Half of Ruby

Chapter 25

"Ember!" 

A gasp fluttered from Ember's lips as her hand slid across the cool, blood-slick ground. She shivered as she raised her head upwards, groaning as dizzying waves of whiteness overwhelmed her. 

"Ember. Can you hear me?" 

Another groan worked its way into the air as her vision wavered, focusing on a pair of green eyes, a pale, heart-shaped face. Elizabeth. She knelt before Ember, skirts gathered away from the blood, gaze flooded with alarm. 

"I...yes," she managed, blinking as she pulled herself upright. "What happened?" Pain throbbed through her chest, and she winced as she recalled the blur of colorful lights, the woman with blond hair and blue eyes too big and too beautiful to be human. 

"You vanished in a flare of light," said Elizabeth. "You screamed and disappeared...and then a few seconds later, you reappeared. What happened?" 

"I...I don't know," said Ember. "I think I triggered something by touching the circle on the wall." She lurched to her feet, bracing herself against the wall. 

"Careful," warned Elizabeth. 

Ember took a deep breath, gingerly planting one cold palm against her feverish forehead. "I need to ask somebody about what happened to me. A witch." 

Elizabeth shook her head. "My dear, I don't think any witch can help you now. You have to go back home, change out of that bloody nightgown, and try to rest." 

"Rest?" Ember glared at her. "I have to find out what happened to me." She scraped away the darkened blood over her wrist, exposing a small nick—the nick from a needle. "Look, they drew my blood." 

Elizabeth nodded, eyes skimming over Ember's wrist. "Yes, dear. But you need to go back home. The guards will come around soon and you can't be here when they do." 

"What will they do to my Coven's bodies?" Ember's eyes flickered down to Ash's and Flame's corpses. "Will they get a proper burial?" 

Elizabeth hesitated. Then she shook her head. "No." 

Ember lowered her gaze to the pool of blood. "I should've thought so. Let's go back." 

She followed Elizabeth's lead back to the door, though while Elizabeth gave the pool of blood a wide berth, Ember stumbled into it, staining her pale skin with crimson. She stared down at the little waves of scarlet, emptiness washing over her gaze, roaring through her ears. 

At the doorway, she froze. 

She turned back and opened her mouth, wanting to say something, anything. An apology, a declaration of love. She wanted to tell her Coven that they were still sisters, that this was all her fault....

But only a choked, suffocated sound escaped her lips. 

It wasn't the sound of grief, nor the sound of horror, nor the sound of anger. 

It was the sound of shame. 

She lowered her head. 

"Come," said Elizabeth, voice lowered to a gentleness Ember did not think she deserved. 

The two ventured back down the stairs, past the slumbering guards leaning over the door. As the streets of Salem awoke, the sound of carriage wheels and the chatter of people filling the streets, they disappeared back home. 

At the  door, Elizabeth gestured towards Ember. "Go change. I'll ward off the family." 

Ember nodded, eyes glancing down at her nightgown, at her cloak. Red stained every inch of her. She headed upstairs, bloodied fingers straying over the banister, feet silent against the freezing floor.