Scarlett (Second Edition) by Karima Saad Usman novel Chapter 99

Chapter 99

Scarlett’s POV

I watched as the crowd slowly drifted away, leaving me alone in the biting cold. The chill seeped deep into my bones, and with each passing second, it felt

like a part of me was freezing, hardening, becoming numb.

They’d left me out here to die, abandoned and alone. The harsh reality settled over me like the weight of the snow piling up around my feet. I hadn’t meant

to kill anyone—I swear, I hadn’t. All I wanted was to escape, to break free from the constant weight of life pressing down on me. I was so tired, so worn

down, and all I wanted was a way out.

I looked around, desperate for a glimpse of mercy, my teeth chattering so hard they hurt. Maybe someone, anyone, would fake pity on me and save me from this fate. But there was no one. They were gone–all of them. I was alone, forgotten like a discarded piece of trash.

It struck me then, like ice running through my veins: they were waiting for me to die, for my body to freeze over and turn stiff before they’d even consider coming back. Perhaps they thought that would be justice. Maybe they thought it would be easier to deal with a corpse.

I wanted so badly to reach out, to pull on the thread of the mate bond that bound me to them. But I remembered the look in their eyes before they left me here. It had been full of disgust, of certainty that I was guilty. And maybe I was.

Bianca’s accusations had left them all suspicious, and what I’d done… there was no defending it. I had drugged the reservoir, the source of water, filling it with pollen and wolfbane. I had thought it would make them sleep, give me the time I needed to slip away, unseen and unnoticed. But I hadn’t realized how deadly it would be, how some of them would be too weak to survive it. I’d caused deaths–many deaths. And I did it out of sheer desperation, a foolish, reckless attempt to free myself. Now I was the monster they believed me to be, a murderer, a destroyer.

I was bound tightly to the stake, feeling the ropes digging into my wrists and the cold making my fingers go numb. I closed my eyes, letting the tears flow freely down my cheeks. I whispered a silent prayer, pleading with any power out there that could hear me. There had to be a reason for all this suffering, some purpose for this endless chain of misfortune. I was clinging to that small hope like a lifeline, even as I felt myself slipping into despair.

“Scarlett,” a voice murmured through the haze of my fading consciousness. It was familiar, warm–a voice from the past, from the time before all this. I was too cold, too weak to lift my head and see who it was. But then I felt hands, warm and steady, gently lifting my face. I blinked, and there she was–Martha. She looked at me with that familiar kindness, the kindness I thought I’d lost forever.

“Come on, child,” she whispered, her voice urgent but soft. “We don’t have much time. I need to get you out of here. Too many lives have been lost already.

You can’t be one of them.”

A strange laugh bubbled out of me, half–crazy, half–disbelieving. My mind was playing tricks on me, I was sure of it. No one would help me after what I’d done in Redcape. Who would want to save a murderer? But then I felt the ropes around my wrists loosen, and I cautiously stretched my hands forward, half- expecting them to still be bound. Yet they were free. Martha had untied me.

I took a hesitant step away from the stake, unsure if this was real or if I was slipping away into a dream, my spirit leaving my body. But no, I could still feel the icy ground beneath my feet, still feel the ache in my bones. I was alive.

“Here,” Martha said, pressing a bundle of clothes into my arms. They were mine–familiar and worn, clothes I’d left behind. Jeans, a T–shirt, thick wook socks, gloves, a knitted hat, and a heavy sweater Clay had given me once. He’d laughed as he wrapped it around my shoulders, calling it “the warmest hug money can buy.” Now, it was my only shield against the cold.

As I pulled the clothes on, feeling warmth slowly seep back into my frozen limbs, a flicker of hope reignited inside me. I wasn’t entirely alone.

“They were all I could get from your room,” Martha whispered, her voice trembling slightly. She looked around, her gaze sharp and alert, as if any moment someone might come and tear us apart. I pulled the clothes on quickly, feeling the warmth wrap around me like a long lost friend. For the first time in what

Chapter 99

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felt like ages, a spark of hope flickered within me. Someone was helping me. Against all odds, a member of Redcape was risking everything to give me a chance. I made a silent promise to myself right then–I would never forget Martha’s kindness. I would carry her selflessness with me, wherever I went.

Comments

Michele Gremillion

1 Comments >

at least Martha still cared about her. she probably knows who along with Gregory set her up. It was probably stasia her niece.

7 days ago