Chapter 28 "His Ember Her Rosanna"
ADRIAN
Adrian couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. Couldn't process what he'd just witnessed.
Ember sweet, shy, gentle Ember stood in the center of the basement wearing only her completely naked, her skin covered in black veins, her eyes completely black, blood dripping from her mouth.
This wasn't Ember. This was something else wearing her skin.
"Ember?" he tried, his voice shaking.
Those black eyes fixed on him. "Ember's not here right now."
"Rosanna."
"Finally, someone who knows my name." She moved toward him, and Adrian pressed back against the wall. "You betrayed her."
"I didn't, I was trying to"
"Liar." The word was soft but carried the weight of a century's worth of rage. "You knew what they were going to do. You knew, and you brought her anyway."
"I was going to save her! I had a plan"
"Your plan was to let them strip her, strap her down, and brand her like cattle." Rosanna was close now, close enough that Adrian could see the black veins pulsing under her skin. "Some savior you are."
Adrian looked past her, toward the pile of cut clothing on the floor. Ember's clothes. She'd need those. She'd need
He moved before thinking, darting around Rosanna toward the pile.
"Ember will need her clothes," he said, grabbing the torn sweater, the jeans. "She'll need"
He turned back to Rosanna, holding out the clothes.
That's when he saw it. Really saw it.
The black veins weren't just on her face. They covered her entire body her neck, her shoulders, her arms, creeping across her chest and stomach like cracks spreading through ice. They pulsed with each heartbeat, black and wrong and terrifying.
And her eyes. God, her eyes. There was nothing in them. No humanity. No mercy. Just endless, empty darkness.
"She'll need her clothes," Adrian repeated weakly, still holding them out.
Rosanna looked at the clothes, then back at Adrian. Something flickered in those black eyes recognition, maybe, or calculation.
She reached for the clothes.
Adrian exhaled in relief.
Then Rosanna's hand shot forward, palm flat against Adrian's chest.
And she pushed.
ADRIAN
The force was incredible.
Adrian flew backward like he'd been hit by a car. His body slammed into the stone altar, and his head connected with the corner with a sickening crack.
Pain exploded through his skull. White light flashed behind his eyes. He felt warmth spreading across the back of his head blood, flowing freely, soaking into his hair.
Adrian crumpled to the ground, his vision blurring. He could see Rosanna standing over him, still naked except for her underwear, still covered in those terrible black veins, still wearing those empty eyes.
"That's for the betrayal," she said.
Adrian tried to speak, tried to explain, tried to apologize. But his mouth wouldn't work. Nothing worked. Everything was going dark.
The last thing he saw before unconsciousness claimed him was Rosanna turning away, leaving the clothes on the ground, walking toward the stairs.
Going out into the night wearing nothing but her underwear and the black curse marks crawling across her skin.
And then nothing.
ROSANNA
Rosanna climbed the basement stairs, her bare feet silent on the cold stone.
She could feel Ember's consciousness underneath her own, screaming, begging her to stop, to go back, to help Adrian.
He betrayed us, Rosanna thought back. He brought us here to die.
He was crying! He didn't want to do it! Ember's voice was weak, fading. Please, we have to help him. He's bleeding
Let him bleed.
Rosanna emerged into the main house. Empty. The witches had fled, leaving doors open in their panic. Good.
She walked through the mansion, tracking blood from Ruth's hand on the expensive carpet. Her body, Ember's body was cold, covered in goosebumps from the November air, but Rosanna didn't care. Physical discomfort meant nothing compared to a century of imprisonment.
The front door stood open. Rosanna walked through it.
The driveway stretched before her, dark and empty. Adrian's car sat where he'd parked it, keys probably still in the ignition.
Rosanna could take it. Could drive away. Could go anywhere.
But where?
This body was weak. Tired.Cold. And Ember's consciousness was fading fast, which meant Rosanna would have to retreat soon or risk burning out the host completely.
Please, Ember's voice whispered. Please go back. Help Adrian. He needs help
Why should I? He tried to kill us.
He was scared. He was trapped. Please. I love him.
Those three words I love him echoed through their shared consciousness.
Rosanna paused on the driveway, the cold wind cutting through her bare skin.
Love. She remembered love. Remembered William, his gentle hands, his soft voice, the way he'd promised they'd run away together before Margaret cursed her.
Love had destroyed her once. Was it going to destroy her again?
Please, Ember begged. Please save him. I'll do anything. I'll give you anything. Just please don't let him die.