Lady of Shadows (Lady of Darkness, #2)

by Melissa K. Roehrich

Thia was his twin flame.” He seemed to be watching her carefully. “Those are real?” “Of course they are real. Rare to find your own, even rarer to risk the Trials, but they are real.” “How long were they together?” “Nearly two hundred years.”

To lose your twin flame is to lose a piece of your soul. But I think his purpose in telling you of her, Scarlett, is that despite whatever hell you are forced to endure, there are still things worth living for.” The stars are always worth fighting for.

“He is not alone. They are not just my Inner Court. They are my family. He is my brother. As for a partner, he has taken other lovers, but none have come close to Thia. No one likely ever will. He may find someone else at some point, but he is perfectly content with how things are for the time being.”

“I was nine. I do not remember much of that day. It had been an ordinary day, but I remember my mother tucking me in that night. She had lingered, hugging me extra long, telling me how very much she loved me. There were tears in her eyes. I remember thinking it was strange, and I couldn’t fall asleep after she left my room.

But now I wonder, if she had had her ring, if she could have fought.” Her voice cracked in her throat as Scarlett tried to hold back the tears. “If I had not followed her, maybe she would have been able to save herself.”

“Sorin?” “Yeah, Love?” “I don’t blame you. For my mother’s death. You are not responsible for that.”

Ashes and smoke appeared behind Sorin, and Rayner stepped from them, his blades drawn.

She looked to Cyrus, fighting with all he had not to get to Sorin but to get to her. His eyes were fierce as he locked them onto her own. “Fight!” he bellowed at her. “The stars are worth it!” She turned and saw Sorin struggling. Sorin, who had not left her, who had come for her every single time. Sorin, who had come down into the pits of hell for her, coming back every time she slipped and slid back in. Sorin, her light in the darkness. She flashed back to laying on a cold stone floor. She flashed back to another wicked grin of victory, of eyes delighting in her misery and suffering. Not again.

The stars are always worth fighting for. Flames, white as starlight, erupted all around her. The whirlwind blew apart. Talwyn screamed as she was blasted across the courtyard, the thick tree roots holding the Inner Court slackened. Scarlett landed on her feet, floating to the ground on her shadows.

Eliza cried out words in the Old Language.

Flames appeared before Scarlett, and when they were gone, a sword lay before her. The blade was the black metal that Sorin’s weapons were made of, but the hilt shone as white as the flames that had erupted from her moments earlier.

As soon as her fingers touched the hilt, the same white flames encompassed the blade. As she held that blade before her, she felt all the rage and fury and hurt and pain and loss that she’d experienced these last years come crashing into her. She had finally found a place she belonged. She had found someone who came for her. She had found people who did not fear her darkness but understood it. People who wouldn’t leave her alone. She had found home. To hell with whoever tried to take that from her again.

She knew what to do in her bones. Her power was yanking at the leash, straining to take over. So she let it.

“You do not give orders here,” Talwyn replied, a thin smile forming on her lips. “I think you will find everyone here would disagree with you,” Scarlett replied, matching Talwyn’s icy tone.

“Scarlett!” Sorin cried, his voice full of warning. She felt him step beyond her wall of flame, and, as if in slow motion, she saw Talwyn send that ball of energy hurtling towards him. She had no idea what she was doing or how she did it, but a ball of her white flames met Talwyn’s orb of energy in the air, and the impact of those two powers meeting sent a blast through the courtyard that sent every one of them flying into the high walls surrounding them.

“This is a family matter,” Talwyn hissed, her face white with rage. “This is my family,” Scarlett replied. The pain in her arm was sharp, and her vision was blurring as she tried to breathe around the pain in her ribs, but her voice did not waiver. Her knees did not buckle.

“There is so much you do not know,” Talwyn answered, and Scarlett could have sworn there was a hint of panic in her voice.

Talwyn’s attention turned to Sorin, hatred filling her eyes. “You have failed yet again, Prince.” “Do not speak to him like that,” Scarlett snapped, and a dagger of ice appeared at Talwyn’s throat.

“How did you do that?” she demanded. A smile, as serpentine as Talwyn’s had been, formed on her own lips. She took a step towards the Fae Queen. Her shadows curled around Talwyn, sliding up her body, wending around her throat. “I know more tricks than fire and ice,” Scarlett purred.

Then, just like the night Scarlett had watched from Sorin’s balcony, Talwyn disappeared, as if she’d never been there at all.

Callan stood, scooping Scarlett into his arms as he did so. She stifled a scream. Sorin stared at him, his eyes narrowing slightly, and his hands curling into fists at his sides.

“I thought Fae could heal themselves?” Callan ground out to the Fire Prince. “She can, but her bones are broken in more than one place, and she just used more magic at one time than she ever has before. She hasn’t built up enough stamina and power reserves to dive that deeply so quickly and still have magic to heal herself,”

Smoke furled from her mouth as she vomited not the contents of her stomach but ice and water. She cried out in pain with every convulsion.

“You need to let me near her.” “What?” Callan turned to Sorin, who seemed to be trembling himself. With restraint, Callan realized. “No. She is here because of you! Why did you not protect her?” he snapped “Let him take your place, Prince. Her magic is raging, and she will not be able to control it much longer. Her magic will run wild, not caring what it costs her,” Eliza said, her tone a warning. “No.” “Either move your ass willingly, or I will do so for you,” Cyrus growled from near the balcony doors. “What can he do? He said himself we are waiting on a Healer.” “This is not a pissing contest, Prince. Move your ass,” Cyrus snapped, beginning to prowl towards him. “Callan,” Finn hissed.

