Page 97 of Lady for Embers

A shadow fell across her face, blocking the sun, and she opened her eyes to find golden ones staring back at her, chestnut hair falling into them.

“You’ve been avoiding me, Darling.”

“I tend to avoid assholes when I can.”

“I deserve that.”

“You deserve to be punched in the godsdamn face,” she muttered.

Cyrus sat on the bench, lifting her bare feet and placing them in his lap. “I’m sorry, Scarlett.”

“It’s ?ne.”

“When females say ‘it’s ?ne,’ it rarely is.”

Scarlett lifted her head just enough to look at him. “I know you’re hurting, Cyrus. I get it. I was giving you your space until you were ready. I know what it is like to need some time to breathe.”

She let her head fall back to the bench, something in her soul settling back into place now that she and Cyrus had worked this out. She hadn’t been mad at him. Not really. Had his words stung at the time? Like a bitch. But she really did get it. She lashed out at the ones she loved most when she was in dark places.

“You know, the ?rst time you ever spoke of Thia to me, you got ‘drunk off your ass’ is I believe how Sorin worded it,” she said, breaking their comfortable silence.

“You were such a storm of shadows and rage back then,” Cyrus said, his ?ngers moving soothingly up and down her shin. “And that night... Gods, Scarlett, that night you were so hopeless. You just wanted someone to hurt with you, to not be alone in the torment. So I dove into those dark waters, willing to drown with you if that’s what it took for you to know you were not alone.”

Tears were stinging at the back of her eyes, and she pushed up to a sitting position. She pulled her legs to her chest, wrapping her arms around her knees, and Cyrus angled his body to face her. “You barely knew me then,” she said softly.

Cyrus reached out, stroking a ?nger down her cheek. “Darling, darkness knows when it has found its own.”

“You told me that most do not understand that the darkness is not something to be survived but to befriend.”

“I did.”

“Do you still feel that way?”

Cyrus paused, his eyes darting away for a moment, before settling back on her. “I do, but just like we change, so does our darkness. And sometimes... ” He sighed, clearly trying to ?nd the right words. “Just because we’ve found the beauty in the darkness does not mean it does not still hurt at times.”

“Some days are just hard,” she whispered.

“Some days are just hard,” he repeated, his arms coming around her and pulling her into his chest. She wound her arms around his middle, hugging him tight.

“I’ll drown with you, Cyrus,” she whispered. “On the hard days, I’ll dive in with you.”

“I know, Darling,” he said, his voice thick with emotion.

After a moment, she added, “And so will he. If you’ll let him.”

“That’s what’s so godsdamn terrifying.”

She pressed her sliced palm to Sorin’s forearm, her shadows and white ?ames ?aring under her skin as they swelled with the magic she was drawing from him. She held his gaze under the night sky, neither of them saying a word as she took far more than she should right now.

This is necessary, my Love.

His voice echoed in her mind as he cupped her cheek, thumb stroking along her cheekbone. She nodded, relieved that their bond was working as it should once more. There hadn’t been any more disruptions in their twin ?ame bond.

Cyrus and Cassius appeared then, having come from the direction of the other cabins. They were both in black, just as she was, swords and daggers strapped to their bodies and slid down boots.

“You all fueled up, Cass?” she asked, withdrawing her hand from Sorin’s arm, her palm already knitting itself back together.

“All set, Seastar,” he answered, coming to her side, eyes sweeping down her body. “No vambraces tonight?”

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