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Sierra had rushed to Tom, cupping his face in her hands. His eyes were white, lost in a void, but Sierra held onto him as if they were locked in each other’s eyes. Her expression unhinged in its devotion.
“I’m the only bride left! I did it! I’m your bride, my lord! Only I’m worthy of your truth!” she exclaimed.
Sierra’s exuberance and glee made her oblivious to Gwen’s looming shadow. Tears had formed in the corners of her eyes, her breathing as uncontrolled as Tom’s fitful gasping. Whatever visions assaulted their senses mattered little to Gwen as she gathered the material of the cloak hood and slowly pulled it back.
The younger woman froze, a small needle of uncertainty beneath all her delusion. Gwen was much taller than she had been before, having to bend her back in order to brush her lips against Sierra’s ear.
“The whore objects,”Gwen whispered.
The lights went out.
Sierra screamed.
In the darkness, Gwen could see Tom’s body contort. A moment later, the emergency lights flickered, bathing the scene in alternating darkness. Something was protruding from Tom’s mouth—no, not something.
Claws.
A large one pushed Tom’s mouth open, followed by two more that pushed through the base of Tom’s eyes. Between Sierra’s screams and Tom’s choking, Gwen almost didn’t hear him.
“Such a good girl,my bittersweet.”
Standing behind Tom’s levitating form was Ambrosius. He looked healthy, dressed in his familiar attire, with chains hanging around his neck. The leather harness was a nice touch and his hair was styled a bit different, but his eyes were staring straight at her.
And fuck, the relief at seeing him whole and well drained some of the horror from her frame. Suddenly, she stood closer to Sierra in height and her ribs felt ordinary again.
“Are these the ones?” Ambrosius asked, flexing his clawed fingers as he pushed them through Tom’s head.
“No!” Sierra cried. “It wasn’t me! It was Tom’s idea! He was hoping we could con everyone out of some money! Things just got out of hand and—”
“How quickly your faith wavers in the face of such hardship,” Ambrosius replied as he withdrew his fingers. “Perhaps this life isn’t suited to you.”
Tom gasped, eyes becoming normal once again. His skin was still flushed, and he looked like shit, but all traces of Ambrosius’ influence on his body had vanished. As if Ambrosius had scrubbed Tom clean.
“Sierra?” Tom asked in confusion. “What—”
“It wasn’t me, it was him!” Sierra screamed, pointing her hunting knife at him. “I never wanted this! It was—”
“Together, my bittersweet?”
Gwen caught Ambrosius’ eye, the question clear, despite the human couple’s petty squabble.
“Together.”
Gwen wrapped her hands around Sierra’s throat and let her clawed fingers drag. Sierra gasped, feebly reaching to stop her. But Gwen’s eyes were on Ambrosius as he became more demonic. He grew until he towered over Tom’s form,clawed hands clamped onto his shoulders. His eyes never left Gwen’s as his jaw widened, farther and farther as he descended.
Sierra’s choking filled Gwen’s ears, but her eyes were drawn to Ambrosius as his entire jaw wrapped around Tom’s head. Like a snake, a slow undulation as his tongue gathered more of his skull into his deadly jaw. He was uncanny, unnatural, and unrepenting, but Gwen had never felt more at ease. And still, Gwen kept the pressure up. Kept pulling until her own claws tore through Sierra’s neck until finally—
Pop.
Sierra’s head came off, flying over Gwen’s shoulder like a bouquet being thrown by a bride. Where it landed, Gwen could only guess based on the snarls of the beast behind her. At the same moment, Ambrosius’ jaw snapped closed, separating Tom’s head from his body.
When the lights finally came back on, Ambrosius looked like himself again. Calm, collected, and leaning on his cane as if it was just another ordinary day. And Gwen couldn’t be happier, even surrounded by so much death and destruction. She closed the distance between them, flinging her arms around his neck and planting a firm kiss to his mouth.
“Anuenue,” Gwen whispered. When he lifted a brow in confusion, Gwen almost blushed. “My middle name … the A stands for Anuenue. Rainbow.”
“Anuenue,” Ambrosius whispered. “It’s beautiful.”
Gwen beamed.