Page 150 of Taken By Touch and Torment

Thanks to Sadie’s spells, I found it easier to fight the cloudiness. I extended my arm, shifting slightly and stretching as far as I could stretch. I struggled with the hilt, Liza moaning against my neck.

I pulled it toward me, and finally, I was able to find a grip. I had one shot. I inhaled, and I fought through the pain in my hand as I moved as fast as I could—straight for Liza’s side.

The blade had barely plunged through skin before she’d unlocked from my throat, screamed in fury, and ripped the second dagger away from me.

“You fucking bitch!” she roared. This time her hands closed around my neck.

She was out of her mind with rage and bloodlust. There was no way in hell she was going to stop herself from killing me now. My eyes bulged as I choked, darkness eclipsing my vision.

I saw Rune’s face, his wicked grin. I felt his steady heart under my ear, his arms and shadows holding me so tightly that I knew he’d never let me go.

My body stilled. And Rune’s face was replaced by Liza’s. Shifting from fury to confusion, her brows drew together. She coughed, and blood splattered on my face for the second time today.

When Liza collapsed on top of me, my first thought was that I’d been saved—I’d lived to see another day.

But then I realized death had come for me after all.

Because above me, holding a pretty pink and rose gold dagger, was Rosalind.

59

SCARLETT

Ihelped Rosalind push Liza’s body off me. She offered me a hand and a pink scarf to wrap around my wounded neck. I secured the fabric in a daze. I found it hard to close my mouth, just staring up at her as I took her outstretched hand and rose to my feet.

Her blonde hair was as perfect and bouncy as ever, and she wore a classic Rosalind pink robe with a feather trim. Underneath was a matching silk and lace slip, and fuzzy slippers were placed on her feet. It was an objectively hilarious outfit to kill a vampire in.

The only imperfections I could find were a busted lip and black eye.

“You’re dead,” I croaked, unable to peel my wide eyes off her.

She looked down at herself then back up to my eyes. “Not since the last time I checked. Mother Dearest always did call me a cockroach. I’m unkillable, darling.”

“No, I saw it,” I said, my tone shifting in accusation. I took a step back, realization striking that if I was indeed alive, then Rosalind had to be a Durian vision.

I scanned her body, taking extra care with each hand.

“Are you counting my fingers?” Rosalind giggled.

My head was mostly clear, only slightly hazy with venom and blood loss. It didn’t feel like the other times Durian had trapped me in his illusions.

And damn her, she had ten fingers and ten toes.

Her eyes were the same color. The small beauty mark above her lip was placed in the same spot. Everything about her was exactly the same as I remembered, right down to her mannerisms, voice, and speech.

“I’m an asset, Scar, remember? They wouldn’t kill me unless absolutely necessary. But they sure as fuck weren’t going to let enemies have me either.”

I ran through the memory. “But, why did you fall?”

“I thought I’d been stabbed.”

“But you hadn’t been?”

She shook her head. “Just hit my head on the way down and passed out, I think. I’m not sure, honestly. It was like I was in a strange dream.”

“You’re real. He made us think you were dead, to protect you as an asset. But you’re alive,” I summarized. “I thought I’d gotten you killed, just as you feared I would.”

My eyes welled, emotions slamming against me in violent, crashing waves. Rosalind’s eyes were glassy, her lip trembling as she stared at me in similar disbelief. I wasted no more time before wrapping my arms around her.

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