Chapter 16
The guard’s eyes darted between the two of us. Confusion and shock twisted in my stomach as I spun to face the General.
His attention was on the guard behind me. The softened eyes from earlier were gone, replaced by a callous glare. A sickening smile formed on his lips. My vision blurred with a mix of betrayal and anger, and my stomach threatened to retch as I opened my mouth to speak.
I followed his movements as he walked ahead, separating me from the guard.
“It took quite a bit of research to find the connection between the two of you. But once I did, it all became clear.” The General turned slowly and gestured towards me.
“I saw the way you reacted to him at the Compound. How intriguing, I thought. My mind went wild trying to imagine the circumstances in which you two would ever find yourselves in the same room.”
I was going to be sick.
“When they delivered your records to my door, Jeremiah, I spent hours rifling through them, noting an incident at the river. It seemed innocuous at first, until I realized all of the deceased just so happen to be Riftborne.” Heat rushed over my body.
The sound of that name coming from his mouth made me want to vomit.
The guard was paralyzed, and it didn’t go unnoticed by the General.
He smiled even wider, nodding with recognition.
“I knew this was the connection, but I was still missing details. How badly I wanted to unravel this. It really is so much fun playing detective.” He shook his head, biting his lip.
I couldn’t think straight.
“Then I looked into your file.” He turned to meet my eyes again. “The ones who died… they shared a group home with you. The House of Unity.” He gritted his teeth.
“So much clicked into place then. I understood. It was no surprise to me that the death of a few Riftborne would be swept under the rug. It happens all the time.”
I couldn’t breathe. My blood was boiling. I could feel my heartbeat radiating through my limbs.
“Fia, you were on the edge of the river, correct? With Osta. You both had to watch as your friends drowned.” He spun around to the guard whose face was now drained of color.
“Did you know that she saw you?”
The guard stumbled forward. “General, please, I think there must have been some kind of misunderstand–”
The General’s eyes went up in flames as he raised his hand, cutting off the guard. The pure power of his simple gesture reverberated through the room like a sound-wave.
“Do I detect subordination in your tone? Keep your mouth shut, officer,” the General shouted, his words slick with a dark form of amusement.
The guard’s eyes widened as he took a few steps backwards. The General slowly turned to face me. I glared back at him, fighting the urge to claw his face off with my bare hands.
“Fia, this man is the reason your friends are dead. He pulled the lever. You know this. If it weren’t for his hatred and ignorance, Mairyen… Luka– ”
“Don’t you dare say their names,” I spat, fury pulsing through my veins. My body was shaking.
The General moved towards me, slow and calculating. He stopped a few inches from my face and leaned in.
“Direct that rage towards the man who deserves it,” he whispered, stepping to the side. The guard now stood in my direct line of sight. The General circled me, staying close enough for me to feel his breath on my neck.
“You have my full permission to punish him however you see fit.” His voice was like razor blades. I was on the edge of control, and it was slipping with every passing second.
The General leaned in closer than ever. I felt his lips graze my ear.
“Let go, Fia.”
And at that moment, time stood still. I felt the ringing in my head. The air around me crackled with energy. My vision went white. I fought the urge to lose myself completely, but time was running out. I was going to explode. A rush of static splintered across my skin.
Then I felt it.
The translucent web. I could see it in my mind.
I felt it latch onto my spine and begin to braid itself up my vertebrae, sending pulses of energy into the surrounding cartilage.
It knotted and twisted until it reached the base of my skull, and white hot light raced through me with a maddening force.
My eyes shot open just as the guard began to lift off the ground.
The look of terror in his eyes ricocheted through my mind.
He opened his mouth to scream, but I stole his voice.
Waves of essence vibrated around him. I cocked my head to the side as the temptation to end him became stronger.
I felt my power wrap around his mind. It would only take a few more seconds to liquify it…
But I didn’t want to.
The revelation overcame my rage. Killing him wasn’t important. He’d served his purpose. My elusive focus was found, and I could direct it.
Now how do I stop it?
I slammed my eyes shut and began to visualize that same force of energy, the web of translucent fibers that latched onto me only seconds ago.
Clenching my fists, muscles straining, I felt a sharp thud as my knees hit the cold ground.
Just as my mind felt like it would explode, the strands began to fray, untethering themselves from my bones.
They crept down my spine, sinking back into their resting place, and the air around me went calm.
Reality returned, and I faltered, but managed to catch myself, planting a firm hand on the ground. Reluctantly, I opened my eyes to find the guard's face twisted in horror as he gasped for air. He was conscious.
Alive.
I exhaled in relief. A sudden heat from behind indicated the General had crouched down beside me.
“Impressive,” he murmured. I looked away.
I couldn’t process all of the feelings that were now tumbling through my already swirling mind. Overwhelming pride was at the forefront. I had done it. I had figured out where the access point was. But even more, I had channeled and controlled it.
I had won.
I didn’t want to kill the blue-eyed guard. I knew he probably deserved death, but I had gained so much more than his blood on my hands.
General Ashford rose once again and strode over to the guard, his boots echoing in the tense silence.
The man was a wreck, heaving and gasping, sweat slicking his face.
His hand hovered over Ashford's outstretched arm, trembling before finally grasping it with a white-knuckled grip, allowing the General to bring him to a standing position.
“I really appreciate your cooperation tonight.” I could hear the smile in the General’s voice, and it sparked something within me. Everything with this man was an act. And he’d gone too far tonight.
I wished pride was the only thing rushing through me at this moment.
But there was a heaviness surrounding all that accomplishment–a feeling of betrayal and exploitation.
I couldn’t help wanting to have achieved this for myself, by myself, without being manipulated by the General once again.
A dull pain gnawed at me in places I couldn’t quite reach.
Ashford placed his hand on the back of the guard’s armor and patted his shoulder.
“What happened at the dam was truly just a tragic accident. A matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” the General said, giving the guard a calculated smirk.
Nausea flooded my body once again.
The guard looked between us, confusion draining from his face. He finally turned back towards the General and reached out a hand. “Absolutely, a tragic accident.”
Watching this for another second was going to break me in half. I wrapped my arms around my middle and closed my eyes, begging the tears not to surface. It shouldn’t hurt like this. I had always known who he was. Manipulator. Predator. Liar–
A metallic clang shattered the room's stillness in an instant, the sound of a sword unsheathing.
I jerked my eyes towards the two men just as the scratch of a blade hitting hard metal rang through the room.
It wasn't a clean slice, but a brutal spear straight into the heart.
The blade sank deep, a sickening thud echoing as it met flesh.
The guard's gasp choked into a strangled gurgle.
My own breath caught in my throat before it could reach my lungs. A crimson arc erupted from the wound, through the mesh armor, splattering against my work uniform, and tinging the ends of my white curls. The guard slumped over, and his armor hit the floor in a final, horrifying thud.
Ashford wiped the blade on his black trousers and hummed something to himself .
"Apologies for the mess," he said, cracking his neck.
I opened my mouth to speak, but only stammered confusion tumbled out of my lips.
“ What did you– ?”
A moment of stillness slipped by before he looked up at me and cocked an eyebrow.
“Your reward,” he said, a smirk playing on his lips as his gaze lingered on me a beat too long.
I found my balance despite the trembling of my limbs, and tore myself from the ground, stumbling back a few paces. But I couldn’t look away. He stared back at me, unreadable.
The General finally sighed.
“I told you to trust me.”