It was not her uncle who held her there, but her father. His brown eyes—just like her own—were filled with malice as he pressed his forearm over her neck and cut off her air.
"I can’t let you ruin this." Her father held up a dagger. The blade was crude and rusted. "Sorry you couldn’t revel in the riches with us, daughter. I guess family doesn’t mean what it should to you."
In one swift move, her father ran the blade across her neck, slitting her throat.
It took a few seconds for the pain to register, but when it did, she gasped wetly. Blood sprayed from her neck, filling her mouth. Her father dropped her, and she fell to the floor.
She stared at her father and uncle’s dirty, worn boots. Blinked, then her eyes lowered. The skirts of her wedding dress were stained red. She was lightheaded. She felt no pain now, only a cold shiver.
Her next blink was slower, sluggish. It was harder to open her eyes.
Something enveloped her, then. This great sense of peace. Like the shadows that were cast on the floor, slithering over to her.
Her last thought was of her husband and what would become of him.
Rin gasped as the memory filled her throbbing head.
"Rhyden." She stared at him and felt such horror at what that life had wrought—upon them both.
Time and bitterness had turned them both into something else entirely.
She reached up and took his face between her hands.
"Rhyden," she said again.
"You’re shaking." Rhyden’s breath fluttered over her from how close they were.
Her handswereshaking. "I remember."
Rhyden slowly pulled out of her, his piercings catching as he did. It made her wince. Her feet touched the ground, and she felt exposed all of a sudden. Her lips and insides were bruised because of him.
He tucked himself back into his pants and zipped them up. Rin righted her own clothes, her movements weak and shaky.
"What?" he finally bit out, stepping away from her.
"Sangreal. I remember, Rhyden. What I did to you?—"
"Fucking save it. I knew I couldn’t trust you. Fuck! Look at this. Get me down here alone, bat your fucking pretty long lashes at me, and make me lose my mind and fuck you. Then you go and do this. You lie and trick again."
She shook her head. "It’s…" He was in no state to listen to her. And this wasn’t the time. "Promise me something?"
"Why should I?"
She forged on. "After this, you’ll listen to me? Alone. No insults, no threats. Just me and you and the past."
"Maybe, but don’t fucking hold your breath for it," Rhyden gritted out, and her memories of him overlaid the male standing before her, lit by flames. So different, yet so similar. Was this how he saw her? Warring between the past and the present.
"Fine. Let’s finish this then." Rin stepped forward, wincing from the throbbing in her temples and her abused core.
He gave a deadly smirk, eyes raking over her. "Distracted enough?"
She was so focused on him and the feelings in her body, the blue glowing tubes held no allure. "Yes." Her voice was hoarse, tight. She was desperate to inject something light into the air, lest they both be suffocated by the flames. She stared at them as they roared hotter, forcing herself to smile. "You arsonist."
Rhyden played along. "It’s not arson if it’s accidental." He took a step away from her, tripping over the toe of his boots as fire sparked at his fingers, then cast onto the concrete, burning a hot path to the recesses of the room. It went up in a black plume of smoke and red flames. "Oops. Look at that. An accident. Oh fucking well then."
He was still angry. Rin’s words had done that. Maybe she should’ve kept her mouth shut.
As if he’d read her thoughts, Rhyden herded her backward as flames ate up the room, leaving them with only one exit. "Next time, keep your goddamned mouth shut unless you wantme to fill it with my cock." He looked at her with menace. She remembered how he’d looked at her with betrayal as he was taken away. "Is that what you want? Are you trying to ask me to fill your lying lips?"
