Chapter 5
The General’s gaze tore into me like a predator closing in on his prey.
He was so close.
He wore black coated leathers. The insignia of Sídhe—two dark green serpents—loomed at his chest, and war badges lined the fabric draping his shoulders.
His once untamed locks were now pulled into a disciplined stream down his back.
He was striking in a cold-blooded kind of way, like his beauty was tinged with poison.
Unassuming, alluring even.
I brought my eyes up to meet his.
The scar that stained his otherwise perfect face was darker than I previously thought. The center was pitch black, fading out to the color of wine before sprawling into vein-like patterns across his cheek.
My eyes, braver than the rest of my body, remained locked on his. His expression was vague, and therefore, infuriating. There was no reading the General .
Logic told me that he was here to arrest me. The near-comforting confusion that Osta’s words had provided evaporated from my mind like a sudden drought.
As his stare continued, my stomach turned to acid. I knew the best plan was to play it safe, but a desire to resist clawed at me.
Fear still churned, but it was now tinged with a rage that had been dormant in me for the last five years, a rage that I had buried deep after the guards at the dam had murdered my friends.
I knew then I could never act on it, never let it control me or I’d end up getting myself killed.
But now as the General stood in front of me, looking so similar to them, that rage returned with a vengeance.
“The General has requested you for questioning regarding last night…” Ma finally announced, but her tone seemed less than sure. Her eyes shifted back and forth between us, searching for even a slight change of pace. But we were still locked in a stalemate.
Or so I thought.
My uncertainty festered like a poison, yet his eyes revealed no sign of weakness. He was in his element.
The echo of a smirk played at the corners of his lips.
My heart shuddered as a wave of nausea hit me, and I blinked.
He took it as an opportunity.
“Fia Riftborne?” I heard the words drip from his lips like blood from a dagger. His velvety voice grated against my spine far more than it should have. He was too polished, too poised. Bile rose in my throat.
“That’s me,” I muttered, albeit in a much more confident tone than intended. The wicked part of me gleamed with pride. His eyebrow peaked, leaving a crease in his forehead.
“And you were present during the celebration last night?” he asked, his voice tinged with amusement. Heat emanated from my hands, building until it reached the base of my skull. I bit back the twitch that threatened my upper lip.
He knew I was there. He saw what I did. The small talk was pointless .
“I was asked to deliver the last of the tonics to the party. Last minute orders from the Nobility,” I said flatly.
His eyes narrowed for a few seconds before turning to Ma. “Is there somewhere I could speak with her privately?” he asked, a sickening sweetness drenching his voice. “After all, I am here on official matters. It’s best I conduct this away from any potentially prying eyes or ears.”
Confusion rippled through me. Why wasn’t he taking me off to question me in custody?
Ma struggled to respond. She glanced at me, worry streaking across her forehead. I gave her a simple nod. This was happening one way or another. Might as well get it over with now.
Her eyes shifted back towards the General. I could tell she didn’t want to oblige, but Ma was in no position to refuse him. I didn’t want her to try to. This was my mess.
“There are greenhouses out back… they stay locked unless one of us is working there...” She paused before walking to her desk and retrieving a key from the drawer. I thought she might say something else, considering her hesitance, but she slowly returned, holding out her hand.
The General smiled as he took the key, “Thank you, Maladea. We shouldn’t be long.”
He turned towards the back door without a second glance, clearly expecting me to follow him. I squeezed Ma's hand as I brushed past her and gave her a reassuring look. I only hoped it was convincing.
We made our way to the greenhouse in silence.
He reached for the door and unlocked it gracefully. Stepping back and pulling it with him, he motioned for me to walk ahead. I hesitated.
“After you,” he murmured.
Fear seeped back into me as I stepped past him.
The sun was peeking out from over the mountains in its descent. It would be dark soon.
I crossed my arms until the door snapped closed behind me.
Stealing a glance in his direction, my eyes gave me away. He was just staring at me with that odd curiosity again. Not saying a word.
“Let’s just get to it then,” I said curtly.
He shook his head, huffing an amused sigh. “That’s the tone you intend to use?” he asked with such superiority, I thought I might suffocate.
“Will it change anything?”
He strode over to the table where we kept our gardening tools, picking up a hand shovel and examining it.
“I’m just trying to understand the reason behind your contempt. You seem enraged. And all I’ve asked for is a simple conversation,” he taunted.
“I apologize,” I murmured, hiding the chill that wanted to lace my voice. My eyes wandered towards the floor.
He raised an eyebrow, lowering his chin.
“That’s a much more acceptable tone, don’t you think?
” His voice dripped with sarcasm. “Since we both know why I’m here, why don’t you start with telling me what it is exactly that you did to those poor girls.
” He leaned back against the table, crossing his feet.
“I’ve never seen anything like that. And I’ve just about seen it all. ”
“I… I don’t really know.” The words fell out. I could feel my confidence draining through my feet. But defiance still lingered, albeit quietly, in the back of my mind.
He rolled his eyes. “Riftborne. My patience is dwindling. Your focus. What is it?” he snapped.
“My focus? I... don’t know. I don’t have a focus… I mean...” I shook my head, confusion creasing my brow. “I don’t have any control over it. I’d hardly call it a focus. ”
He cocked his head to the side and narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean, you don’t have control? How did you even channel it?”
“I was agitated. It only happens when I’m in a heightened state. I don’t know how to explain it. It just overcame me. I couldn’t stop. I can never stop on my own,” I stammered.
He pursed his lips before turning his head, deep in thought.
“I didn’t mean for it to happen,” I added. As if it weren’t obvious.
He continued to stare at the corner of the room like he hadn’t heard me.
“Has this happened before?” he finally asked.
