22. Chapter Twenty-Two #2
“He didn’t expect me to win,” she laughs maniacally. “But I did . I killed her, Hector, and then I made this place my own.”
“What did you do to Charon?” I rasp, chest heaving as I struggle to breathe through her explanations.
She steps slowly to the table, putting distance between us as the creature sobs softly.
“The people at Aster’s Hollow would have never followed me.
They respected the Judge too much to listen to some girl.
So I kept the miners believing he was still in charge, convincing them that the river had tainted all the plants and animals, and made everyone depend on me for food.
The soldiers follow so long as I let them do what they want, and in exchange, I get to test the silver on them.
It's become a game. Whoever can withstand the most pain gets bumped up in my ranks.”
I swallow past the horror in my throat as her words settle into place. “And Charon? ”
Lena’s gaze flicks to mine for a heartbeat before darting away again. “He knew the truth, little brother, so I gave him a choice. Join me or don't. He hated the fact that I took his mommy’s place, so he refused.”
“So you took his voice?” My stomach burns from how hard I try not to vomit.
“I spared his life,” she snaps, turning to me with wild eyes. “I nearly severed his jugular in the pit, but if it weren’t for the fact that he's immune, he'd be dead by now! I needed his blood.”
“You experimented on him.” Rage sears through me as I struggle to a stand.
Her mouth twists, silver scar catching the light as she snarls, “I had to. He’s immune, Hector. Do you have any idea how rare that is? I couldn’t just waste him when his blood could hold the key to saving you!”
“What did you do to him, Lena?”
She exhales irritably, like I’m dragging this out for no reason.
“I started small. Drew his blood, mixed it with powdered silver, tested it on prisoners who’d just been bitten.
Nothing. So I tried injecting the silver directly into his veins, watched him shake and sweat and choke it down. He survived every dose.”
I bite my tongue so hard that copper floods my mouth. “And then?”
“I let the biters feed from him,” she says matter-of-factly.
“Not enough to kill him, but enough to give them a taste. I wanted to see if his immunity mixed with silver could burn the infection out from the inside.” Her eyes go distant, like she’s replaying it in her head.
“Some of them lasted hours before turning. Some screamed for days on end. But none of them survived. ”
“You hurt the one person who's ever truly cared about me.” The gun trembles in my hands as I struggle to breathe.
“He helped his father run this prison before me. You think he did any better? At least I gave people something to believe in.”
“You gave them something to fear. There’s a difference.” The creature behind her lets out a weak cry, and I know—I just know —that Charon was strapped to that same table once. Maybe more than once.
My grip tightens on the gun. “You keep saying this was all for me, but the only person you're trying to save is yourself. What are you gonna do, Lena, throw me in the pit? Experiment on me? Let Jonas have his way?”
“I'd never let them hurt you!” she snarls, outraged.
“You already did!” My voice bounces off the walls with the force of my shout. “You left me alone to defend myself, and you know what your soldiers did to me? What they did to a starving child caught in the woods? There are times I wish they'd killed me.”
Her whole body jerks like I slapped her, and for one brief second, she doesn’t look like the Judge. She just looks like Lena. My sister. The girl who used to braid my hair while humming off-key and make shadow puppets on the wall every night.
But that girl is gone.
“I told you to stay out of the woods,” she mumbles, blinking rapidly. “I didn’t know that they’d—”
“Oh, bullshit .” I cut her off with a harsh laugh. “You knew exactly what monsters you created. You’ve known all along. But you needed them, right? Just like you needed the pit and the silver. The bodies . ”
She’s shaking now, eyes glassy as they scan my face. “I didn’t have a choice.”
“You had a thousand choices, and every time, you didn't pick me .”
Silence coils between us as the whimpering behind her grows louder. Lena opens her mouth, but only air comes out as her jaw quivers. “I’m sorry. If I had known what they’d done to you…”
“Don’t pretend this would’ve gone any different if you had.”
She flinches, a tear slipping down her cheek, but it does nothing to sway me. Not now.
Her feet move as she steps forward, arms outstretched, but the creature on the table jerks suddenly, a guttural scream tearing from its throat.
We both freeze.
It breaks its restraints in a sudden, violent snap, the leather shredding beneath frantic limbs. Lena barely has time to scream before it lunges, no longer human as it sinks its rotting teeth into her neck.
“Lena!” I shout, instinctively raising the gun to shoot.
“Hector, wait! There’s gas—”
The minute my finger pulls the trigger, a blinding light flashes in the air.
Then fire.
Heat sears my face as the blast throws me through the door, my body slamming into the wall hard enough to wind me. The entire room erupts into flame as the roof blows open, an inferno raging through the corridor.
My ears ring loudly, drowning out the screams as I cough, trying to breathe and clear my vision .
By the time the smoke dissipates, I see nothing left of my sister.
Just burning wreckage and blackened corpses slumped beneath the rubble.