Page 181 of Lady for Embers

“I would like Razik to come with me, and I need...” She set the pear core down in front of her. “I need Sorin to stay behind.”

Cethin barked a harsh laugh. “Sorin will never agree to such a thing.”

“I know, but I cannot have him there with me, Cethin. You were right yesterday. My focus will be too split if he is with me. He is weakening. I will have to ?ll my reserves before we go, whichmeans I will have to draw from him, making him even weaker.” She swallowed down the tears burning at the back of her throat. “Ineed Razik to come, and Sorin to stay.”

“Hey, Love,” Sorin said when she stepped from the air into their rooms back at the Greybane Estate. She tried to smile at him, but of course he saw through the effort. He stood from the sofa he’d been sitting on, quickly crossing the room to her. “He did not tell you.”

She settled into his chest as his arms came around her, listening to his heartbeat beneath her ear. The sound, along with the twin ?ame bond, soothed something deep in her soul. She felt his lips brush the top of her head, his ?ngers winding into her hair.

“We will ?nd the work-around, Love,” he said softly. “We will ?gure this out.”

She shook her head, her ?ngers ?exing into his back where she clung to him. “He told me how to leave, Sorin.”

A gentle tug at her hair had her looking up at him. “He did?”

She nodded. “It’s me. I’m the key. He is the key to get in. I am the key to leave.”

He blinked at her once before saying slowly, “That is a good thing then. We can leave whenever we wish.”

“Yes,” she replied, but he picked up on the hesitation in her voice immediately.

“What else, Scarlett?” he asked, unwinding his arms and leading her to the sofa he had just vacated.

When they were both seated and she had tucked her feet up underneath her, angling to face him, she said, “I will need to ?ll my reserves before I go.”

“That is a given,” Sorin answered, reaching over and tucking her hair behind her ear.

“You will be weakened even more.”

She felt the guilt down the bond, and she reached over, her ?ngers running along his jaw. “I will not survive losing you again, Sorin.”

“Love, that is not—”

“Do not tell me it will not happen, Sorin. You cannot promise me that.”

He tensed, and she could see the moment he realized what she wanted. “What are you trying to tell me, Scarlett?” Her eyes darted to the window, but he gripped her chin, guiding her gaze back to his. “Say it.”

“I need you to stay back,” she whispered.

“No.”

“Sorin, I—”

“What if you need your Source?” he interrupted, shooting to his feet and beginning to pace in front of her.

“Cassius will be there. And Cethin said Razik could come too.”

“That is not the same,” he growled.

“No, it is not,” she agreed, reaching for his hand. “You will be here when I return, to take care of me.”

“Do not do that,” he snarled, yanking his hand from her. “Do not try to appease me in that way. You are asking me to stay behind while my wife, my Court, my family, go into danger. What am I supposed to do here, Scarlett? Knit a godsdamn scarf?”

“Only if you make a matching pair of mittens.”

“Not the time for that smart tongue of yours,” he snarled.

She reached for his hand again, snagging his ?ngers this time and tugging him closer. “We have had this planned for days, Sorin.”

---