Fallen Ashes |✔️

Freefall

Ash

I didn't know what it felt like to love or to be loved.

I couldn't kill you when I wanted to rip your clothes off, I'd said to her that evening as I felt the beginning and end of what could have been with the red devil.

I felt a searing ache in my heart, as if my insides had been liquefied every time I looked at her away from me, about to marry another man.

For every scar on my body, it took a queen- a devil- to know pain and loss, life and death as I had. Enemies or not, she was mine. And I was hers.

Fuck, I couldn't tell at what point I'd become a prisoner of my own desire.

But I knew I would go to the ends of the Earth to stop that wedding, whether or not she was prepared to stop it herself.

I promised it to myself again, damning the consequences. I wouldn't let either of us run to save the other, not when a chance at a different path lay before us. Not when we were so close to blindly diving into the unknown depths of what I felt for her and knew she felt too. I was already free falling, waiting for a tether to hold onto, waiting for her hand to grab mine.

I couldn't help but scowl at the faces of enemies I recognised, killers drunk from their own wealth and the alcohol supplied at the wedding. But I could sense the lingering fear in the room of the Greek mafia lord- the man whose I was yet to meet, surrounded by sycophantic accomplices of his own.

I claimed a seat towards the back next to the petite brunette and sharp-looking mafia boy who I gathered were friends of Venus. Perhaps the only friends of hers, I realised as they both gasped with nervous anticipation as the red devil made her way to the altar, glittering like death incarnate in her obsidian dress.

The girl beside me cast a knowing glance towards me as if she knew. Her look of distaste towards Vero contrasted to the hope that glimmered in her eyes when looking at me. It wasn't too late to save Venus Castellanos. And it would be a cold day in hell if she ever became the bride of the runt who now stood facing her at the altar.

Despite being aided with my concealed identity- I couldn't help but avoid the stares of onlookers, in case they recognise the son of their mutual enemy- the Italian mafia lord. My father. Many had only seen me at the masquerade ball, where my features had been mostly hidden by my mask but I knew a single mis-step could cost the future of the dark queen who took my breath away every time I saw her.

Part of me wondered if it would have been easier to kill her, to eliminate an enemy before our mafias destroyed us for our mixing with enemies.

Swapping many of the guards to ones who belonged to me wasn't too difficult- neither was the task of blocking the entourage of cars outside with vehicles of my own that I'd sent. Anything to buy us time, to give us a fool's shot at escaping the hall of killers and security measures to ensure this wedding remained uninterrupted.

My vision almost blurred with rage as he put his hands in hers- and perhaps I was the only one who couldn't help but grin as I noticed the way her fingers moved slightly as she dug her nails into Vero.

I hadn't know what it felt like to love. Perhaps I was senseless and blind to dive so easily off the edge into insanity, into danger to claim the woman who willingly gave herself away to save me. But I knew I felt everything love was meant to be; pain and longing, desire and thrill coursing through my veins.

I let that feeling linger, bringing me clarity and strength as I effortlessly swaggered down the aisle, ignoring the murmurs and looks from the guests. Every movement of my legs felt like a huge task, unaware if my body even belonged to me as I managed to coolly announced my objection to the ceremony.

The stares and gasps meant nothing, not as my eyes found their release at the sight of the dark beauty before me, whose eyes now widened in a mixture of emotions I could only begin to unravel. I wanted yesterday and tomorrow, the future and every second inbetween with her.

"Till death do us part." I muttered to myself, claiming the love that even death couldn't separate us from.

But one feeling was real, one motivation I knew could save us both. And before I knew it, I was already kneeling on the floor when I knew my words filled the hall and hit their mark as I could have sworn her eyes began to shimmer with what looked like tears.

"Venus Castellanos, will you marry me?"

___

Venus

"I-" I began, at a loss for words.

Ash had lost his fucking mind.

"Get away from my bride." Vero cursed, prepared to pounce on Ash with a loaded pistol already in his hands.

"My father the Italian mafia lord sends his condolences. But your bride? She's mine." Ash let out a low laugh that made a vein in Vero's forehead swell with an endless rage.

A chorus of gasps filled the room at the mention of the Italian mafia lord, leaving the guests to deduce who Ash was.

The Prince of Scars. Here to take his red devil.

His movements were a deadly blur as he tossed a dagger in my direction, ready for me to catch it and get the hell out of this wedding.

Despite the huge dress, I did my best to move freely as I leapt off the sightly raised altar with less grace than I'd anticipated, into the waiting arms of Ash who I wanted to scold for helping me but only smirked back at him, grateful for the security of his arms. God, he was an idiot. But if we made it out alive, maybe I'd begin to love this sexy idiot even more.

I was a dead woman. But for some reason I didn't fear death in his arms. Not even the bellowing of my father as a dozen men burst into motion.

I stifled a terrified shriek as Vero blindly fired at the melee, sending men scattering across the room as Ash shielded me, advancing towards the exits. I couldn't help but chuckle at the sounds of confusion as many guards turned on the others, buying us time to escape, to hold back the fury of my father and Vero which prepared to hit us like a tidal wave.

Ash had done all of this- for me.

The world seemed to slow down as my movements turned into a killing calm, cold and vicious with every intention to obliterate any threat to the prince of scars. My prince.

Shards of glass sprayed everywhere as tables were overturned, victims to the shots fired blindly by Vero who now aimed at something high up.

Ash turned pale with alarm as he grabbed me with more urgency, leading us away from every man we had to fight past as the behemoth chandelier began to break free of its restraints as Vero continued to fire at it- aimed to fall right onto us.

"Ash!" I yelled his name like a prayer as the chandelier looked more unsteady, prepared to collapse any second- a glittering bomb reflecting light across the room. Every movement was a gift as we continued moving, swiping, dodging and slashing as I aimed for the ribs of another man who came running at the skirts of my dress.

I could have sworn I heard Pax and Zoe yell with triumph somewhere as I knocked him out. But that slight victory was cut short as the chandelier came crashing down, sending a storm of glass spraying in all directions. I wasn't sure which one of us moved towards the other as Ash and I shielded each other with our bodies, thankfully not being in the middle of the raining glass which left men hissing in pain as it left a trail of blood in its own glorious wake.

"Shit." I groaned in temporary agony as I launched myself into Ash again, each daunting step moving us closer to the doors which had miraculously been swung open by a grinning Zoe as the hall recoiled from the floors showered with glass.

My legs ached and I cursed myself for wearing short heels which skidded across the floor but we didn't stop moving- not until we burst out of the doors shielded by more of Ash's guards into a waiting vehicle.

"Fucking hell, we did it." His laugh was the only sound in the world that mattered as I made an effort to smile back at him, my hands shaking as I clutched my abdomen, managing a few words before darkness claimed me.

"I've been shot."