“Breathe,” he soothed, stroking her hair with his other hand. “Focus. Make us match. Like we have done every other time.” Every other time. They had done this before. Sorin had helped her through whatever this was before.

You can do this. You’ve been through worse. I’ve put you through worse. Do you remember that time I made you run so long you vomited and then I made you run some more just because I could?” “Do you remember the time I punched you in the face?” she muttered. “There you are, Love,” he whispered, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

her forehead going to his chest, just above her hand. “Breathe, Love.” Sorin’s voice was so tender, so gentle. He loved her.

No one said a word as they watched the Prince steady the Wraith, her shadows brushing down his cheek, his arms.

“Not a single one of us felt her? That is not fucking possible.” Sorin’s gaze was murderous as he leveled it at Callan. “Where were you when she took you?”

Or have you forgotten sixty years ago in Threlarion?”

Callan had seen Scarlett move through the world as a Wraith of Shadows. He had seen Death’s Shadow herself. And the female ablaze before him rivaled them both. He could not decide of the three, who was the most terrifying.

“Sorin and Eliza had a disagreement. They leveled an entire neighborhood in Threlarion.”

It was an abandoned neighborhood, and they had enough sense to ensure it was empty before they got into it. But when they were done, they were both so bloody you could hardly recognize them, and there was nothing but rubble around them.”

“No,” Prince Briar answered. He sounded distant, and his icy blue eyes were glowing. “This is because someone he cares deeply for was put in danger and hurt.” “Fae may be civilized and powerful, but in many ways, we are just as primitive as the wild animals of the forests and mountains,” Cyrus cut in. “We can become just as feral when those in our charge, when our family, are in danger, and when it is one’s— Well, when it is someone we care so deeply for, the urge to protect and defend can overtake us, despite our discipline and control.”

He was tricked. He is a mortal who knows nothing of the rest of the world, Sorin.” “He is a mortal who is in love with her and thought Talwyn would help him take her from me,” he snarled.

“She is no one’s damn property,” Eliza growled,

“Sorin?” Her voice was barely a whisper, but he felt it in his soul. He felt her in his mind, using that bond she didn’t even know existed. What is going on? They said you were in danger. That I was needed.

“Wait,” Scarlett gasped, thrusting out a hand to stay Beatrix. She studied his eyes. “You are not all right.” “I am,” he said softly, brushing her hair back. “I am fine, Love.” She pulled back slightly, glancing around at the others and up at Briar before her eyes came back to his. “Come back with me. I need you.” “Of course,” he replied. He stood in a fluid motion, gathering her carefully into his arms. She cradled her arm, and tears leaked from the corners of her eyes. “Put her back to sleep.” “No,” she gasped again. “Not until you are back.” “I am right here, Scarlett.” He stepped through a fire portal, not caring if the others followed. “You are not all right. Something is wrong,” she said softly. Despite the exhaustion in her eyes, there was a clarity.

“Sorin, I need you,” she whispered, her hand reaching up and brushing his. That was all it took. He understood now. He understood on the deepest of levels how Thia had so thoroughly wrapped Cyrus around her finger. He understood why seeing Scarlett in mortal danger had driven him to a brawl with his General. He understood the utter insanity that encompassed Cyrus for years when Thia had died. He understood that it did not matter that the person who put Scarlett in such danger stood in this room. She needed him, and his entire world revolved around that need.

He walked to the other side of the bed, laying down beside her. She reached out her hand once more. He took it gently, pressing a soft kiss to her fingertips, and placed it against his chest. “Your heart is racing,” she said around another grimace. “Please let Beatrix help you sleep again.” She turned her head, looking into his eyes. He could hear the question in them. Are you back? “You brought me back, Love. Now rest,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to her temple. “You will stay?” she asked cautiously, suspicion etching along her features. “Always,” he whispered, running his nose down the length of hers.

She only wished to know how Scarlett had come across it. Then she had asked if Scarlett had any tattoos. When Callan had told her no and that he indeed had knowledge to know if there were any hidden ones, the queen had become somewhat more withdrawn. She had also asked about Sorin’s tattoos, but he had so many visible now that he couldn’t tell her if any were new or not.

of willingly allowing his— Someone he cares deeply for

“I was not told of the queen’s plans.” “Of course you weren’t. She doesn’t tell anyone her plans, except maybe her lover,

“Did she say why she was so interested in whether or not Scarlett had any Marks?” Eliza asked, following them into their rooms. She shut the door behind her, leaning against it. Finn and Sloan immediately departed for their own rooms, clearly not seeing a threat any more. “Marks?”

“He loves her?” Callan asked. “I think you know the answer to that.” Callan bristled inwardly at the answer. “Does she return the sentiment?” Eliza paused, studying him carefully. “We all have our suspicions and opinions on that, but the truth remains to be seen,” she finally answered.

“She did not tell me anything. She gave me access to a book for a few hours, which I spent all night reading.” “What sort of book?” Eliza asked, her brows rising in surprise. “A book of Fae customs and history,”

“And that while Sorin has the twin flame Mark on his left hand, Scarlett does not.”

The twin flame bond took precedence over anything and everything. It was a bond deeper than marriage, deeper than love. It was an inexplicable union of the souls that persisted beyond death. The Marks were taken together, though.

“The Mark is an offering of their souls to each other. A Claiming Rite is spoken when the Mark is given and initiates the Trials. They must face four Trials that strengthen their bond. If they complete them all, the bond is Anointed, sealing them as each other’s for eternity. It is rare to find one’s twin flame.”

Twin flames were equals in every way. They were companions and lovers and linked in magic and soul. But a soulmate was one’s closest friend. There was no physical component with soulmates, just a kindred soul connection.