Chapter 51 Night Of Ashes
Understanding flooded her. The sobbing youth was none other than Gregory’s son. Tonight’s blast had been conceived by the governor himself, a meticulous plot to burn Zephyr alive.
Sadie’s gaze drifted to Zephyr. The scarlet–robed heir lounged against a carved window as though the chaos were a passing opera.
Firelight washed his finely cut features in gold; his lips curved in a faint, distant smile that made yesterday’s injury vanish like a rumor.
Zephyr said, “Mr. Hamlet has gone to such lengths to arrange this clever little spectacle, yet I have other business tonight and cannot stay to enjoy it. Since you are his trusted men, sample the delights of this pavilion on my behalf.”
His voice was impeccably courteous, the sort of civility that wins praise at court, yet the words drained every face of color.
Zephyr ignored their howls for mercy and walked away at a measured pace. Sadie lay where she had fallen, smoke searing her eyes until tears spilled over scorched lashes.
A pair of black boots inlaid with gilt clouds stopped before her. She licked her cracked lips and looked up- it was Zephyr.
པའི་་་་་
He gazed at her from his height. Soot streaked her cheeks like a rain–soaked kitten; her reddened eyes streamed so hard she could scarcely see.
After a long, silent stare, he signaled Clifton to escort Madison to safety.
Moments later, Ronald and the governor’s cronies were shoved into a side room and bolted inside; their screams for help rose above the roar of the flames.
Zephyr murmured, “Miss Francis, Flora Park offers a number of entertainments tonight, yet you chose a road that leads straight to death. When you reach the afterlife, tell them Gregory sent you. I had no part in
it.”
A cool flick of his lashes, and he turned to leave.
He had taken only one step.when a hand seized his ankle. Sadie sprawled on the floor, arms locked around his leg as though clutching her final lifeline.
-Her vision had clouded behind a film of tears, and her face looked almost breakable, yet her hoarse voice
held an iron note.
“I pulled Madison from the flames. I did not leave your brother, so you must not leave me.”
Zephyr arched a brow.
Her fingers clutched the polished leather of his black boot, and her pale knuckles flushed crimson where desperation pressed skin to bone.,
The blaze crept closer, a hungry/beast licking at broken beams and shattered furniture.
Smoke clawed at her throat, and she doubled over in a fit of coughing, thin shoulders shaking like butterfly wings caught in a web.
Chapter 51 Night Of Ashes
“Do not leave me. I am frightened. Please I beg you. Do not leave me
Zephyr watched her in silence.
Since arriving at the Gates Estate, Sadie had worn composure like armor. Only when he cornered her did she bare the hidden quills, nipping him once before tucking them away again.
She was fifteen, a hedgehog curled tight against the world.
Tonight marked the first time she had ever asked him for anything.
It was as though the little hedgehog had rolled onto its back and shown him the soft, helpless curve of its belly.
Whether moved by the favor she had shown Madison, stirred by her fierce will to live, or led by some motive he could not yet name, Zephyr stood silent for a time, then bent and swept her into his arms.
The inferno raged around them, and even the wind burned hot.
Tiers of blue–gold silk brushed across the back of his hand, carrying a heady sweetness that could only belong to Sadie.
She folded herself against his chest, feather–light, and for an instant, his mind drifted.
She is so soft, no more than a feather, I cannot keep her closed in my fist.
He had never kept servants for his own use and cared little for idle tales, so most of what he knew about women came from whispers among court runners.
They claimed women were fragile. He had scoffed at that, yet tonight, with Sadie in his arms, the comparison felt suddenly true.
What does she eat every day? Flowers and mist, perhaps… No sinew in her seemed built of the same hard stuff as his brothers and him.
Still holding her, Zephyr leaped through a low window and landed without a sound, his martial training turning the earth into silk beneath his boots.
Clifton and the other guards hurried over, and Zephyr noticed the girl had slipped into unconsciousness.
He meant to pass her into Clifton’s care, yet she clung to him with desperate strength, soft cheek pressed to his chest while tear tracks soaked through his tunic.
Zephyr lowered his gaze to her for a long moment before saying, “Back to the manor.”
Gradling her, he stepped onto the carriage under the astonished eyes of Clifton and the others,
Sadie did not stir until the following afternoon.
Alexander lounged in a rosewood chair, munching snacks, his cane propped casually against the bed.
The moment he saw her eyes flufter open, Alexander tossed aside the snacks he had been nibbling and leaned in with a grin. “You’re awake! Tell me. Are you thirsty? Are you hungry?”
Scomed Heir’s Second Life: The Rebirth That Made My Brothers Ween
