THE ASHES OF LIGHT ✔

Chapter Forty-One: Red

After Valencia left the Infirmary, Red sighed, running a hand through her hair. She was exhausted. Red had stayed up all night watching Valencia and making sure she was okay, even skipping a Council meeting to stay by her side. Red never skipped Council meetings—especially if she knew it was about something important. Now that Ashton was gone, Red felt like it was her duty to protect his daughter, even if she was envious of Valencia at times. Red knew that she could never be Ashton's real daughter, but she loved him enough to protect his real daughter no matter the cost.

Red's head dipped as she began to doze off to sleep. Her eyelids felt so heavy that it seemed impossible to keep them open.

"Red?" Mariah asked, entering the Infirmary. "You're still here?"

Red startled awake, rubbing at her eyes as she nodded, "Yeah."

"You need to go get some sleep," Mariah frowned, approaching her. She gently tucked a stray piece of hair behind Red's ears. "Go home. I'll watch over the Infirmary for a bit."

Red nodded again, too tired to form a verbal reply. She caught a whiff of Mariah's jasmine scent as she leaned in, filling her with warm, fuzzy feelings. It felt like Mariah was the only person who Red could truly lean on.

She stood up from her chair and left the Infirmary, confused as the sunlight hit her face. It appeared to be almost noon—how was that possible? It felt like just moments ago, she was brainstorming a way to cure Shadow Disease with Valencia, just moments ago she was watching in awe as Valencia healed Maythus.

She shook her head, stepping forward. Before she could get to sleep, Red needed to find someone from the Council to fill her in on what happened during the meeting she missed. It was Maythus's first meeting as king of Galleria, and she was certain that they would be discussing something important.

Tobias, the Elder of conjuring, lived in a house that was in the same row as hers, so Red figured that she would stop by there before going home. Besides, he was one of her only friends in the Council. She respected everyone, but she wasn't sure that they always respected her in return.

Red approached the row of houses, stopping at the third, which belonged to Tobias. She knocked on the door, tapping her foot as she waited for a response.

Nothing.

Red frowned. That was weird. It was possible that Tobias had gone out to run some errands, but all of the lights in his home were on.

She tried the door handle, surprised to find it unlocked. When Red stepped into Tobias's home, she gasped in shock. He was slumped on the couch, a needle embedded in his arm. His body was decomposing by the second, covered in shadows.

Red stumbled backward in shock, all of her sleepiness quickly being replaced by adrenaline. Tobias had been attacked with the same injection? That didn't make sense—he wasn't a target except for being an Elder.

Her heart dropped. He was an Elder. Was Crypt targeting the Council?

Red darted out of the home, heading for the next closest: Jax. She discovered the same thing. His door was open, and he was slumped on his couch with an empty injection embedded in his arm.

One by one, Red made her way to each of the Elders's houses, and each time, she discovered the same scene.

Her heart pounding in her chest, Red sprinted back to the Infirmary. She knew she couldn't go home now, and she needed to tell someone about the Council. Red had a large target on her back, and the Infirmary was the only safe place she could think of.

She swung open the doors, her vibrant hair wild.

At the sight in front of her, it was like the world was moving in slow-motion.

Red was screaming.

Red was crying.

Red was trying to run, but her feet were refusing to move.

On the floor in front of her was Mariah, with a needle embedded into her arm just like all of the other Council members. Whoever attacked them must have come to the Infirmary and, seeing only Mariah, assumed that she was Red.

Red could barely see the floor in front of her as she approached Mariah, her suspicions confirmed.

She was too late. Mariah was dead.

Red's chest started heaving as she vomited off to the side, unable to fathom a world without Mariah. A world without Mariah's smile, the twinkle in her eye as she challenged Red, the scent of jasmine as she leaned in for a kiss.

She crawled over to her body, pulling Mariah's head into her lap as she leaned against the wall. Red had never cried so hard in her life, not even when she found out Ashton was gone.

Red soothingly ran her hands through Mariah's hair, desperate for a reason to believe that this was all a lie. That this was just some sick prank that someone organized to terrify her.

Mariah's skin was growing colder and colder by the minute, and Red could feel her body stiffening up beneath her hands.

Red remained slumped against the wall, unable to let go of her dead girlfriend.

All of her colleagues—some people that she would even consider her friends—were dead. If only Red had thought to stock up on a supply of the cure to Shadow Disease earlier, then maybe she could have saved them. If only Red had stayed in the Infirmary instead of leaving Mariah all alone, then maybe she wouldn't be gone.

Red felt another wave of nausea as she looked down at Mariah, feeling her skin dissolve as her body darkened into shadows. She had never told Mariah how much she loved her, how much she valued her, how much she needed her to live. And now it was too late. Red was all alone.

The Council was dead.