Page 138 of Ashes

“It’s easier to communicate with me when you open your mind. You’re a pretty tough nut to crack.” I let out a soft chuckle at my attempt at a joke.

She bit her bottom lip and reached for my hand. Without an ounce of hesitation, she took it and swept her thumb up my wrist.

“You were always so smart, Rinny,” I whispered.

“Why did you hurt yourself?” her soft voice called out in my mind.

“I blamed myself for what happened to you. For us. For. . . everything. I wanted to join you in heaven but was always too scared. Asylum always stopped me before it could get out of hand. He doesn’t like the scars on my wrists.”

Or the ones littering your body.

I shoved his voice out of my head again and fixed a smile on my face.

“I’m better now that you’re here. Things will be different now.”

“You won’t try to kill me again?”She blinked once more at me.

“You know that wasn’t me. That was Asylum. He escaped. . . it’s so fucked-up, Rinny. I should’ve told you about him years ago. I-I just couldn’t. My mom said I had to keep it a secret. She said people would look at us differently because of the sickness in our family. I’m sorry,” my voice cracked. “I didn’t want any of this. Especially you getting hurt. He-he was trying to save you. He thought killing you would save you from the wicked in the world so you wouldn’t have to endure anything bad. I-I didn’t know he was going to do it. I swear to you. I never would’ve left. . .” I wiped quickly my eyes as she stared at me, her thumb still running gently over the scars on my wrists I usually kept covered.

The fact she was still here had to mean something.

I took that small bit of hope and ran with it, laying it all out for her as much as I could.

“I don’t want you to be afraid of me, Rinny. Please. I’ve always loved you. You know I have. I was your pirate, remember? You were my princess.”

“And his. . .” she called out softly.

I closed my eyes as I heard her voice in my head. I wasn’t crazy. I was gifted. Or cursed. I supposed it depended on how one viewed it.

But it looked a lot like crazy from the outside.

This was real.

It was all fucking real.

“And his,” I finished. “We’re magic, Rinny. You believe that, right?”

She remained quiet as she studied me.

“I’ll show you magic,” I whispered. “I’ll show you how beautiful it is. We-we won you from the watchers. The bet? You screamed for us.”

“You scare me. . .”

“I don’t meant to,” I said, reaching for her hand as she pulled away. “Please. Stay with me. Let me explain.” I captured her fingers with mine and held tightly.

“I came here for you.The calling.It jolted me out of a deep sleep. I’d been gone for so long, and then Asylum. . . He was here. It was time. I was so angry at him for what he did to you, but he said you were back. So I came. We vowed to keep you safe and with us, so we made a bet to keep you. To save you.”

“You hurt me.”

“I know, Rinny. I know. I’m so sorry. But it won’t happen again. I swear to you. Please. Believe me. It wasn’t me. It was him. Asylum. He told you already, remember?”

She was silent as a tomb as she stared back at me. My heartbeat thundered in my ears as I waited for that tiny, sweet voice to fill my head.

“Why didn’t you come back for me?”

Fuck. I hadn’t wanted that question to come up.

I licked my lips.

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