Page 175 of Lady for Embers

“As I weaken,” Sorin ?nished for him. There was a thick silence before he said, “The only time I have ever seen her ?ght without worrying about anyone else is with Nuri and Juliette.”

“Because they were so in tune with each other,” Cyrus said. Sorin nodded. “Something like that only comes with time. We can’t force it.”

“But they’re obviously going to try,” Sorin said. “I know Cass trained her, but they rarely did missions together. It was always her and the Wraiths.”

Razik Traveled then, reappearing behind Scarlett. The shadowsshielding him seemed to coil up, a dagger appearing, and Cyrus realized Cethin hadsenthim the weapon through the shadows. The dagger appeared at Scarlett’s throat, and even from where he stood, Cyrus could hear Razik growl, “We win.”

The four took measured steps back, all of them breathing hard. Razik disappeared, appearing again a minute later with four waterskins. While they all drank, Cethin said, “Your reserves are still plenty full. We go again in a minute.”

This went on for the next two hours, and Sorin was so on edge, Cyrus thought he was going to have to haul him out of there. Scarlett and Cassius were back-to-back, having started to share weapons the way Razik and Cethin did. They were picking up on the tricks they observed, but Sorin was right. This wasn’t going to happen overnight.

On top of that, Scarlett was getting frustrated. Cyrus could tell it in her movements. Frustration, coupled with the exhaustion she was surely beginning to feel, was causing her to make small mistakes that were only adding to her annoyance. And Cassius? He just looked ?at-out tired.

They hadn’t spoken of what had happened in this same training arena the day he’d met his father. Cassius was so exhausted after training all day, he ate dinner and was asleep before the sun had fully set. Scarlett was no different. Had it been a ?uke? Had the kiss happened just as a way for Cassius to ground himself ? Was it more than that? Did Cyrus want it to be more than that? The answer to those questions seemed to change with the wind. One moment, he wanted to track Cassius down and see if the kiss would be as intoxicating as the ?rst. The next moment, the thought of becoming something more, of becoming that involved with someone again, made him want to vomit.

“I think that is enough for today,” Cethin ?nally said when he’d knocked Scarlett’s sword from her hand. Cyrus was fairly certain she was about to try and drive said sword through his gut for real.

Sorin shoved past Kailia, already dragging a dagger down his forearm to re?ll Scarlett’s reserves. Cyrus watched as Scarlett held her palm up to him while she spoke with Cethin. If anyone should be ?ghting together, it should be Sorin and Scarlett. Those two would be able to communicate down their twin ?ame bond, sense each other’s presence. It’s why twin ?ames were so powerful.

Except they wouldn’t be twin ?ames much longer.

What was that going to look like? To be twin ?ames one moment and the next, nothing? Would it be like losing your twin ?ame to death? Soul-consuming mania and grief? Or would it simply feel like something was missing? Like they would never quite be whole again?

Sorin cut her palm, guiding it to the Source Mark, and the minute their blood mixed, her gaze snapped to his as their power merged. She stepped into him, his arm wrapping around her waist.

“Thank you, tiny ?end,” Cethin said, dropping a kiss to the top of his wife’s head as Razik and Cassius made their way over too.

Kailia looked up at him, stowing the arrow away in her quiver. “Do not forget your promise,” she said, eyes narrowing.

“Do I ever?” he countered.

A small smile played on her lips. “Not once.” She reached up, tracing a Mark along his chest with her nail. He’d lost his tunic at some point during the sparring session.

“Is there a particular reason you have not taken a Source yet?” Razik asked.

Cyrus and Scarlett both whirled to face him. Cassius’s face was hard, an empty waterskin hanging from his ?st.

“I was not sure if I needed one,” Cassius replied tightly.

“Why would younotneed one?” Razik asked.

“Because I am only half-Avonleyan.”

“Do you not re?ll your reserves by drinking the blood of a Fae?”

“Yes.”

“Then you need a Source.”

Cassius crossed his arms over his bare chest. “This seems to be working just ?ne.”

“I’ve tried to tell you it’s not the same,” Scarlett cut in quietly, her eyes on the ground, boot toeing the dirt.

“You asked him to bring this up?” Cassius demanded.

She met his gaze. “I asked him if you needed one the other night.”

“Why?”

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