Page 102 of Lady for Embers

She reached down, taking the book from the shadow panther she had conjured and ?ipped it open to the page she had marked, reading through the Mark one ?nal time. She pulled a knife that was strapped to her thigh, reaching for Cassius’s hand.

“Ready? It’s a strong one,” she warned.

“Don’t really have a choice, Seastar,” he replied with an encouraging smile.

“I suppose not,” she muttered before quickly cutting a gash in his palm.

She dipped her ?nger in his pooling blood and began drawing a Mark on the back of his hand. Then the other. His brow. The top of his feet.

North. South. East. West. That was the easy part.

The tracking Mark on his thigh began to glow faintly.

She dipped her ?nger in his blood once more before drawing the Mark atop the tracking Mark. She had scarcely ?nished when Cassius’s entire body tensed, his lips clamping down on a grunt, as the tracking Mark ?ared brighter.

She took a deep breath before plunging the knife into the Mark.

The grunt was a bellow this time, and Cyrus was on the table behind Cassius faster than Scarlett could blink. She couldn’t look at him though. She knew if she met Cass’s eye, she wouldn’t be able to keep going with this.

She pulled the knife out, sending her shadows into the wound, pulling the magic of the Mark towards the four Marks she’d drawn. She could feel Alaric’s magic ?ghting with hers. His draining powers latched onto her shadows, and she gritted her teeth, pouring white ?ames in to battle his power while her shadows pulled on the edges of the tracking magic— fraying it, dismantling it, drawing it up and down, right and left.

She felt an arm wrap around her middle, holding her up. She could hear voices, but she couldn’t give any focus to what they were saying. She kept her eyes shut tight as she followed the shadows she was controlling in Cassius’s body.

She was burning through her reserves. Between guiding the magic to the exit Marks and ?ghting against Alaric’s power, she could already feel them siphoning too fast. His magic was draining her white ?ames, but they were stronger than her Fae gifts. His magic would break though the Fae ?re and water with ease. It had to be the white ?ames.

She gasped when she ?nally shoved some of the tracking magic out of the Mark on Cassius’s left hand, Alaric’s magic seeming to scream against her white ?ames, a shrieking sound clawing at her soul.

Her shadows yanked on the magic, drawing it up, the drag a little less as she forced it to the Mark on Cassius’s brow. A whimper of relief escaped her when she ?nally made it there.

She opened her eyes and wished she hadn’t. Cyrus’s hands were on Cassius’s shoulders, holding him down. Cassius had doubled over, ?ngers curled around the edge of the table, knuckles white. Sweat was dripping down his face, and he was pale.

“Keep going, Love,” Sorin was murmuring into ear. “Keep going.”

She nodded, focus going back to her shadows that were herding Alaric’s tracking magic to the Mark on the other hand. Her white ?ames stuttered, and Alaric’s magic lunged at her, latching onto her shadows.

“No!” she gasped, her knees buckling as she tried to regain control. A sting on her palm and then heat was pouring into her.

Sorin’s ?re.

It collided with hers, the white ?ames instantly ?aring brighter, and Alaric’s magic recoiled.

She sucked in a sharp breath. Stronger. Her ?ames were stronger with Sorin’s. She yanked on his magic, and she heard Sorin curse, but then she was shoving the tracking magic into the third Mark.

One left.

She rallied her shadows, wrapping them tightly around the last of the tracking magic. There would be no dragging this time. She bound it tight and sent those shadows hurtling for the ?nal Mark on Cass’s feet.

Light ?ared, sending her and Sorin stumbling backwards. He still held her tight around the middle, which was good because there was no way she’d be able to stand on her own right now.

Her gaze fell to Cassius’s thigh where the tracking Mark was fading to nothing. She made to move back to him, but Sorin’s grip tightened, keeping her in place. Cyrus was bringing his arm to Cassius’s lips, blood already welling. Cass immediately latched on, leaning back into Cyrus’s chest where he had shifted behind him.

She watched them as her reserves continued to pull from Sorin. She really needed to stop. Azrael could Travel them all home, but her magic was still so empty.

Take what you need, Scarlett,Sorin said down the bond, clearly having felt her internal dilemma.

She sighed at his permission, leaning back into his chest just as Cassius was doing against Cyrus. Until—

“Scarlett!”

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