Page 65 of Tarnished Embers

“His business was flourishing, darlin'. There was no debt and you are his sole heir. You’re rich, Ember. Shit, you probably never have to work a day in your life if you don’t want to.” His jaw is tight, his nostrils flared as he speaks.

The breath punches out of me and I’m beyond grateful for being in bed because I would have fallen down if I’d been standing. A cry of anguish has my head snapping to the side to see Oct in Kit’s arms, tears streaming down his face.

“Oct?” I whisper as there’s an ache behind my eyes, and then it hits me. That night wasn’t just awful for me. They had to go through it too, maybe in a less violent way, but it must haunt them just as bad as it does me.

“I’m going to fucking kill her,” Kit seethes while holding his brother, his own eyes glassy and his body bristling and trembling.

I want to get out of bed and go to him, hold them all as we mourn everything that we’ve lost because of this woman, but my body won’t comply, and a noise of pained frustration leaves my lips.

“Kit, Oct, she needs you,” Prince commands, and my body sags, some of the tension draining from my muscles as the twins immediately come to me, climbing back into the bed and pulling me close until all I can feel and smell is them.

“All of that for nothing,” Oct breathes out against the top of my head. I pull back, enough so I can look into his eyes, my palm cradling his damp cheek.

“That which doesn’t kill us,” I say softly, knowing that really, this has brought us closer, strengthened us. That’s the only way I can look at it right now. Anything else and I won’t stop screaming.

“Only makes us stronger,” he replies, bringing his lips down to mine. I taste our sadness, our despair as we press our lips together and take comfort from each other.

“There’s more, Cinders,” Cas whispers, and I turn to face him, noting how ashen his complexion is. “She—” He pauses, swallowing before briefly closing his eyes as I wait for the next axe to fall. “It appears as though she orchestrated the death of your father. Of all our fathers.”

All the breath leaves me, whooshing out of my lungs until I’m empty. Silent tears track down my cheeks, a numbness settling over me at the number of blows I’ve just been dealt with. She took everything; she took my father, my one constant away, and for what? For his money?

A rasping breath in front of me brings me back to the present, and a sob at my back reminds me she may have taken my dad, but she also gave me four new protectors.

I’ve a feeling we’ll need to be strong for what lies ahead. Odette will be punished, she will answer for her crimes, and we have something that she doesn’t. We have each other, and for that, I am beyond grateful.

It’s a thought that brings a small smile to my lips and air into my lungs as Oct pulls away.

“What’s that for, Little Sis?” he asks, his thumb tracing my lips, his face less full of desolation than it was a moment ago.

“She brought about her own destruction. We might never have found each other if not for her scheming, and you guys might never have got free from her clutches. So in a way, I suppose we should be a little grateful, fucked up as it sounds.” My nose wrinkles at that, but it is true. I might still have my father, but I wouldn’t have the four of them in my life, and the idea of them not being here fills me with dread.

“We would have found you, Pretty Thing,” Kit murmurs from behind me. “It may have taken time, but we were always meant to be together.”

“And it won’t earn her any mercy,” Prince states, his voice ice-cold. I look beyond Oct’s shoulder to find Prince still there, standing next to the bed, his face set in hard lines.

“She will pay, Little Cinders. We have enough on her to send her down for a long time, and with your riches, we can finally break her spell,” Cas says from behind me, and I twist to find him on the other side of the bed.

“It’s yours, Cas, however you need it.”

He gives me a smile, one that warms me to my toes, and I know we are no longer powerless. We have everything we need to take her down, to seek revenge for the wrongs she’s done us.

Checkmate, step-motherfucker.

CHAPTERTHIRTY-ONE

“BAD DREAMS - STRIPPED” BY FAUZIA

KIT

Ember falls asleep again, her poor body exhausted. My muscles tense, heat washing through me at the fucking bombshell that Prince dropped earlier. Everything we went through that awful night, that Ember went through, was for fucking nothing, and our father’s death…I have to set that to one side for now to focus on what we need to do next.

We failed Ember so badly, and I’m not sure how any of us will come back from that.

“The Will and our dads wasn’t all we learned,” Prince whispers after calling us from Ember’s bed. She whimpered when we left, but we didn’t want to disturb her with our talking so we’re in a huddle on the other side of the room, all of us looking back with furrowed brows at the way she tosses on the bed.

“What else?” I grit out, not sure I can deal with any more surprises.

“We have the names and addresses of the men who…hurt her,” Cas tells us, and I go still, the sound of my blood rushing in my ears deafening in the silence.

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