Page 20 of Sophie’s Ruin (Crimson and Shadows #2)

Moreau and Beatrice threw Henry to the ground, and he landed with a grunt in a heap by Camilla’s feet.

She bent down and picked something up off the ground next to him.

Terror choked me when I saw it was a metal chain attached to a metal collar around Henry’s neck. They’d leashed him like a fucking dog!

“How about now, Sophie?!” Camilla shouted into the night, her words a question and a challenge. “Will you surrender?”

A loud hiss erupted from me as I curled my fingers into fists, my elongated claws piercing my palms. My blood began trickling on the ground as I stood there, unable to move a muscle.

I cursed Celeste under my breath, but I was also thankful for the spell she’d put on me, because at that moment, I would surrender.

I would do anything to end Henry’s suffering.

Camilla’s upper lip curled, and she yanked at the chain attached to Henry’s neck, snapping his head back.

He snarled in defiance, but Camilla slammed her booted foot into the middle of his back, pushing him to the ground.

Pain laced up my back as if it were me in Henry’s place.

My neck burned as if the collar was encircling my throat, not his.

“No?” Camilla challenged again, scanning the woods.

I dug my claws in deeper, focusing on the pain instead of the border.

Then I focused on Henry’s features, blood-smeared and covered in blue and purple splotches.

His eyes were dark and wild, his gaze unseeing as he stared into the space before him.

I latched on to his face, trying to communicate with him across the distance.

To let him know I was here, that I hadn’t abandoned him, and he wasn’t alone.

Or perhaps he was better off not knowing I was here, because I could do nothing to help him right now.

His clumped lashes swept down, shielding his eyes, and when they lifted again, his gaze was bluer and more focused.

He stared at the spot where I was standing in the woods as if he knew I was here.

“You are my heart,” he rasped, barely above a whisper.

The wind carried the words to me, and it felt like my legs would go out from under me, but Celeste’s spell held me upright.

Did he know I was here? Could he sense it somehow?

Camilla’s head jerked in my direction.

“Is she here?!” she demanded in a raised voice.

“We’re leaving,” Celeste said urgently behind me.

“No,” I ground out, tears welling and gliding down my cheeks.

My vision blurred, and I blinked rapidly to clear it, but before I could see Henry’s face again, I felt the pull of Celeste’s magic.

A second later, she glimmered from the tree line, bringing me with her.

We appeared in the heart of the Black Forest, and when she finally released her hold on me, my knees buckled, and I crumpled to the hard ground, sobbing.

“Take me back,” I begged, my voice hoarse.

“No.” The witch’s tone was unyielding.

“We have to save him.”

“You aren’t strong enough.”

“But you are,” I wept, clutching the hem of her cloak. “You’re strong, and so are the others in the village. We can go after him.”

“I will not wage a war against the clans.” Celeste brushed me off, yanking her cloak out of my hands. “Pull yourself together,” she instructed sternly.

I wasn’t ready to give up just yet.

“You don’t think you can prevail?” I challenged the witch.

“I am not willing to find out. It’s not worth the risk.”

He’s not worth the risk, I heard the meaning behind her words. And perhaps he wasn’t, not to her. But to me, he was everything. And I could do nothing.

I wasn’t sure what happened next. All the feelings I’d kept bottled up the last four nights rushed to the surface of my skin.

I couldn’t contain them anymore, and I didn’t want to.

My blood boiled, making it feel like I was being ripped apart.

A keening scream tore from my throat as my magic exploded out of me, rippling like a wave through the woods around me.

With a curse, Celeste threw her arms up, crossing them in front of her to create a shield.

Her magic enveloped her in a protective barrier, molding to her body.

My outburst was powerful but fleeting, and when it was over, an unearthly silence followed, eerie and jarring all at the same time.

A few seconds passed when nothing happened.

Then, things began dropping all around me.

Birds plummeted from the night sky like stones while other forest creatures fell out of trees, hitting the ground with dull thuds.

The rain of death seemed to last an eternity until all sounds ceased again.

My breath sawed in my throat as I sat on the ground, surrounded by dead things.

Celeste’s eyes were wide when she reined in her magic, lowered her arms, and took a few steps back to put some distance between us. She swallowed audibly, her face as white as her hair.

“Listen to me very carefully, Sophie,” she said in a hushed tone as if she didn’t want the night to overhear.

“No,” I interjected, rising to my feet. “I’m done listening to you.”

“Sophie—”

“Stay away from me!” I shouted before I set off into a run, leaving the witch behind.