Half of Ruby

Chapter 35

Ember groaned as her fingers clenched together, soft silky sheets sifting past her skin. She blinked, black and white blurring into nauseating lines as her eyelids twitched. 

...what...what happened....

"Ember?" 

A dull roaring pounded through her head, an incessant crescendo of drumming. A gasp fluttered from her lips as pain shot through her temple, red jabbing through the blur of gray. 

"Ember?" 

...where am I? 

She blinked, struggling upright. A blade of agony cut cleanly through her skull as she yelped. 

"No!" 

"Ember! Relax—"

"—Ronan! Ronan—"

She whipped around, sheets tangling into a suffocating cocoon of white as her surroundings blurred into view. A small wooden room, a door nestled into one corner, empty save for the bed she laid in, a nightstand bearing a lamp, and a spindly brown chair. 

"I'm right here." 

Her chest heaved up and down as she stared at him, at those waves of brown and those seas of hazel. Features she'd memorized in the last few days...and features she'd never tire of seeing. 

"Where—what—where—"

"Hush," said Ronan. "Lie back down. I know you have a lot of questions; I'll answer them for you." 

"But where—"

Ronan reached forwards, and placed one finger atop her lips. 

"Sh." 

Her eyes widened as she spluttered, his skin warm atop hers. Blushing, she snuggled back into her blankets, grateful for the warmth enveloping her. 

Ronan's finger dropped away from her lips, and she took a deep breath. 

Silence welcomed itself into the room, thick and choking. Ember stared at Ronan's averted eyes as his gaze darted from the nightstand to the door. 

"So...what happened?" 

"What's the last thing you remember?" he asked, still not meeting her eyes. 

"I...we were walking...we talked about...everything...you bought me cider—cider!" Ember shot upright again, but crashed back onto her pillows. Ronan started as she glared at him. "You drugged me! You took me to the Ombretroix Coven and—"

The realization crashed onto her chest like a million stones. 

"That's right," said Ronan, voice low. "I...I removed your magic." 

She stared at her hands, the words ringing hollowly in her ears. 

I removed your magic. 

I removed your magic. 

But now...who was she? What was a witch without magic? Was there even such a thing? She swallowed, nails clenching into her palms, cutting thin crescents into her pale skin. 

"Ember," said Ronan, "I did it for you—"

"—no," she said, trembling. "No. How could you—"

"You can't be exposed now," he said simply. "Wasn't that your so-called fate? That your powers would be exposed and you'd be executed? I couldn't let that happen." 

"And...and Elyvera helped you. But I thought she wanted me to die." 

He shrugged. "You aren't magical anymore. You can't be harmed."