Lady of Shadows (Lady of Darkness #2)

Chapter 25 Sorin

CHAPTER 25

SORIN

S orin made to follow Scarlett and Cyrus through the portal, but Briar stepped into his path, the portal snapping closed behind him. He threw fire at the shield of water Briar still had up, and the flames hissed as they sputtered out.

“Get out of my way,” he snarled at Briar.

“No,” he retorted with quiet rage. “You can give her a godsdamned minute.”

“I need to talk to her,” he growled, hurling more fire at that shield.

“You have said plenty to her,” Briar snapped back, the water of his shield beginning to turn to steam at the onslaught of Sorin’s flames.

“Get out of my way,” he snarled again.

And then he felt the blow to his face. Briar had punched him square in the jaw.

Sorin growled, spitting blood onto the ground, but he did not retaliate. He had deserved that hit. More than deserved it.

“Did you hear any of what she said to you?” Briar snarled, circling him, his icy blue eyes glowing. Every feral Fae predator trait and instinct was evident on his face. He was defending Scarlett. Their Princess. Their Queen.

Their princess, yes, but his twin flame. He had shredded her. He had said far worse things to her than Mikale or Callan. He had known exactly where to hit because she had bared her soul to him. He was the piece of shit. Not her. Never her.

Ice flooded through his veins as Briar bared his teeth at him. The Prince of Water and Ice come to defend their Princess against the Prince of Fire. He let the ice slow his blood. “You let Talwyn so far under your damn skin, you did not even hear what Scarlett said to you. She practically screamed the Claiming Rite at you without even knowing what she was saying. You insufferable fool,” Briar spat.

You came for me, and I have come for you. I am yours, and you are mine.

“If she walks away from you, from us, from all of this now, it is entirely your fault,” he snarled again, ripping his ice from Sorin’s veins. His own magic took over instinctively, flooding him with heat.

I can find the stars somewhere else with someone who won’t toss me back into the river and who won’t treat me like a fucking burden.

Her words rattled around his head and wrapped around his chest, squeezing tight.

“Let me go to her,” he choked out.

“She does not want to see you,” Briar growled back. “It’s interesting, isn’t it? We told her the same thing of you. That you did not want to see anyone, speak to anyone. She did not care. She demanded we take her to you. She would not let us be. Over and over we told her you would not let her in, but I saw it on her face. She was convinced you would. She was certain you would let her in. If we had refused, I am certain she would have attempted to kill us both, then she would have clawed her way through every hell to get to you.

“And I thought maybe you would. I thought maybe you would not refuse your godsdamned twin flame . I thought maybe this would be what it took to get her to feel that bond. So I brought her to you, knowing what kind of foul mood you would be in. Thinking there was no way you would take it out on the female who owns your heart. And then you pissed all over it.” Each word felt like a dagger to his chest.

“Let me go to her,” Sorin said again, a slight snarl this time.

“Are you finally getting over yourself?” Briar sneered.

“How intriguing this scene is,” came a cool voice from the trees beyond.

Both males whirled to see a mortal man leaning against a tree, his hands in his pockets. A man Sorin recognized. Mikale.

How the fuck was he here?

The Fae males had been so busy arguing and fighting, he had missed the warnings of the wards. His mind had been so overtaken by Scarlett, he’d missed this crucial imposition.

“Who are you?” Briar demanded, his sword appearing in his hand in a swirl of ice and snow.

Mikale chuckled. “That will be of no use.” He waved his hand through the tree. A mirage. He was an illusion.

“What do you want, Lairwood?” Sorin ground out.

“You took something that belongs to me,” Mikale growled. His eyes were nearly black as he stared down the Fae princes.

“She belongs to no one,” Sorin snarled, flames flickering in his eyes.

“She is clearly dividing your own alliances,” he said with a bored sigh. “Send her back to me, and we can all go about our business. Our efforts can be focused elsewhere, away from your Court.”

“Go to hell,” Sorin spat.