I hesitated, horrified by the prospect of discuss the times I had previously unleashed my curse on someone.
“I’d rather not talk about it,” I said, wrapping my arms around my middle.
Anger flickered across his eyes. He continued to glare at me, but his amusement returned.
“I’d rather not make this more difficult than it needs to be,” he shrugged, angling his head. “But I certainly can.”
In a blinding flash, a dagger sliced through the air, aimed dead center at my face. Terror seized my throat. Time seemed to freeze as I flinched, the blade whispering past my cheek before embedding itself in the wooden beam behind me.
After a few deep breaths, I opened my eyes to find him smiling wickedly. Like this was his own personal form of entertainment.
“If you’re going to kill me, just do it now,” I whispered, bracing myself against the beam.
The General rose to his feet and approached me with measured steps, stopping just mere inches from my face.
His emerald eyes locked onto mine as he reached past me to retrieve his dagger.
He brought the blade to my neck, dragging it gently along the contour of my throat. I held my breath, expecting the kill.
“You don’t get to die until I’ve had my questions answered. If your own life doesn’t matter to you, then we’ll have to go in another direction. That other Riftborne girl was at the party too, correct?” His low tone hit me like daggers of ice. “What was her name again… Osta?”
It took every logical fragment of my brain to stop me from spitting on his polished boots right then and there. I felt my palms twitch.
What should have been fear was replaced by rage once again, the kind I couldn’t control, and the familiar haze overtook my vision.
I shoved my back further into the wood until I heard it crack in resistance, warning myself to calm the blaze that was igniting all over my skin and through my skull.
I pressed my hands against the sides of my temples in an attempt to physically calm the power trying to flood me.
He had done his research. The fucking audacity. Everyone in the Guard was pure fucking evil. All they did was abuse their power, kill indiscriminately and manipulate for their own sick entertainment. My heart raced.
His footsteps became distant as he walked away.
“I just want to know about the other times this has happened. It’s simple," he insisted.
My eyes moved along the cracks in the floor, searching for something. I couldn’t let him involve Osta in this.
“It was last Spring. Inside the Apothecary.” My words were clipped, my breath labored. The familiar feeling of regret began its descent into my gut as the memories surfaced. I had pushed this so far from my mind, reliving it was going to be hard.
“Go on,” he urged, leaning back onto the table.
“I was in the front of the shop, restocking the potion cabinets.” My vision blurred as I replayed the events.
“I heard a commotion outside. I figured it was just some street vendors fighting over territory. But the sounds got closer, and I could hear her–Osta–screaming.” My hand found its way to my hair and raked through, catching a few snags.
“She was with her new boyfriend. I don’t even know what they were fighting over.
But she ran into the shop, heading towards the back.
He raced after her and she just kept telling him to leave her alone.
... But he wouldn’t. At first, he was kind of pleading with her, but then he got really frustrated,” I looked away, swallowing the salt that had begun forming in my mouth.
“I told him he needed to leave, but he didn’t hear me. At that point, he was roaring at her. I couldn’t understand what he was saying.” My lungs sucked in a slow breath. “But he was starting to really piss me off. Ma ran in from the greenhouse.”
“ He reared up like he was going to hit Osta, and I totally lost it.”
“You lost it? Elaborate please,” the General said from across the room.
“I lost control. This… surge ran through me... It’s difficult to explain. But… it was as if pure force erupted out of me and grappled him.” My eyes widened, remembering how his body lifted off the ground. How he began trembling uncontrollably, unnaturally. What I had done… It still terrified me.
“Ma and Osta... they were screaming. I couldn’t hear them at first. I was completely consumed by what was happening.
” A lump formed in my throat. “Eventually, Osta yanked me back, and broke my trance. He fell and hit the ground.” I winced, remembering the sound of dead weight striking the creaking floor of the shop.
“He wasn’t dead. Just unconscious. Ma was able to heal him. I guess it’s lucky we were in the Apothecary…” I trailed off. The way Ma had looked at me that day…
I felt my heart shatter all over again. There was so much horror in her eyes. I never once imagined she could look at me like that. The way that others looked at me.
Like I was a monster.
She knew that there was something… dangerous inside me.
Her and Osta had always known. But I don’t think any of us realized the extent of it.
Ever since then, I had stopped telling either one of them when I felt it coming…
when I felt it taking over. I blinked, holding back the tears that threatened to fall.
My body was dying to recoil, I wanted to take it all back.
I wanted to wipe the memory from their minds.
I wanted to go back in time and change it.
If I had known my curse would lead to this…
Perhaps I should have left a long time ago, releasing the people I loved from the burden of being around me.
Of fearing me. Of being dragged into whatever fate I had now sealed for myself.
“So, he survived?” The General asked, breaking through my internal spiral.
After a few seconds, my lips felt as though they could move again.
“They were able to revive him. He stayed unconscious for a while. But when he came to, he couldn’t remember any of it.”
We stood in silence for a long while. The room had gotten dark. Even the air seemed oppressive. After what felt like centuries, the General cleared his throat.
“They were on the brink of death when we found them. I mean, the two of them had mere seconds left. I thought there was no way they could have survived your attack, the shape we found them in was… well, let’s just say, they certainly looked dead.
” He bit back a smile. “My alterationist had quite a time erasing the blood from their hair. It was no easy task. Genuinely. It took just about every ounce of our healer’s focus to revive them, the girls, I mean… ” he trailed off.
I froze.
“He said it was like their minds had been crushed by something… Like an invisible force just squeezed and squeezed.” He started pacing as he rambled on.
“You know, I was really curious about the memory loss. They had it too. Didn’t remember a thing…
It was fascinating… absolutely fascinating. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
He turned to face me as a smirk formed on his lips.
Beckha and Jordaan were alive.