I fell in love with a villainess

The Capitol stank of roses and rot.

Evangeline's carriage rolled through streets choked with thorned vines, past nobles in gilded masks who bowed too deeply, their collars blooming with Rosa Noctis. Jack sat across from her, his scar hidden beneath a high-necked coat, his gloved hands clenched on his knees. The thorns beneath his skin hummed, restless, as if they too could smell the trap.

"They're all thralled," Oren muttered, peering through the curtain. "Even the children."

"Not all," Evangeline said, her voice cold. "The ones without roses are either rebels or corpses."

Jack followed her gaze to a figure slumped in an alley, half-eaten by roots. This is my fault, he thought. The garden's rage is my rage.

The carriage halted at the palace gates. A thralled guard with roses for eyes rasped, "The Viper and her pet. Welcome home."

Evangeline stepped out, her gown a cascade of razored silk. "Tell Liran his sister has come to cut out his tongue."

The throne room was a cathedral of decay.

Chandeliers of bone dripped wax onto a floor tiled with shattered mirrors. Nobles in rotting finery lined the walls, their faces veiled by rose-petal masks. At the dais, Liran lounged on a throne of thorns, his boyish grin sharpened by malice. Roses spilled from his sleeves, their roots braided into his skin.

"Eva," he crooned. "You brought the dog. How sweet."

Jack's scar flared. "Kill him," the thorns urged—his voice, yet not.

Evangeline's dagger glinted. "You're not my brother."

Liran sighed. "No. I'm better." He snapped his fingers.

The nobles tore off their masks.

Beneath, their faces were hollowed-out blooms, petals fused to flesh. They lunged, thorns erupting from their fingertips.

Chaos.

Evangeline spun, her daggers severing roots and throats. Oren hurled algae vials, the liquid eating through the thralls' fungal flesh. Jack fought to restrain the thorns, but they tore free, spearing through attackers in sprays of gold-tinged blood.

"More," they demanded. "Feed us."

Liran watched from the throne, laughing. "Look at you, vessel. You're beautiful."

Jack's vision blurred. The scar split wider, roots surging from his chest. He saw Evangeline falter, a thorned noble clawing at her back—

No.

He roared, and the palace shuddered.

The thorns obeyed.

They ripped through stone, impaling thralls, crushing Liran's throne to splinters. Jack's breath came in ragged gasps, his control slipping.

"Jack!" Evangeline's voice cut through the haze.

He turned. She stood amid the carnage, her dagger at Liran's throat. The false brother smiled, unafraid.

"Do it," he whispered. "Let her see what you are."

Evangeline's blade trembled.

Jack's thorns retracted, the scar sealing. "Don't. He wants you to kill him."

"Why?"

Liran's eyes bled black sap. "Because death is a door. And behind it…"

He grabbed Evangeline's wrist and drove the dagger into his own heart.

The throne room stilled.

Liran's body dissolved into petals, swirling into a vortex above the dais. From it emerged Seraphine, her form reforged—thorns and smoke and stolen flesh.

"Hello, darlings," she said. "Did you miss me?"

Evangeline lunged. Seraphine caught her by the throat, roots pinning her to the floor.

"Pathetic," Seraphine sighed. "You still fight like a girl mourning her brother."

Jack's thorns lashed out, but Seraphine batted them aside. "You'll need to do better, vessel."

Oren hurled an algae vial. It struck Seraphine's shoulder, sizzling. She screamed, her form unraveling, and vanished into the shadows.

"Eva—" Jack knelt beside her.

She shoved him away. "Don't."

They retreated to the palace dungeons, the rebels' new stronghold.

The cells reeked of mildew and despair. Evangeline paced, her gown torn, her neck bruised. Jack leaned against a rusted grate, the scar's whispers dulled by exhaustion.

"She's toying with us," Evangeline said. "Using Liran to break me."

Jack peeled off his glove, revealing the thorned veins beneath. "She wants me to lose control. To become her weapon."

"Then don't."

He laughed bitterly. "It's not that simple."

She stopped, her eyes raking over him. "Teach me."

"What?"

"The thorns. Teach me to fight them."

He showed her in the dark.

Guards patrolled above as Jack pressed her palm to his scar. "They're not just in me. They're in the air. The earth. You have to listen."

Evangeline's breath hitched. "I hear… screaming."

"That's the garden. Focus past it."

She closed her eyes. Minutes passed. Then—

"There. A… hum."

Jack's pulse quickened. "That's the bond. The thread between the thorns and their host."

Her fingers curled. "Can I cut it?"

He guided her hand, their joined shadows a single beast on the wall. "Yes."

Dawn bled through the grates. Seraphine's voice slithered from the stones.

"Clever girl. But you'll need more than parlor tricks to kill a god."

Evangeline stood, dagger in hand. "I don't need tricks. I have him."

Jack's scar glowed. For the first time, it felt like hope.

Chapter 15 End.