Moonfire Bride: The One they all betrayed...till she awakened

Della’s eyes widened in horror the moment Selene’s claws began digging into the child’s body, ”No...”

Selene’s fingers tightened, and Della’s entire body jerked against the chains, ”No! Please—please, don’t!”

She struggled desperately, but her strength was gone. The chains rattled violently above her while her weakened legs kicked uselessly against the empty air, ”Selene, please!” Her voice cracked, ”I’ll do anything. Please! Please don’t hurt my baby anymore...”

Selene watched her with cold fascination, and she didn’t say a word.

Another tremor passed through her abdomen, and Della could suddenly feel her baby’s fear. She could feel its tiny, desperate movement.

”NO!” She screamed so loudly that her ruined voice nearly disappeared again, ”Please! Please, stop! Stop!” She pulled against the chains until her wrists burned.m, ”Please, Selene! Don’t take my baby!”

Selene didn’t listen, ”Beg me some more, Rotblood!”

”Please... please stop!!” Della cried even harder, then she felt another faint movement.

Then another.

Weaker.

Impossibly weak. Like it was clinging to whatever form of life energy it could feel.

”No, no, no. Stay with me. Please...” Tears of blood flowed down her eyes and her bound hands trembled uselessly against the chains, ”I’m right here...I’m right here please...” Her voice broke completely.

”I thought I told you to beg me instead,” Selene said, ”Oh well...!”

She plunged her fingers deeper, and then they closed around something entirely this time.

Silence followed immediately afterwards, and Della’s body stopped shaking completely as the warmth she’d always associated with her child simply... disappeared.

A strange coldness settled deep inside her abdomen instead.

Her mouth remained open, but no sound came out.

She waited.

One second.

Two.

Three.

Nothing.

Her baby didn’t move.

Didn’t flutter.

Didn’t curl in pain.

Della stared blankly ahead, denial clamping down around her heart.

It wouldn’t let her believe what had just happened.

Selene ripped her long claws back out of Della’s abdomen, and a strangled cry ripped out her mouth.

Then, she was silent again.

”That felt even better than when I killed Katherine,” Selene chuckled to herself, wiping the blood on her hands over a piece of clean cloth.

Then, she walked over to a barrel and stood behind him, ”You know why I chose this particular place to kill you, Selene?”

A lone, empty tear rolled down Selene’s cheek. She probably wasn’t even listening anymore at this point.

A slow, evil grin spread across Selene’s face, and then she shoved it with both hands. The old wooden barrel rolled several feet before striking the stone wall with a heavy crack.

Its contents immediately spilled through a split in the wood, spreading across the floor in a thick, glistening stream.

The smell hit Della almost instantly and she finally managed to look up. Greasy tallow. Sharp plant oil. The bitter, smoky scent of pitch and resin.

Her eyes slowly widened.

Selene pushed another barrel, and more fuel poured across the floor, creeping beneath Della’s dangling body and soaking into the old wooden boards, chains, and scraps of cloth scattered around the flood.

”What are you doing?” Della whispered.

Selene didn’t answer, and simply threw another barrel on the floor, emptying it’s contents again.

”No!”

”Yes!” Selene grinned, then she picked up a burning torch. ”I wanna give you a death worthy of the kind of blood you carry. I wanna burn all that stinking rot to the ground,”

Della began fiercely pulling against the chains again. They bit, dug and tore into her flesh but she still kept going, even though it was futile.

So futile.

”Not even your ashes will be left when you’re finished,” Selene then threw the torch forward, a villainous smirk on her face.

The torch struck the stone, and nothing happened at first.

Then the flame found the trail of fuel and—

WHOOMPH!

Fire raced across the floor in a blinding wave, and Della screamed again.

The flames spread beneath her almost instantly, crawling over the soaked boards and licking up the sides of the barrels. The room filled with an orange glow, with shadows twisting wildly across the stone walls, ”NO!”

She pulled against the chains again, as hard as she could, against every limit of her body, and they rattled violently above her.

”HELP!” She yelled again, her voice cracking, ”PLEASE!”

The heat reached her almost immediately. It pressed against her battered body, stealing the little air she had left in her lungs. Smoke began curling through the chamber, making her cough and choke.

Selene simply watched.

Della’s eyes darted around desperately. There was nowhere to go, and the chains held her exactly where Selene wanted her.

”Please!” Della screamed again. ”Someone! HELP ME!”

There was no answer. Of course there was. Even if there was an answer, they’d probably come here and add more fuel to the fire.

The flames climbed higher, and Della squeezed her eyes shut as tears streamed down her face. She could still feel the cold emptiness inside her abdomen.

Her baby was gone.

Annelise was gone.

And now...she was about to die too.

”I’m sorry,” She whispered, her voice barely audible beneath the fire. She didn’t even know who she was apologising to.

Her baby?

Annelise?

Lian?

Herself?

The smoke thickened, and Della began coughing violently, her body convulsing against the chains. Every breath felt impossible. Her lungs burned, and her head became increasingly light.

Then, the flames closed in on her.

It was a sudden, vicious sensation against her skin —so intense that Della’s entire body jerked instinctively.

Her scream tore through the room again as the heat spread rapidly across her legs and climbed toward her waist, making every muscle contract. She tried desperately to pull herself upward, away from the flames, but the chains held her suspended.

Her skin felt as though countless burning needles were pressing against it at once. Wherever the flames lingered, the sensation intensified from unbearable heat into sharp, searing pain.

Della thrashed harder.

She was... burning.

Selene finally turned away from the sight and started walking toward the doorway, completely unhurried.

She stepped through the doorway, and Della watched through the haze as the gap became smaller, ”PLEASEEEEE!”

The door slammed shut, and Selene’s smile remained as she walked away.

She could hear Della’s screams echoing behind her, and growing fainter with every step.

Then came the roar of the fire again.

Selene continued walking.

She was very satisfied now, because as far as she was concerned, Della was already dead.

Or dying.

Either way, she would never have to see her again.