Page 114 of Ashes

That was what Seth had told me to do.

I trusted him for the most part.

I’d been brought into the vibrant red room minutes ago and left alone on the couch after a ward had lifted me like I weighed nothing at all and placed me there. I was hungry and thirsty. Tired. Homesick for a home I didn’t have. And I missed my paints and canvases.

Seth approached and kneeled in front of me as the door clicked behind him.

I remained looking straight ahead, waiting for further instruction.

“Look at you being such a good girl,” he murmured in his thick voice.

Something wasn’t right though. He didn’t sound like Seth. Or maybe I’d been gone so long I’d lost touch with what his voice sounded like. This voice was more commanding. Darker and more threatening. The Seth I’d come to know had a gentle tone whenever he spoke to me. Even when he was begging me, he was gentle.

I shivered.

“Sirena. Look at me, pretty girl.”

I quivered, fear washing over me.

What was happening to me?

“Nothing. Yet.” Seth reached for my hands and took them in his. “You don’t pretend when you’re with me, Sirena.”

Sirena.

Not Rinny?

“Do you want me to call you Rinny? I was under the impression. . .” his voice trailed off.

I frowned at that. Nothing had changed, yet it felt like everything had.

“Rinny. I can do that if it’s what you want.”

I cocked my head at him, finally focusing on his handsome face.

My heart jumped hard in my chest as his crystal blue eyes locked on mine.

“Hey there, firefly,” he murmured, leaning forward. He reached out and brushed a lock of hair away from my face.

I shivered at his cool touch.

Firefly.

“I remember one night when the fireflies were all over the lawn. They lit it up like a tiny city,” he continued softly. “Your hair was loose and whipped around you as you ran through them, disturbing their peace. My little bit of chaos.” He smiled sadly.

I remembered that night. It was right before I was hurt. Before he’d left me. Before. . . we’d changed.

“You laughed so much. I heard it. It made me realize how very special you were to us, and how I wanted you to always be that perfect girl.” He licked his lips. “Then I hurt you in order to keep you that way. I have a lot of groveling to do, don’t I?”

I said nothing as I studied him. He was so different. . . yet the same. So Seth. . . but Asylum.

“I don’t deserve your forgiveness, my little firefly, and I won’t ask it of you. Not today. Today is for new beginnings. Today is for. . . us. I wish to dance.”

I blinked at him as he gave my hand a gentle tug.

“Come,” he instructed softly. “Let’s waltz through the darkness. You light the way for me like you always have.”

Could I? Was it safe? What if Sully. . . ?

---