddess?” Cyrus quipped. “That is going to be pretty hard to top.” He popped a few grapes into his mouth, grinning at Scarlett. “Canyou top that, little godling?”

“I swear to, Saylah—” Scarlett stopped abruptly, a scowl forming as a laugh burst out of Cyrus, followed quickly by a curse.

“Stop being an ass,” Cassius said.

“Here I thought violence was beneath you,” Cyrus muttered, leaning forward and rubbing at, what Sorin guessed, was his shin. He could only assume Cassius had kicked him beneath the table.

Scarlett was mindlessly eating her toast. She’d hardly spoken all morning. He could feel... Gods, she was feeling so much right now, he couldn’t decipher it all down the bond.

“We learned that Alaric’s magic was stolen from a descendent of Arius,” Sorin said, answering Cassius’s question.

“Great. We will add it to the list of things we do not know how to prepare for,” Eliza muttered, her mood seeming to be as sour as his wife’s.

Fantastic. Two moody females were sure to make for a delightful day. “Except that Cethin apparently possesses the same gifts along with shadows similar to Scarlett’s,” Sorin said, taking a bite of the ham on his plate.

“That would make sense,” Rayner said. “He is a descendant of Arius as much as Saylah.”

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