Chapter 6
A guard, with a smirk on his face, knelt and put a torch to the firewood beneath the altar. The dry timber crackled, then caught, sending tendrils of smoke curling upwards. The heat, faint at first, began to intensify. My heart hammered against my ribs, but a strange calm settled over me. This was it.
"Elaina!" Kane's voice cut through the rising heat. "Begin the chanting! The ancient incantations! Now!"
His voice was impatient, almost bored. He just wanted it over. He wanted Francesca, healthy and whole. He wanted his fantasy.
"Remember, my love," he called out, his voice carrying over the crackling flames. "Just a little longer. And then, we'll be together again. You'll be mine again. Forever."
A bitter, humorless laugh escaped my lips. Mine again? My spirit, long since broken, now found a final, defiant strength. Never. I would never be his again. Not even in death.
My throat was parched, my voice barely a whisper. But I began to chant, not the ancient healing incantations Kane demanded, but the words my heart dictated. Words of farewell. Words of release. Words of righteous anger.
I regret every second I wasted loving you. We are over.
From now on, you and I are nothing but strangers, Kane House.
My own blood, drawn in countless rituals, stained the altar beneath me. I traced a delicate, painful symbol on the wood with my bleeding fingertip. Not a healing rune, but a sigil of memory. A promise.
The flames licked higher, hotter. Acrid smoke filled my lungs, making me cough, but I kept chanting, kept drawing strength from the fire, from my fury. The smoke thickened, blurring Kane's face, blurring Francesca's smug smile. They became indistinct shapes, fading into the inferno.
My body may burn, Kane, but my spirit will not be broken. My essence will not be yours to control.
I closed my eyes. My last wish. To be brought back to Serenity Peak. To Judson. To the place where I had truly belonged, before Kane' s darkness consumed me.
Suddenly, a piercing shriek cut through the crackling of the flames.
"MOMMY!"
My eyes snapped open. Cora. She had broken free from her captors, her small frame darting through the crowd, her face a mask of terror and desperation. She was running towards the altar, towards me, her tiny lungs screaming my name.
"Daddy, no! Stop it! Please, stop the fire!" Cora cried, her voice raw with agony. She reached Kane, clutching at his trousers. "Francesca isn't sick! She's lying! I heard her laughing! She told Chloe she was never sick!"
A ripple of unease went through the assembled crowd. Kane's face, already contorted with annoyance, twisted into a snarl. He roughly pushed Cora away.
"Cora, get back! This is not your place!" he bellowed. "She's delirious! Go back to your room!"
But Cora was relentless. She scrambled back to him, grabbing his arm again, her small fingers digging into his suit jacket. "Daddy, please! Mommy isn't chanting for healing! She's saying goodbye! She's telling you she hates you! She's leaving us!"
The flames roared, consuming the altar, the smoke billowing upwards, thick and suffocating. I could no longer see Kane, no longer see Cora. Just the orange and black maw of the fire.
Kane bent down, pulling Cora close, his face inches from hers. "What did you say?" he hissed, his voice dangerously low. "What nonsense are you spouting? Your mother is doing a sacred healing ritual. If you continue to curse Francesca, I will lock you away for good. Do you understand?"
His blind faith in Francesca, his utter denial of my suffering, of Cora's truth, was absolute. He was a monster, consumed by his own delusion.
Cora, however, was past fear. She looked up at him, her eyes fierce and determined. "You killed Mommy!" she shrieked, her voice cracking. "You killed her for a liar! I hate you, Daddy! I hate you!"
And then, with a primal scream of despair, she twisted free from his grasp and tried to throw herself into the roaring flames. Towards me.
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