"I deserve to die…" Jocelynn said in a fragile, broken voice.
-SLAP!-
Ashlynn's hand flew with the speed of a striking snake, slapping against Jocelynn's cheek hard enough to leave a bright red imprint and split her lip.
"Don't. You. Dare!" Ashlynn fumed.
Her palm stung. When she lowered her hand, a smear of Jocelynn's blood stood out bright across it, right beside the faint, pinkish crescents her own nails had carved into her skin during the ritual. Talauia's healing had mended the torn flesh, but it would be another day or two before the marks faded completely.
Inside Ashlynn's chest, a strangely warm pulse radiated from the Olive Seed as if it were savoring the sight of Jocelynn's pain or the feeling of being responsible for it. The warmth spread outward from her breastbone, down her arms and into her fingertips, and for the first time since she'd left the Enchanted Grove, her hands stopped shaking.
