Page 44 of Cherry Moon

She collapsed into a pile of withering blossoms.

I charged for the hourglass at breakneck speed, my heart in my throat.

I’m gonna lose him…

I’m gonna everything.

“Your love is such an incredible tool.”

I skidded to a stop, my skin crawling at the sound of that voice.

“Misplaced too many times,” the man added. “Especially with me.”

Colin. Once the object of my affection, and a cruel wanker if ever there was one. Long dead now, but right there in his dark sunglasses and suit, his black-and-gray hair slicked back, his pale face boasting a square jaw and deadly-sharp cheekbones.

Just as I remembered him.

“Remember how you loved to call me daddy?” he said.

I turned my back on him, rushing for the hourglass. This was Bony Hag’s pathetic attempt to break me with my past. She didn’t understand how much I’d healed from my toxic relationship with Colin, how far I’d come to get away from that mess.

Yeah, love might be a weakness, but it also trumped the bad stuff.

“I fucked you good,” the fake Colin tried.

Yawn.

I slammed my metal fist into the hourglass, a cold clapback rolling into my bloodstream.

The surface barely cracked.

“No!” I seethed “No!”

I looked at G. Oh, shit. He was fading. Eyes still open, but bloodshot and bulging. His finger behind the wire wasn’t doing enough, and that sand would drown him if the noose didn’t get him first.

“Fucked you so good,” Colin threw out.

I ignored him.

“What about me?” my dad said.

I paused, slightly thrown. Fake dad or not, hearing his voice again…whoa.

“I loved you but took too long to admit it. Made you suffer.”

I’m stronger than this.

I punched the glass again, sweat pouring down my face.

“My darling son. My shame, the source of so much love and disappointment and rage.”

I’m so much fucking stronger than this.

“Your love is misplaced. Your love will feed me. But first, the former wolf.” Dad’s voice, Bony Hag’s words.

Fingers curled in my hair, bunching up a painful handful. With sickening force, I got flipped up and backward by my locks, landing on my feet a few feet away from the hourglass.

Facing Bony Hag.