Page 99 of Lady for Embers

Azrael heaved an exasperated sigh, reaching for her wrist and slapping his bleeding palm to hers. “I vow and swear my loyalty to you, Scarlett Aditya, Queen of the Western Courts.”

The entire ship went still as a ?are of white light emitted from their palms, and Scarlett felt the vow settle in the depths of her being. She stared at the Earth Prince, unable to form words as he still held her hand in his.

“Is that proof enough for you?” Azrael asked, his voice pitched so low she was sure only she could hear him.

“I only... It only needed to be for tonight, Azrael,” she said hoarsely, unable to look away from him.

His ?ngers squeezed tighter around her own before releasing them, and he stepped back from her.

She swallowed thickly, looking up at Sorin, who was staring at Azrael with a mixture of shock and suspicion on his features. They didn’t have time to analyze it though. They needed to get going.

She cleared her throat before looking at everyone gathered around her. “Tonight we strike back. For all those lost.” Her gaze settled on Callan. “For Finn and Sloan and your parents.” Her eyes moved to Briar and Eliza. “For Nakoa.” She looked up at Sorin. “For Eliné and your parents.” Her eyes locked onto muddy brown ones again. “For your parents too.” And then they landed on golden ones. “For Thia,” she whispered.

Because all those deaths? Every single one of them could be traced back to Alaric in one way or another.

“Tonight we start another ?re,” she said darkly, holding out her hands on either side of her. Sorin took one while Cassius took the other. When the six of them were connected, she Traveled them to Rydeon, to the center of the continent.

It had been cloudy on the ship, but here the sky was clear, the stars having a clear view of what was about to take place.

She reached behind her, pulling up her hood, and Cassius did the same beside her, instantly falling into old habits as they went back-to-back and slowly scanned the area. She breathed deep, sinking down to the place where Death’s Maiden dwelled, and when she peered up at her husband, she found his golden eyes burningbright as they watched her. The Prince of Fire stared back at her, a grin as dark as her own lifting on his lips.

“Let it burn, my Love,” he purred, bending down and brushing a brief kiss against her lips.

Azrael and Cyrus were ?anking Callan, keeping him between them, while Cassius and Sorin ?anked her. She took in the towering stone around her, eyes falling on the square archway that was the entrance to the Eternal Necropolis.

“You ready to lead the way, your Majesty?” she asked, looking at Callan.

His chin was high, back straight. He cut a glance at her, and she sucked in a sharp breath at the king that stared back at her.

Callan said nothing, walking to the archway, and she fell into step beside him.

She sent shadows slithering before them as they climbed the long, ?at steps, and when they reached the top, ten guards already lay dead. She immediately recognized the black suits and cloaks they wore.

“They were from the Black Syndicate,” Cassius murmured beside her.

“Good,” she replied coldly. “Then they were not innocent, and their deaths will be another message to him.”

She pulled her shadows back into herself, then ?icked her wrist and incinerated the corpses before turning her attention to the symbols etched around the archway. The symbols of the gods. Some of them anyway. There were other symbols she didn’t recognize among the ones she did.

“Gods, what I would give for my magic here,” Cyrus was grumbling, standing beside one of the burning bodies, his arms crossed as he waited to move ahead. The Fae had taken tonics to stave off the effects of not having access to their magic, but Beatrix had not had the necessary ingredients to make the one that would allow them to access those gifts here.

Scarlett reached out, tracing three inverted triangles with hergloved ?nger. The symbol of Arius. “Whatwouldyou give, Darling?”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Cyrus’s arms drop to his sides. “Do not fuck with me, Scarlett,” he growled, stalking towards her.

“I’m working on it,” she said. “There is something I’m stilltrying to work out, but if I can, then I will be able to do it. Cassius ?rst, though. I will free him, and then I will free you.”

Her head was tilted back as she stared up at him, his expression full of disbelief. “If Sorin wouldn’t make me bleed for it, I would kiss you right now, Darling.”

She laughed. “Let’s make sure I can actually accomplish it before we risk that pretty face of yours.”

Cyrus smirked, and they both turned back to the archway. She found Callan waiting patiently for all of them at the entrance to the stone network. “Ready?”

Scarlett nodded. “Everyone stay on alert. They likely already know Cass is here, and they know he wouldn’t come alone.”

As soon as they stepped through the archway, the path began to narrow until they were following Callan in a single ?le line. Various passageways led off of the main path, the stone walls towering so high, they nearly blocked out the sky. She’d tossed small ?ames in the air above them to light their way, and the only sound was their footfalls echoing off the walls.

They’d been walking for nearly an hour before the path widened again, and a few minutes later, they emerged into a large circular chamber. Callan hadn’t been exaggerating. There were mirrors embedded between every tomb. The magic-wielders fanned out, moving among the chamber.

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