Tarnished Embers: A Dark Stepbrother Fairytale Retelling (Dark Retellings)

Ember falls asleep again, her poor body exhausted. My muscles tense, heat washing through me at the fucking bombshell that Prince dropped earlier. Everything we went through that awful night, that Ember went through, was for fucking nothing, and our father’s death…I have to set that to one side for now to focus on what we need to do next.

We failed Ember so badly, and I’m not sure how any of us will come back from that.

“The Will and our dads wasn’t all we learned,” Prince whispers after calling us from Ember’s bed. She whimpered when we left, but we didn’t want to disturb her with our talking so we’re in a huddle on the other side of the room, all of us looking back with furrowed brows at the way she tosses on the bed.

“What else?” I grit out, not sure I can deal with any more surprises.

“We have the names and addresses of the men who…hurt her,” Cas tells us, and I go still, the sound of my blood rushing in my ears deafening in the silence.

“They need to die,” Oct states, his voice darker than I’ve ever heard it. I’m nodding my head, even as I swallow hard. Mass murder isn’t something I ever thought I’d commit, but as a small wounded whimper sounds from our stepsister, I know I would kill a thousand people to keep her safe.

“Oh, they will hurt, brother,” Prince vows, his green eyes hard and cutting.

“What’s the plan?” I question, my palms sweating even as a fluttering, empty feeling fills my stomach.

“We trick them into thinking there’s another party, get them all in one place,” Prince tells us, and my forehead wrinkles.

“Where?” My mind races with the possibilities but comes up empty.

“I want to be there,” Ember’s soft voice floats over to us, a thread of steel in her tone. My heart gives a painful thud inside my chest as we turn to face her, finding her sitting up in bed, the sheets crumpled in her small hands. I don’t want her anywhere near those disgusting pigs. Knowing that she had to face them all alone before is enough to make my blood boil. She shouldn’t have to deal with them again.

“Sugar,” Prince starts, taking a step towards her, but she shakes her head, cutting him off and stopping him where he is.

“I deserve to get revenge on them too, Prince. A–after what they did to me, I want to make sure they can do nothing like that again.” Her jaw is set, and my chest tightens knowing that we won’t be able to convince her not to be part of this.

Prince takes a huge inhale, then his shoulders slump. “Fine, although I’m stating now that I fucking hate this.”

“Be that as it may, Prince. I will take back the control they stole from me.” She’s so fierce as she says the words, her spine straight, and my lips tug up into an appreciative smile. The tightness in my chest eases as I realise just how strong our girl is. She’s been through Hell, been baptised in pain, and has come out the other side swinging.

Do I want her to get her hands dirty? No, but she’s right. She deserves this more than any of us.

“Do you have any suggestions, Little Sis?” Oct asks, a feral gleam in his eyes as he strolls over to her. He takes her hand in his and presses a kiss to her knuckles. I follow the psycho bastard, knowing that he’s getting off on this, on the idea of her seeking retribution on her enemies.

“We invite them back to the house,” she says, looking at each of us, Prince and Cas coming up on the other side of her bed. “And then we burn it the fuck down with them inside.”

EMBER

A chill races up my spine as the words leave my mouth, but there’s a rightness to them I feel deep in my soul. Those men, those monsters deserve to die, and a cleansing by fire seems appropriate.

Prince raises his dark brows, an almost impressed gleam in his eyes making the green shine. “And Odette?” he asks, his low tone caressing my skin.

I pause, my eyes wide as I realise he’s letting me decide her fate too, when he has more reason than I to see her fall. Blinking, I think about what punishment would be fitting for the crimes she’s committed.

“Death is too good for her,” I tell him, not looking away for a single moment. He nods. “We hand over all our evidence and she can rot in prison for the rest of her miserable life, thinking about everything that she’s lost and knowing that she’s now powerless and will never have control over you again. And the women who took advantage of you will be exposed too, they don’t get to walk away because they had to have known what they did was all kinds of fucked up.”

“We’d need to go public with what she put us through,” Oct murmurs, and my heart hurts for them.

“You have nothing to be ashamed about, Oct. You were abused, underage teens when she first got you selling your bodies. This is on her, and no one will think badly of you.” I take his hand and press a kiss to his lips.

“And if they do,” Kit adds, placing a hand on Oct’s shoulder. “Fuck ‘em. Their opinions are worthless.” Oct nods, his jaw tight, but a resolute fire is burning in his blue eyes.

“Plus, we can always organize for Odette to be shanked if we grow bored,” Cas interjects, and my brows shoot up, a bark of laughter bursting from my mouth. My free hand flies up to cover my lips, some part of me realising that this isn’t a time for laughter. He winks, legit winks at me like a fucking rogue.This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.

“How is this our life now?” I ask, lowering my fingers and biting my lips to repress the very inappropriate giggles that threaten to take over.

“So it’s agreed?” Prince interjects, and all eyes turn to him. “We deal with Odette, expose her crimes and those involved, and then those dead men walking?”

A part of me knows that this is wrong, that I shouldn’t be planning the murder of four people and the ruination of a fifth. There’s the brief flash of worry that I’ll never be the same afterwards. Taking a life is not something that doesn’t leave you unmarked, but then, having your voice stolen and your body violated leaves its mark too.

Those men broke me that night. They took with no thought to my well-being. No idea that there would be consequences to their heinous actions. And it’s this new me, the one who has seen and experienced the monsters of this world firsthand, that dips my head as butterflies riot in my stomach.

“Agreed.”