Page 215 of Chandelier Enthralled
Jewel didn’t know they were here for us. Her smile was uneasy.
In that moment, I sensed the castle had seen all this before. Its long history had stained these shores with the blood of countless innocents. But not today.
A shot rang out.
The man with the gun fell back, struck by a bullet in his chest. He now lay dead a few feet from Willa. Gasping, she turned and peered down at him, staring at his blood-stained shirt.
“You’re next,” I told Jewel.
She bolted toward the rocks, lifting her hem and kicking off her shoes. Jewel was trying to get around the shoreline, braving the uneven terrain with water lapping at her heels.
I imagined her soles were being torn to ribbons, ripped raw as she scrambled over the jagged rocks. The same woman who had once been a goddess of pain—untouchable, unreachable, and worshipped in the news industry—was nothing here, stripped of the power she wielded in her world.
She hadn’t counted on the wild, unforgiving forces of nature slowing her escape.
Mother Earth was harnessing her own unique brand of darkness.
“Stay here!” I called out to Willa.
And then I went after Jewel. There was no need to rush.
I climbed up the slick, craggy terrain, my shoes slipping now and then, but not caring. Behind me, I heard Willa desperately calling out, her voice fading into the night.
I can’t stop. Not now.
I was unwilling to let Jewel get away this time.
To our right, the sea stretched out, black and endless. The waves lunged at her, as though they desperately wanted to steal my right to destroy her.
The cold stung my face and burrowed deep into the marrow of my bones.
Jewel stumbled, yelping as her palms met the bedrock, cutting her skin with an indiscriminate swiftness.
The speedboat sounded like it was getting closer. Turning slightly, I made sure it was Cameron and the others, feeling confident that Willa was safe at last. The men climbed out of the boat, which was no easy task, but they were all as determined as me.
I turned my back on them and proceeded to where hell beckoned.
The waves lapped at my ankles with an eerie rhythm, with each surge of water reaching higher.
Sea foam stretched greedily and then retreated with a sucking hiss, only to return more insistent. The air was thick with salt and drama, carried on a howling wind.
I was getting closer to Jewel now, close enough to reach out and grab her…
Another larger wave hit us both.
Steadying myself, I regained my balance, blinking as water blurred my vision.
I wiped my eyes and saw she was no longer ahead of me.
Jewel was gone.
The wave had snatched her away.
My yell could be heard above the chaos.
Beneath my feet, water churned with a malevolence that seemed alive. The sea wasn’t merely water; it was a shifting, breathing entity, its depths filled with secrets.
And it had swallowed my enemy.
