Page 145 of Lady for Embers

“What? Why not?” Cassius asked, his brow furrowed in

confusion.

Cyrus turned an incredulous gaze on him. “Do you know how many hours she spent in the library in Solembra? We will never get her out of here. She will get lost among the stacks, ?nd a secret passage to hide away in, and then we’re stuck here and Alaric wins.”

Cassius was giving him a look of pure disbelief. “You are as dramatic as Nuri some days. I swear.”

“I liked her,” Cyrus answered as they made their way deeper into the library of the castle. “Before the whole betrayal thing and all that.”

Cassius gave some gruff noise of acknowledgment.

“We never really talked about that,” Cyrus said casually. “Nuri. The Blood Bond. Seeing her at the Eternal Necropolis.”

“There is nothing to say about it,” Cassius replied. “How, exactly, do you plan to ?nd what you are looking for in here?”

“I’m looking for several things,” Cyrus said. “So I guess we see what ?nds us ?rst.”

If that wasn’t the truth. What wasn’t he looking for at this point? They needed information on Sargon because Cassius’s asshole of a father still had not bothered to show up and meet his son. Razik still had not acknowledged his relationship to Cassius either, despite Scarlett calling him out in the arena a few days ago. Of course he’d told Cassius about that. He wasn’t about to keep something like that from him, and of course, Cassius’s face hadhardened, lips pressing into a thin line, and nothing had been spoken of it since. But they really needed to ?gure out his gifts if his own ?esh and blood weren’t going to help. They’d seemed genuinely concerned that he couldn’t control his power in that training arena, but apparently not concerned enough to teach him how to do anything about it.

Then there was Sorin’s waning power, coupled with the effect it was having on the twin ?ame bond. He and Scarlett hadn’t emerged from their suite for two days after Mikale had somehow trapped her in that dream. Cassius had all but forced his way in the day after to check on her. She’d been curled on the sofa in their sitting room, a blanket pulled tight around her shoulders. She’d looked... haunted. Other than that, Cyrus had not seen them. They had left their room after lunch today to go ?nd Beatrix which is where they were at now. He was all too anxious to learn how that conversation went and what else Beatrix might know.

And then there was the Source issue. It would affect them all— Scarlett not having access to a Source. Having to let her magic re?ll naturally, like the Avonleyans had apparently done for centuries. They would never win a war without her at full strength. But as pressing as that was, that was not the only Source issue that needed to be dealt with.

They had made their way to some shelves near a window overlooking the Nightmist Mountains that loomed at the back of the castle. Black mountains. Black waters. Everything seemed to be veiled in a layer of shadows. It made sense, he supposed, if Saylah truly was holed up in Elshira.

“Think you could Travel to that training arena without an escort?” Cyrus asked, pulling out a book from a shelf. It was in the Avonleyan language, and he suddenly realized this might be much harder than he anticipated if the books weren’t in the Old Language or common tongue.

“Yeah, why?” Cassius asked, pulling a large book from the shelf opposite him.

“You need to train and practice with your magic. Seems like as good a place as any.”

There was a long stretch of silence before, “Yeah, I suppose.”

“So we can head there after here?”

“Sure.”

Cyrus didn’t say anything else for a bit, working his way through books until he ?nally came to a section that was in the Old Language. Books on the Edria Sea. Not what he needed, but getting closer.

“There are books on family lineages here,” Cassius said, a way down the row from him. He’d pulled another book out, setting it on a nearby window ledge.

“Really? Anything on Sargon and his bloodline?”

“Not that I have seen yet.”

He’d been putting this off the entire time they’d been here, not wanting to face... Well, another rejection. That’s what it was, wasn’t it? When he’d offered to be his Source and Cassius had said no.

He cleared his throat. “So about this Source thing.”

Cassius’s hand paused mid-page turn. “What about it?”

“You need one.”

“We still do not know that for sure.”

Cyrus sent a droll look over his shoulder at him, but Cassius was back to ?ipping pages in the book. Cyrus turned, leaning against the bookshelf and crossing his arms. “I think we do know that for sure. We could at least be looking at options.”

The thought of Cassius choosing anyone else as his Source made Cyrus want to vomit, but he pushed the feeling down. Cassius needed this, and if he wouldn’t let him be this for him, he would help him ?nd another. Even if it felt like a dagger to the gut.

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