Page 172 of To Ashes and Dust
“This isn’t... you!” I barked out between gasps, my voice hoarse. “I know... you’re being forced! Are you still in there?”
His eyes flickered for a moment but then narrowed as he bared his teeth, his fangs lengthening as his grip tightened around my windpipe. I gasped, but no air came, and panic set in. My heart pounded painfully as adrenaline surged through my body. There was no time, and only one option. I threw my hands out, one grasping his arm, my other slamming over his eyes as I dove into his thoughts.
Darkness welcomed me, the corruption oily in the air as I plunged into Cole’s mind. There was no light here, no warmth, just an empty void of nothing. How deeply had it rooted into his mind? I had to destroy it, had to free him somehow.
I focused on the darkness, on the corruption writhing around me. God, how much had he suffered? He must still be in here, the true Cole, the Cole I knew. I’d burn this darkness out, purge it from his mind until none remained. He would be free.
White hot pain lanced my skin as claws sank into my legs, as if the darkness realized my presence, my intrusion. I bit back the scream threatening to spill from my lips.
Blinding light flooded me, the corruption pushing against me as I let it erupt, let it flow to every inch of my body before I unleashed it. The darkness rang out, its claws raking down my legs as it tried to pull me down into its depths. My heart dipped as the ground beneath my feet shifted and changed until it was an oily pit, and I began to sink.
Shit. Shit!
My feet dipped into the darkness beneath me, and my lungs squeezed as my body continued to suffocate on the outside. I couldn’t let it suck me in, couldn’t give in. I fought against it, the icy agony searing, and I cried out as I pushed it back. I would burn it all away, every trace. I let go, unleashing everything I had on the darkness surrounding me, and my heart stuttered—the warning of my limit resounding and clear. The darkness recoiled, ghastly shrieks piercing my ears until I thought my eardrums might burst as the flame surged through it, I would ensure nothing remained.
I slammed back into my body, pain sparking across every inch of me as I tried to breathe. Cole’s grip on my neck loosened, and when I opened my eyes, I found him, those onyx eyes wide in horror.
“Cole?” I panted as I struggled to keep myself upright, my knees threatening to buckle under me. “Is it... really you?”
His wide eyes roamed over me, and his hand released my throat, arms recoiling. My knees gave out, but he caught me.
“Gods, Cas. I’m so sorry!” The words spilled from his lips in a flurry, horror painting his tongue. “I couldn’t... I didn’t have any control. I’m so sorry!”
Tears welled in my eyes at the sight of him, the real him, and I’d never been happier to see something real, something true. It had never been him who’d done those things. He was no longer shackled to Melantha’s will, no longer suffering the horrors she’d laced through his mind.
“It’s okay... You’re free.” I said through panted breaths, my chest heaving, heart hammering, and the world began to spin. “I know you... wouldn’t have... done those things...”
“Can you ever forgive me?” he asked, tears flooding his eyes.
“It wasn’t yo—” My body lurched forward, the wind slamming out of my lungs. Cole froze, the color draining from his face, and I tried to speak, tried to think. I gasped, air painful to inhale. Coppery liquid flooded my mouth, and panic shot through me as I tried to breathe, tried to calm myself. Cole’s eyes widened as they fell downward, and my gaze followed his.
To the tendril of darkness protruding from my stomach.
I was ripped from Cole’s grasp, and I cried out, but no sound came as I was thrown to the ground. Agony lanced across my back, across my still healing shoulder blades and ribs, and the wound in my gut. Cole ran for me, but Melantha ripped the tendril from my stomach and blocked his path, the dark power whipping through the air and slamming into him. He flew back, crashing into a nearby tree before crumpling to the ground.
“Cole!” I cried out, but my voice barely breached my lips. I couldn’t move, my body twitching and jerking as I clutched my stomach, warm liquid coating my hand, seeping into my shirt. I tried to breathe, tried to calm myself as tears rolled down my cheeks, but I couldn’t. Air came in too short pants, not enough to fill my lungs, not enough to get oxygen.
Melantha’s dark gaze shot to me, the tendrils dancing through the air at her back. Where was Cody? My eyes darted around, searching. He lay nearby, unmoving, head turned from me.
The sobs built in my throat. “God, no.”
“You justhadto do that,” Melantha hissed as she stalked toward me.
My feet slipped against the dirt as I tried to scoot away from her. The movement only caused more blood to gush from my wound, and I cried out, my head falling back into the dirt.
“Cole handled the conversion before. I’ll just do to him what I did to the others,” she said, and my heart stuttered as she lunged for me, grabbing hold of my arms. I fought against her, but my body was failing me, strength fading.
I kicked, but it did nothing as she pulled me close, her jaws parting. She bit down onto my shoulder, white-hot pain shooting up my neck, down my arm. I screamed, the sound guttural and hoarse as it echoed off the mountainside.
She pulled back, licking her lips as she dropped me onto the ground. A broken sob ripped from my throat.
“Now for the final step... Let’s see if you can survive, this.”
My eyes widened as she bit into her wrist, tearing the flesh, and black blood oozed, dripping down her arm. Her other hand shot out, grabbing hold of my face.
No! No, no, no, no!
A grin spread across her face as she lifted my head, thumb and index finger pressing into the sides of my cheeks until she forced my lips to part, lifting her bleeding wrist over me.
