Page 140 of The Scars Within
His voice cracked, “Scarlet!” He gently slapped my cheek, his eyes pleading. “No—baby, no. Don’t close your eyes. Fight.”
Tears streamed down his face as he held me tighter against him, his sobs muffled in my hair. His voice was raw with anguish. “Please… come be a thorn in my side…”
I deserve this– I deserve to have everything good torn from my grasp.
I deserve to witness my best friend’s final breath.
But once again, the universe won’t let me fade away. Instead, I am forced to feel Rhodes crumble as he tries to hold the shattered pieces of me together. I silently beg whoever is listening to let me endure all of the pain and take it away from him. I can handle it all, but please don’t hurt him.
But nobody listens.
So I fight.
I will fight forhim.
I open my eyes.
Rain pours down around us in relentless sheets, drenching everything in its path. Yet Rhodes rests firmly over me, his body a shield, his head lowered over mine to protect me from the torrential downpour. Water streams down his soaked hair, and though his lips move, his words are swallowed by the storm’s roar.
He was the one that I was most afraid to let in.
I saw a black and red blur from the corner of my vision as Lakota and Noemi approached us.
“We will walk through this fire with you.”
The storm gradually eased, and I heard the approach of more footsteps—different from the heavy tread of boots or the powerful beat of dragon wings. Rhodes lifted his gaze, his eyes filled with desperation. “Please. You have to help her.”
I heard the sound of someone dismounting from a saddle, followed by lighter, more measured footsteps. Rhodes tensed and pulled me closer as the footsteps approached us. A familiar sensation—a presence I had felt before in the woods and through the visions connected to the runes—compelled me to turn my head.
The tall, black wolf stood nearby, its head lowered and ears folded back in a posture of quiet concern. My gaze traveled upward to the figure standing over us. She wore dark leathers, with a bow in one hand and a dagger in the other. Her long braid draped over one shoulder, brushing against the hem of her tunic, which was reinforced with a thin sheet of metal.
And then my eyes locked with my own, but they weren’t scarlet.
They were my hazel eyes.
I blinked rapidly, struggling to dispel the fog of my fading consciousness.
She knelt beside us, her leathers crinkling softly with the movement.
One side of her lips curled up as she said, “Hey, sis.”
Epilogue - Rhodes
I never knew my heart could seize until I saw Scarlet lying beside Delaney in the rain. One glance was enough to tell me—the thorny vines had taken Delaney’s life almost instantly. And from the blood covering Scarlet, I knew she had fought desperately to save her best friend.
I scooped Scarlet into my arms, yelling at her to stay awake. I was there now. She would be okay. For the first time in her life, she had people willing to fight until the end to keep her safe.
From the moment she bumped into me on initiation day, I knew she would be the one to unravel me. It wasn’t just her beauty—it was the fire in her hazel eyes, the unyielding strength that radiated from her. She was like me, walled off, protected. And every time I was near her, she chipped away at those walls.
I didn’t even realize there was still a heart within those walls until Scarlet Thorne.
When I first channeled fire, my father began training me for war. And once I accidentally… he made it clear—I had to become the strongest soldier Kalymdor has ever seen or die trying. So, I shut out everything. Everyone. Including my own brother.
Over time, I became exactly what my father wanted: a soldier, untouchable and inhuman. People who knew me kept theirdistance—people who didn’t learned quickly. But Scarlet was different. She didn’t run.
Whatever hell she’d been through had sharpened her into something unbreakable. She had built walls around herself that even the worst natural disaster couldn’t tear down.
Scarlet Thorne would be the one to withstand my storm.
