The crowd that had been celebrating moments ago now scrambled backward, tripping over chairs and tables in their desperate need to escape that terrible smile.
They had burned him alive, and yet he was the one who terrified them.
Marcus forced words out through his constricted throat.
"You brat...you're still alive? How can you still be alive?!"
He tried to sound angry, but his voice cracked with fear.
"I'll burn you again!" He threatened. "I'll burn you until there's nothing left!"
But Charlotte wasn't listening to Marcus.
She was looking at Mika with tears streaming down her face.
"Is that you, Mika?" She whispered. "Is that really you?!"
Mika, whose head was slumped forward, slowly tilted his face down toward her.
Even though his face was a featureless mask of burnt, cracked charcoal, the way his expression softened felt deeply, unmistakably tender.
