Page 253 of Lady for Embers

“Where is my spell book, Fae of Fire?”

“I don’t know.”

The scent of blood hit him, and he whirled, falling to his knees at the body that was at his feet. Blood pooled around the female. Red hair the color of ?ames was ?ecked with mud and gore. There were puncture wounds at her throat, on her arms, on her stomach. Puncture wounds from fangs. Lifeless hazel eyes stared unseeingly at the roof of the cave they were in.

“Thia!” he cried, tears already wetting his face as he reachedfor her limp body. Blood coated his hands when he slipped them beneath her shoulders, pulling her into his lap. He buried his face in her hair, saying her name over and over again.

“Where is my spell book?” came a whispered voice.

Cyrus opened his eyes to ?nd himself kneeling on the ?oor of the prison. He growled, swiping the wetness from his face as he turned to face the Sorceress. “Stop that,” he growled

“Where is my spell book?”

“I do not know.”

He found himself standing in a room with a male glaring at him, eyes glowing an amber-red with vertical pupils, and he turned away. His hands went into his hair, tugging at the strands.

This is not real.

He told it to himself over and over, beginning to pace. She would pull him out of this eventually. He just needed to wait her out, wait for her to take him back out of this nightmare.

A moment later he was back in the prison.

“You can alter reality,” he gritted out. “Like Lord Tyndell.”

“The Maraan stole that power,” she spat. “But not me. No, no, no, Fae of Fire. He can only use his power in short bursts. But me? I can climb inside that pretty little Fae mind. I can dig around and bring you with me. I can keep you where I like you to stay for as long as I want you to stay there. Where the nightmares lurk and the demons linger. I coax them out with promises of life.”

Then he was in a small room overlooking the docks. There was an unmade bed in one corner, a few blankets with holes thrown haphazardly across it. A table and two mismatched chairs were against another wall next to a small icebox. An open ?re pit was in the center of the room, a trunk of clothing items along another wall.

Cyrus turned at the sound of footsteps on the stone stairs that led to their loft, and Merrik came through the doorway.

“You’re dead,” Cyrus whispered, stepping back and bumping into one of the chairs. It was the one with the crack down the back that made it uncomfortable to sit in.

“Thanks to you,” Merrik sneered, moving to the trunk of clothes and bending down to dig through them.

“You didn’t say anything,” Cyrus rasped. “You didn’t tell me what you were doing.”

“Doesn’t change the fact that I’m dead while you live,” Merrikreplied, straightening with the ratty tunic he always insisted on wearing. Cyrus hated that thing.

Merrik moved back to the doorway, pulling the wooden door open. “Then again, looks like I got the better deal in the end anyway. I get to rest in the After, while you?” He huffed a laugh. “You got what you deserved. You get to be alone.”

The door banged shut, and Cyrus found himself standing in the empty loft again. Exactly as Merrik had said. Alone.

Exactly as he deserved to be.

Chapter 48

Scarlett

Scarlett stood on the balcony off her bedchamber staring out at the Nightmist Mountains. She was leaning on the railing, arms folded in front of her, wishing she could hear the sea. She’d thought of Traveling to the docks, but her family would be here any minute.

Callan hated her. She could see it in his eyes when she’d told him she had taken Tava to the Water Court. She had smelled their intertwined scents on Tava when she and Drake had met them in the foyer of the Greybane manor before dawn. Tava had met her gaze with a tight, sad smile, her arms wrapped tightly around herself before nodding once. Scarlett wasn’t sure if it had been a nod of con?rmation that she had slept with Callan or a nod of determination to go through with this. Perhaps both.

Scarlett had insisted on being the one to take them, both as their queen and as their friend. Just as she had insisted on being the one to tell Callan. The trip had been fast. She hadn’t re?lled her reserves since ?ghting with Talwyn, and she’d had Azrael come with her just in case she couldn’t get back. She was going to be drawing from Sorin tonight anyway, so it didn’t really matter if she drained her reserves dry at this point. They had been gone less than ?ve minutes, but she had asked them all one ?nal time if they were sure about this before she and Azrael had Traveled back to Avonleya. She had tried to convince them that they could ?nd another way, but she knew there would be no changing Briar’s mind. If Drake and Tava were willing to do this, he wouldn’t try to talk them out of it, and the Tyndell siblings were far too sel?ess to let innocent babes suffer because they refused to go back to Lord Tyndell.

So she had left them there with Briar. Sawyer had gone as well to take care of Ashtine when the exchange happened. Then he would take her to Anahita’s Springs. He had given Azrael the small mirror that was connected to the Springs and would let them know when they were ready to come back. Razik and Azrael would be the ones to go get them. Who knew when Alaric would agree to meet them. Knowing the Assassin Lord, Scarlett wouldn’t be surprised if he made them wait a day or two after arriving, just to make them fret and further prove his control. Maybe he’d make them wait until Scarlett showed up in three days. Maybe he had other plans.

Of course he had other plans. “Hey, Love.”

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