Page 62 of Lady for Embers

“One more thing before we do that,” she said, moving from Cassius’s side to his. “Has Rayner ever accessed ?re?”

A crease formed between his brows, and he frowned slightly. “No. You know his gifts are smoke and ashes.”

“That allows him to rip out organs with his bare hands?”

“I told you it was a rare gift, Scarlett.”

“Rare like Traveling among the Fae?”

“Yes, rare like... ” He paused, catching on to what she was insinuating. “Rayner is not Avonleyan.”

“Hmm,” was all she hummed, her eyes getting that faraway look again. “I think you’re wrong.”

He leaned down, ?icking her nose gently. “I’m rarely wrong, Princess.”

“We will see,” was her only answer before they all departed for their own rooms to rest.

Sorin had a tray of food in his hands when he came through the door of their cabin. He had woken a few hours ago after sleeping for nearly an entire day. Scarlett had still been sleeping, but that was to be expected. Her wells were deeper than his. He wasn’t sure how long she would sleep, but he wanted to have food waiting for her when she did wake.

To say it surprised him to ?nd her sitting up against the headboard was an understatement. Her knees were bent, forearms resting atop them. She was looking down at her hands, and hersilver hair was pulled back and tied at her nape. Her eyes lifted to his when he came in, and he immediately set the tray on the desk, moving to the bed.

“I did not expect you to be awake yet,” he said, reaching out to stroke her cheek. “How are you feeling?”

“How could you not tell me about something being wrong with your magic?”

He stilled, his ?ngertips still on her jaw. “I would have told you, Scarlett. It simply was not the most important topic at the moment.”

“Sorin, you let me draw from you when something is wrong. That is not okay.”

“That is my duty as your Source, Scarlett,” he said, pulling his hand back.

“And your duty as my husband and twin ?ame is to not leave me alone in the darkness,” she shot back. “Which is exactly what is going to happen if you do shit like that!”

He could feel her trepidation down the bond. An intense clawing at his chest that made it hard to inhale. So much panic and fear. So much manic hysteria.

“When we are ?ghting for our lives, Scarlett,youare my priority. No one and nothing else. If I have to give you every last bit of my magic to ensure you can access your gifts, then that is what I will do.”

“Not if you become the sacri?ce! Then it is not what you will do!” she cried.

Her eyes were wide, and terror stared back at him. He reached out, pulling her into his chest. She was trembling, her entire body shaking so much he could feel it in his bones. He said nothing, just held her against him, and she gripped the front of his tunic as if he would disappear if she let it go.

He didn’t know how to help her through this. He had helped her face her darkness and walk through shadows. He had helped her ?nd the stars and create new ones when none could be found. But how could he promise this would never happen again when they were on the brink of war? He couldn’t. None of them could. But he also couldn’t have her paralyzed by fear in the middle of a battle either.

“I was never supposed to become this dependent on someone,” she murmured into his neck after several minutes of silence.

“You depended on your sisters. You depend on Cassius,” he saidgently, pulling the tie from her hair. His ?ngers wound into the strands, cupping the back of her head.

“I depended on my sisters, yes, but we were also trained extensively on what to do if the others fell on a mission,” she replied, face still buried in his skin. “And Cassius...” She let out a long sigh. “I didn’t think I would survive losing him when I thought he was going to die a few months ago. But I would have, Sorin.” She pulled back, her hands coming up to frame his face. “I would have survived that hell because you would have been with me. The only thing I will not survive is a world without you in it.” She paused again, looking over his shoulder and out the window. He let her think, let her gather her thoughts, continuing to ?nger comb her long strands. “I kind of hate you for it,” she ?nally whispered.

His ?ngers paused for a moment before they tightened around her hair, pulling her head back gently so he could look into her face. “You hate me for what, Love?”

“For getting me to let you in. For letting me depend on you,” she said softly, her ?ngers sliding along the couple days’ worth of stubble he hadn’t had a chance to take care of yet. “I was stronger without a weakness.”

“You may have felt stronger, but you were hardly living, Scarlett. You were not stronger alone,” he replied. “You were dying, little-by-little, until there would have been nothing left. You were a shell of a person when I met you. I would rather have weaknesses and stars to ?ght for than just be walking catatonically through this life and into the next.”

“I don’t know how to do this, Sorin. I have felt what losing you feels like. It haunts me whether I am sleeping or awake. Even sitting here right now, your skin beneath my ?ngers, feeling your chest rise and fall, hearing your heart beating... I can still feel the mania of losing you just beneath the surface, waiting for a chance to slip free and pull me under once more.”

He brought his brow to hers, and she shifted in his lap so that she straddled his hips. “I told you once before I will not let you drown, Scarlett. As long as I am on this side of the Veil, I will keep that promise.”

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