Page 53 of These Eternal Bones

Fate Be Dammed

Can’t Catch Me Now - Olivia Rodrigo

Molly

Elric blurred from the room minutes ago, and I can’t seem to move from the spot he left me in, my eyes wide and staring at the lavish rugs piled on the floor, unseeing as I focus on every visceral thing beating the walls of our bond.

I-I had never realized how much he held back, how much he hid…

but he’s not hiding now, and my knees nearly buckle under the weight of it.

I yelp as the door to the stairs slams open, wood splintering, making me stumble back against the pedestal sink.

My breath rushes out of me as Cartiel steps into view, his usual glare missing from his face.

The relief I feel is short-lived, as I gesture to the door, trying to pant past the uncomfortable knot in my stomach.

“How the hell are we supposed to hide that? ”

“We were friends, Imogen.” He breathes out, pacing in front of the bars.

“I-its Molly.”

His bright molten eyes are shining, the air in here taut. “Yes, of course,” he pauses. “We were best friends, and I-I loved you.”

I smile a bit at that, remembering her stories of all the trouble and laughter we used to share. “She loved you too.”

He shakes his head. “When you said you wanted my help. Did you mean it? Truly?”

I nod, feeling like I might be sick.

“Cartiel, what’s happening…”

“I’m going to help you. I brought her. She’s going to end this, Immy.”

I take a step back, my heart pounding in my chest. I nearly scream when fear and rage hit the bond with full force, making me grip my chest, wondering if it’ll cave under the weight of it.

“Molly, I need you to trust me.”

I can’t hear him. My chest hurts, my brain fuzzing, trying to keep up.

Something's wrong.

My back presses to the sink painfully as Cartiel extends his hands to the bars.

A flare of bright light has me slamming my eyes closed, but the lids of them are far too thin to offer any shield.

My hands join them until it fades, the blast of his dizzying.

When the light fades enough to open them, my eyes are watering.

My mouth gapes as he steps through the dripping metal, his hand scalding to the touch as he wraps it around my elbow.

I jerk it away, hissing in pain. “Cartiel, stop, you’re scaring me.”

“She’s here, we’re out of time. She said we can help you. I can help you, like you said in the library. We can end this. ”

I shake my head, but he’s not listening. “I-I want to talk to her.”

“There’s no time for that, Immy.”

“Molly! My name is Molly.”

He ignores me, hauling me through the jagged warm metal. I cry out as part of it digs into my leg as we pass. Contorting my wrist, I twist it until his hold breaks, my heart pounding in my chest. “I think we made a mistake. This isn’t safe. Elric–”

A scream catches in my throat as he turns on me, his eyes flaring brighter as he captures my face between two warm hands.

“Enough about him! I’m giving you both what you wanted!

I’ve spent years helping her prepare. What you said just showed me this is right, for us, for everyone.

This is it; we can stop the pain. The fucking loss, over and over again. We can make it stop!”

I falter, tears welling in my eyes. “Years? I spoke to you–”

“It’s a simple spell.” He laughs, but his eyes are wild.

Mad…like something has frayed and broken on the inside of him.

“Can you imagine, Immy? All these years of missing you, of guilt for what happened that night, forced to live and walk the same ground you did, and it can be fixed with a few incantations?”

A tear drips down my cheek. “Cartiel–”

“I loved you so much. I would’ve done anything for you.”

I nod, my chest aching with each merciless pound against the cage of my ribs.

“Do you trust me?”

That sobers the panic, tears welling again, thinking of the words she wrote.

How she adored him. How she described a smile I’ve never seen.

She -I would’ve believed him back then. I wouldn’t have even hesitated.

I swallow hard. “Yes.” The word comes easily enough, but I’m not sure either of us believes it .

He smiles then, but a tear leaks down his face. I don’t have time to take it in, to think before his hand grips mine, immediately making it sweat as he hauls me down the stairs into the hallway. My eyes squint against the daylight, as hazy as it is. We’re running, but for what?

“Where are Tien and Péal?” I ask.

It falls on deaf ears as he jerks me onto the upper balcony outside the hall, overlooking the woods.

The frigid air whips through the thin fabric of my nightdress.

My mouth gapes at the older woman as she steps into the clearing from the woods.

The woman from the shops. Unease filters past the throbbing bond, Elric’s rage swallowing anything that might be mine.

She offers me a smile. Even from far away, it gives me chills.

“Cartiel, I don’t–”

My body tenses as he bands his arms around me, hugging me to his chest in a tight embrace. “I never got to tell you how sorry I am.” His tears patter onto my bare shoulder, hot, making steam rise from where they fall. “I never got to tell you how much I regret that night, the way it torments me.”

I bite back a whimper as he turns me away from her, deeper into his arms, so tight our panting chests fight each other for space. It feels wrong having my back to the woman, taking my eyes off her.

Something is wrong.

Her people killed me all those years ago.

My mate killed them all in turn.

He’s unnatural to them, an abomination. I can’t fathom how they see the woman who never stays dead.

I try to take a step back, but he won’t let me. My hands shake as I brace them on his chest, smoothing out his mussed shirt, trying to calm him. “Cartiel, let's find Tien and Elric. They can help– ”

“I should’ve taken a walk, you know? I should’ve just left to calm down, but you wouldn’t listen.

You have to know I just wanted what was best for you.

I would’ve never hurt you. I would never hurt you, Molly, back then…

it was an accident, quick, you didn’t suffer the way he lets you.

The ladder…it was supposed to be like that. I just wanted to get this over with.”

My eyes widen, his words settle like wet cement in my chest.

He takes a step toward the railing, pushing me with him, my pulse is whooshing in my ears.

Rummes!

He answers immediately, and the knot in my gut loosens just an inch. “I’m coming.”

A deafening roar fills the woods, Cartiel’s head snapping toward the sound.

“I just wanted you to leave, to get past the border and never look back, but you refused! You always had to be with him . I-I didn’t mean to hurt you, I swear it. Please, you have to tell me you forgive me.”

My eyes widen on him, the world stilling. “What do you mean?”

“I tried to grab you, but you jerked away. I just wanted you to listen to me! You jerked away, and you fell. It was my fault.”

A sob works up my throat as I shake my head. “No-no, that wasn’t your fault.”

His eyes widen too, his voice cracked when he speaks again. “You forgive me?”

My voice shakes. “Of course, Cartiel. It was an accident.”

He chokes back a sound as my back meets the railing, pressing into it roughly. His hot grip on me is like steel as madness erupts in the clearing. I try to turn my head to look, but suddenly the world pivots, a scream leaving my throat as the ground beneath my feet drops away .

“Thank you,” he whispers, his golden eyes red with tears as he lets go.

Elric…I’m sorry. Oh god, I’m sorry.

My mate’s guttural roar precedes the sensation of his agony. It’s the last thing I feel before I hit the ground.