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Ada and Eben had begged her to stop this madness, which only made her fear twist more.
None of that was what made Sadie give pause, though...
Now, as Sadie rested inside Harlow, the young woman spun in circles out in the woods beside her favorite tree, staring up at the clouds, waiting for night to fall so she could continue the same beneath the stars and moon while coming up with a new tale to write in her journal.
The crunch of leaves sounded, and Harlow smiled, her spinning coming to a halt, but she didn’t turn around. Jasper’s chest pressed to her back, his hands drifting up her thighs. “Ah, there’s my sweet nightmare,” he purred in her ear.
“What havoc do you have in mind today?” Harlow asked, placing her palm over her growing stomach. The bump was already showing beneath her clothing, but soon her dresses wouldn’t conceal it.
Jasper slowly spun Harlow around, backing her up against the nearest tree. He wrapped one of her legs around his waist, his warm body sliding against hers. This man was beautiful, otherworldly. His deep red hair hung just past his shoulders, his green eyes meeting hers. Powerful energy exuded from him in the way he moved, his assertive stare. She always found herself drawn to him, wanting to be ensnared by his hungry gaze.
Harlow’s memories of Jasper were both seductive and sweet, and his heart had darkened, the way hers had—but never toward one another, or Ada and Eben, nor would her child ever have to suffer. Above them, the ivory moths swarmed in circles, their beautiful wings fluttering against the wind.
“What’s bothering you?” Jasper asked, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear.
“Ada won’t stop interfering.”
Jasper lifted Harlow, both her legs now circling his hips, and she moaned. “You’ve threatened them already.”
Even though remorse filled Harlow for a moment, her sister and Eben had forced her hand to use the threat.
“Perhaps. For now, show me your wickedness.” Harlow ground herself against Jasper, needing him to fill her and spill his seed inside her. A lovely villainous grin spread across his face as he unfastened his pants.
Out of the corner of her eye, Harlow caught movement, her gaze settling on a blonde braid. Ada stood farther away behind a tree, holding up her bleeding hand, chanting words, strange words that echoed inside Harlow’s mind.
Jasper growled, releasing Harlow to her feet as he clutched his head. Harlow stumbled as the world grew quiet. The moths above fell to the dirt like rain, their bodies still. In Harlow and Jasper’s lair below ground, she could feel her fiends doing the same, the trapped spirits sinking to the earth too.
Seething, Harlow attempted to spell her sister to stop, but the sound wouldn’t leave her lips. Heart beating wildly, she found Jasper no longer holding his head, only staring at her with hollow eyes she’d never seen before.
Jasper took a blade from his boot, inching toward Harlow as she stumbled back. Screams came from her sister, but before Harlow could turn back to Ada, Jasper thrust the blade into her heart, then tore the knife up her chest. Flames of pain licked through her, yet only a barely audible wheeze escaped her.
He ripped the blade out, his gaze remaining hollow. She gripped her chest as she wilted to the ground and coughed, choking on her blood as two hands lifted her. When Harlow met her sister’s dark irises, she knew she should have killed her instead of protected her.
Sadie stared out through Harlow’s dead eyes, watching as Ada chanted to Jasper. But she couldn’t tell if she was instructing him to press the blade to his throat or if he was doing it of his own accord. The blade sliced perfectly across, blood pouring down his throat as he slumped to the dirt.
Drawing in a gasping breath, Sadie’s eyes flew open, her gaze meeting glass. She was still inside the box. Her chest heaved, her body shaking as she took in the memories she’d just witnessed. Tears stung her eyes, and she banged against the glass with everything she had—she would make it shatter this time.
River rushed into the room toward her. He pulled back the lid and took her into his arms.
“Why did you show me that?” she screeched, beating at his chest.
“I tried,” he whispered, holding her closer as he brought them to the floor. “Part of me tried harder than the other, but I told you there would be no going back.”
Sadie curled in on herself and scooted away, her back hitting the crystal—not glass—box. “He killed her every single time! You killed her every single time!”
“You’re warm,” he said, rubbing his fingers across his jaw.
“You called her my sweet nightmare. Like you call me,” she breathed.
River’s throat bobbed. “Even warmer.”
“And she,” Sadie stuttered. “Harlow. Called you her vicious dream. I called you my vicious dream. Not that day but so many others.” The nicknames between them had been used in every life.
“You’re so very close,” he rasped.
Sadie’s past lives merged into her mind, time becoming meaningless. “I wasn’t only Harlow, though—I was all of them. I was both women who died in these woods. I know who the images are of in the mirror. I remember everything.” Her fists tightened as she clenched her jaw. “We were … witches in our first life. Monstrous in our right. We were the cause of the witch trials in Salem!” The thought churned her stomach, yet that wicked part of her, that selfish branded part of her heart, had no regret.
“Hot. Right on the mark.”