“You have been so careful to keep her hidden from me, Prince of Fire. Until today. Until a little bit ago, when all our tricks and spells picked up her essence. Right here in this very space. It took me a while to work out this illusion spell, unfortunately, and it seems I have missed her. She has disappeared from my tracking spells once more.” He took a step towards them, and shields of fire and water sprang to life. Rage filled Mikale’s face as he ground out from between his clenched teeth, “Where is she?”

“Somewhere you will not find her,” Sorin growled.

“Very well, Prince of Fire. There is more than one path to what I desire. This would have simply been the easiest.” With a cruel, bone-chilling smile, he was gone.

“Was that…?” Briar asked, turning to Sorin.

“Yes,” Sorin answered. “Yes, it was.”

“How did he get here?”

“Apparently, he is accessing magic somehow. I have been using my own to hide her from him, but today, with all the words exchanged between us… The enchantments slipped. Because I am weakening,” he said quietly.

Briar swore. “Why didn’t you fucking say something? I would have helped.”

“I did this. Let me go to her,” Sorin said, not meeting his friend’s eye.

A water portal appeared, and the princes stepped through into Sorin’s private chambers. Cyrus leaned against the liquor cart. He smiled cruelly at the bruise that hadn’t yet healed on Sorin’s jaw. “You deserve that, you stupid bastard,” he snarled, sipping his drink.

“I know,” Sorin replied. “Where is she?”

“She left a message for you. She said you’d understand it when you heard the words,” Cyrus said casually, swirling the ice in his glass.

“What is it?” Sorin ground out.

“Her exact words were: Tell that Fae bastard when he’s ready to tell me what’s going on, I’ll be waiting. Until then, he can go fuck himself, and my wellbeing is none of his concern.”

Sorin closed his eyes at the memory of Cassius delivering those same words months ago. “Where is she?”

“She gathered a few things and went to Eliza’s rooms when we returned. Good luck,” Cyrus said with a smirk.

Good luck indeed.

Sorin trudged down the hall a few doors and stopped before Eliza’s room. He knocked once, and the door flew open. Another raging female stood before him, fire in her eyes. “What the fuck did you do?”

“Where is she?” was all Sorin said.

“She’s gone to have dinner with the mortal prince. Do not interrupt them,” Eliza snapped, and she slammed the door in his face.

He slid to the floor outside Eliza’s rooms in the hallway. For hours he sat there, waiting for her. It was nearly midnight when she came silently down the hall. She was in an amethyst colored dress with silver thread in the skirts. The bodice and sleeves were fitted. It was simple and elegant and perfect on her. Perfect for a dinner with a prince.

He stood as he scented her, grateful there wasn’t another scent so thoroughly entwined with her own, and she froze at the movement. Her shadows instantly thickened around her. She was nearly ten feet away from him and stood with a stillness only Fae could achieve.

He didn’t say a word as she silently moved towards him. She didn’t bother to look at him when she strode right past him and into Eliza’s rooms, shutting the door behind her.

He inhaled deeply and knocked gently. “Scarlett. Please come talk to me.” He could feel her, just on the other side of the door. If he didn’t know any better, her scent was so close she was leaning against the door itself. But that door may as well have been an ocean for the distance she’d put between them. He leaned his forehead against the door. “Love, please.”

There was movement on the other side, and he nearly fell to his knees as the door opened, but it was Eliza who stood there. Her face was a mixture of wrath and sympathy as she said quietly, “She went to bed, Sorin.”

“Did she say anything?”

“She said she would come to you in the morning.”

“Will she?” he asked, desperately searching her eyes for any hint of hope.

“I believe she is a female of her word, and when she says she is going to come for you, she will.” Eliza stared back at him, her gaze hard. She was not going to let him in tonight.

He turned and silently went back to his chambers. The emptiness of them weighed on him. He could still smell her. In the air. In the bedroom. In the sheets. He couldn’t even lay in the bed without her, so he sat in a chair before the fire.

I can find the stars somewhere else with someone who won’t treat me like a fucking burden.

He would never be able to sleep tonight. Not until he talked to her. He stood again, pacing back and forth before the hearth, waiting for her to return. Her words from weeks ago floated back to him.

I think you might be mine, though.