Cursed strings, red and pulsing like veins, snapped out and bound Anna's wrists and ankles. They coiled tight, glowing faintly with the sigils of Rose's curse arts. Another strand slithered around Anna's throat, squeezing, not enough to kill, but enough to make her breaths shallow and desperate.
"Rose…" Asher's voice carried a low, warning growl.
"You promised you'd tear Draegonoth out of this mortal shell," Rose snapped, her crimson eyes flashing like coals. "How long have you stalled, hubby? How long?"
"Put Anna down. Now." Asher's tone rasped like steel dragged across stone.
The others stared in confusion, unable to follow the clash between them.
"No." Rose's lips curved into a defiant smile. "Not this time, hubby. I'm done letting this slip by."
Asher's brow tightened, anger surging hot beneath his skin. He had tamed her, but Rose was still a demon lord, and taming was never the same as command. She was bound to him by obsession, not obedience.
