Page 105 of Iron Roses

“It’s time,” she says again.

I shake my head. Her hand rests between my shoulder blades. The pressure is light.

“You’ve carried me long enough,” she says. “You’ve bled for me. Waited in rooms I couldn’t return to.”

My throat tightens.

She kneels beside me. Her form doesn’t shift the candlelight. She exists just beyond it—defined but not solid.

“Elaria needs you,” she says.

I close my eyes.

My hand clenches against the altar’s edge.

The taste of stone fills my mouth.

“You’re not betraying me,” she says. “You’re answering me. I told you. If I wasn’t here… I wanted you to find her.”

My hand moves to the edge of the altar. Then stops.

Beneath the cloth, I know what’s hidden.

I don’t reach for it. My hands won’t lift.

Giovanna leans in. Her fingers brush mine. She guides my hand.

My fingers close around the container beneath the linen. I draw it out. The lid twists under my grip.

The alcohol rises. I pause.

My chest tightens. I can hear my own pulse in my ears.

Giovanna nods once.

I pour.The linen darkens. The marble drinks it in. I set the container down. My fingers don’t leave it right away.

I reach into my coat. My thumb hesitates.

Giovanna is beside me. She doesn’t touch me this time.

She just says, “It’s time.”

The lighter clicks. I close my eyes. Flame rises.

I lower it to the cloth. The fire catches.

At first, it smolders. Then it finds the line of alcohol.

It spreads across the marble. Orange licking through black. The bond carved into the stone glows, then begins to vanish under flame.

I step back. The heat reaches my face. My skin doesn’t flinch.

Giovanna stands behind the altar. Her hands fold in front of her.

Tears line her cheeks. But she smiles.

“Go,” she says. Her image flickers once. “Find her.”

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