Page 104

“Step away from the door, Little Flame.”

I give her a few seconds to do as I’ve instructed before slamming my shoulder into the solid wood.

The flimsy lock gives way beneath the weight with ease, and I look around the room, but it’s not Ember that catches my attention.

No, it’s the blood.

So much fucking blood it looks like someone’s been tortured in here.

“No,” I breathe, frantically looking for the woman who holds the heart and soul I didn’t think I was capable of having.

It takes two passes before I find her. The high rim of the bathtub hid her from my view, and with each step I take, more and more panic rages through me.

Because she’s the source of the blood.

A bloody razor blade sits on the edge of the bathtub, and there are deep slices across both of her wrists. She’s covered in crimson, and I race toward her, immediately tugging her out of the tub and against my chest.

“Ember, please wake up, Little Flame,” I choke on the plea as I lower us to the tiled floor. I need to get the bleeding under control before I can get her to the hospital, because she’s already lost too much blood to make it if I don’t.

I reach for the towels beneath the sink and wrap them around her wrists, securing them with sports tape I had fromwhen I hurt my shoulder last year in a fight, wrapping it tightly so it won’t budge.

But the blood immediately turns the white towels red.

“Ember, please.”

Her head lolls to the side, and her sapphire eyes look up at me. The vibrant color I fell in love with is dull and muted, but it’s the dejection that stares back at me that feels like someone has reached into my chest and pulled out my heart.

Her skin is so pale, void of the vibrance I’m used to seeing, and I realize that she’s dying in my arms, and there’s nothing I can do about it.

She coughs, her body jolting in my arms. She’s losing the battle, and I’m paralyzed in place, unable to move.

Her eyes drift closed slowly, and I tug her against me harder.

“No, Ember. Please don’t leave me. Please stay. Please fight. Please, Little Flame.” Tears roll down my cheeks, and I try to remember the last time I cried. But it’s been years. Decades even.

Ember’s lips part, her labored breaths whispering against my bare chest as I hold her tighter, uncaring about the blood that covers us both.

She forces her eyes open again and stares at me so deeply, I swear she can see right into my soul before she says the words that will haunt me for the rest of my days.

“Why did you have to make me love you?”

To Be Continued…