I'm No Cinderella

Chapter 27

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Never Again

I pushed my body as hard as it would go.

My lungs burned and my legs ached by the time I reached the crossroads, but I didn't care. My pace slowed only a bit as my gaze flickered between my two options. One way would lead me to the plantation that Ash had been working at since we were children. The other led to the town.

We had stood at this very crossroads so many times, over countless mornings. Embracing each other as if it might be our last time seeing one another. And now...

I didn't let myself finish the thought.

I nearly took the road to the plantation, but some nagging instinct warned that if something really were wrong, he wouldn't be down that way. He would be in the town square, just like–

I didn't finish that thought either. I couldn't finish it, as if just the thought alone could manifest my nightmares into reality. I was still hoping that I was only overreacting. That, maybe, all of the nerves from my day had put me on edge and I would find nothing out of the ordinary in the town square when I got there. When I returned home, Gianluca would likely be angry at me for running off without warning, but my family might be able to have a laugh about it, or at least understand why I had been so silly.

Gianluca would probably forgive me easily, as he always did, especially once he realized that neither of us had gotten sick. I wasn't running from him– from us– anymore.

At least not at the moment.

Then, the buildings of the town proper rose up before me and the empty streets made my gut clench painfully in apprehension. Still, I tried to come up with more innocent excuses for why that could be, perhaps some kind of celebration or parade?

None of them were convincing. Even to myself.

When I neared the center of town, I found where all of the people had gone.

A crowd was formed around the square. I struggled to suck air in past the lump that had formed in my throat as I shoved my way through the crowd, using my small frame to the advantage and paying no mind to the muffled curses thrown my way.

I craned my neck to try to catch a glimpse of what was going on. Near the front of the crowd, I spotted Jax's familiar blonde hair and made my way to where he stood. His chocolate eyes were trained straight ahead, not even noticing my arrival.

I followed his gaze to find what everyone had gathered to watch, and a strangled noise met my ears. I was only vaguely aware that it had come from my own mouth.

There, in the middle of the town square, was my brother. His arms were bound by chains to the post, and his shirt lay in tattered ribbons on the cobbled ground around him. Blood coated his ruined back from deep gashes left by the whip that was once again being lifted into the air.

There was no question of whether the man striking him was human or other. I spotted that predatory gleam in his eye that I had become all-too-familiar with over the course of recent months. A look that said he was actually enjoying what he was doing to Ash.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Jax's head turn in my direction. "Rose..." His own voice came out rough, as if he too was having trouble sucking air into his lungs at the sight of what was happening to his closest friend.

The shifter's came down, and the whip dug once more into my brothers back. I felt something within me shatter as rivulets of his blood dripped to the stone below. A low, pained sound came from Ash, and he struggled feebly against his restraints.