Chapter 36 #2
My stomach dropped. I didn’t have to be a mind reader to know what Alexei was talking about me. But love? That was a stretch.
“When I realised why you chose me as your Champion,” he said. “No, I won’t betray Nina.”
There it was, for everyone to see. I felt every pair of eyes on me. Even Ronan, who seemed half invested until now, was looking at me with keen interest.
Alexei barely waited before answering. “Your lie is the second.”
I didn’t need to see the box to know Alexei was right.
Flames roared. The cage snapped closed around Dominik. I couldn’t bear to look at him, my friend. His lie was ripped open before me – He will betray me.
“You still can’t admit it,” Alexei snapped. “What a disappointment.”
Dominik froze in his cage.
A heavy sickness churned in my gut.
Then, it was Ronan’s turn. He leaned forward, voice flat.
“Get on with it then,” he said, bringing a chuckle from Alexei.
“You really are the perfect Champion for Madalena,” he said. “As you desire. Do you think you deserve to win The Cycle?” Alexei smirked. “Would you serve another demon to survive?”
“Yes, on both counts,” Ronan said.
He had no noticeable tics, just a calm poker face of uninterest and boredom.
“The second is your lie,” Alexei said.
Ronan grinned at that. Alexei picked wrong. Hope flared inside my chest. I could beat Alexei at his own game. He relied on tells, and Ronan had given none.
A twisted key appeared on the table, and Ronan snatched it up, then left the table without looking back.
There were five of us, and I felt Alexei’s hold loosen on me. I clenched my hands into fists just to know I could. The table rotated until I faced the demon.
He thought he had us all figured out. Selene’s fear. Amabel’s regret. Dominik’s denial. Each question was tailored and calculated to push where it hurt most. Then, he relied on our subtle tells. That’s how he caught the lie.
So, I’d give him what he wanted. Just not the way he expected.
Alexei leaned forward, eyes glittering.
“Champion of Temptation. Tell me, do you know who unleashed the infernal fires in Torment? And do you trust anyone here?”
I schooled my face as I gave the first lie.
“No. I don’t know who wielded the infernal fire.”
Then I gave him a blink as though preparing for the following words to slip from my lips. I dropped my gaze to Dominik. Purposefully. Intentionally. Let my brow drop just slightly. Almost unnoticeable unless you were studying my face.
If I were right about Alexei pulling Dominik’s strings, then maybe Alexei would guess I no longer trusted Dominik. I laid my bait for him to sink his teeth into.
“Yes,” I said softly. “There is someone here I trust.”
Alexei’s smile widened. “Interesting,” he murmured. “Your lie is the second.”
The arrow on Alexei’s magic detector snapped right to red.
Alexei narrowed his eyes.
“You’re wrong,” I said with a sweet smile. “I was telling the truth there.”
I glanced at Dominik across from me. He looked uncomfortable trapped behind the fiery bars of his cage. He wore a strange mix of guilt, shame and something like relief all at the same time.
The truth was, I didn’t trust him anymore. I’d come to trust someone else, and I could only hope it wasn’t a mistake.
Alexei regarded me for a long moment. At last, he said, “Well played, Champion. Before we continue the game, would you give up a truth just for fun?”
“I know what truths are worth in Hell. And I’m not stupid enough to give them away for free.”
“Not even for a bargain?”
“I’ll pass.”
He drummed his fingers on the table. “How about a glimpse of home? Don’t you want to see how your brother is surviving without you?”
I paused. “You’re lying.”
Alexei snapped his fingers. A cloud of grey mist appeared in the centre of the table, swirling until an image took shape.
I’d recognise my home anywhere. The dense forest. My cabin. Tobias crouched low, foraging through the underbrush. Cuts and bruises covered his hands. Dirt plastered his face. He looked exhausted and broken in a way I’d never seen before.
The image dissolved, along with the cloud of mist. And my heart felt like it cracked clean in two.
“Was that real?” I asked.
“If you want to see more, all you have to do is tell me who unleashed the infernal fires.”
I hesitated.
I could give him what he wanted. Just a few words, and I could see Tobias again. My brother was suffering without me, and every part of me ached to reach him.
I parted my lips, but before I could reveal the truth, the whispers filled my mind.
“If you tell the demon your truth, you will never save Tobias.”
Sadness clawed up my throat, but I swallowed it back.
“No. Like I said, I’ll pass.”
Alexei’s smile widened, and the sight of his bright, sharp teeth made me recoil. “It must be good,” he purred, “if you’re turning down my bargain.”
Alexei flicked his wrist, and a small silver object fell from above, dropping into my open hands. It was a small wooden clock shaped like a human heart.
I didn’t know what it meant, and I didn’t care. I had won Alexei’s game and his relic, which meant I was even closer to winning The Cycle.
I didn’t leave like Ronan had. I wanted to see how this ended.
Felix was the last to play the game.
“Beautiful Felix,” Alexei said. “Listen carefully: Do you care what happens to the other Champions? Do you believe anyone here would choose to save you?”
Felix shrugged. “Yes, I care, I guess. And yes, someone would save me.” He smirked like none of it mattered, but I noticed the way his hands flexed on the table at his last words. That was his tic. And by the look in Alexei’s eye, that sparkle, he didn’t miss it either.
“You almost had me.” Alexei grinned like a hyena.
“But that second one. That’s the lie. You might care about these worms. But you don’t believe for a second they’d save you.
And you’re right, by the way.” His voice softened like he was speaking to a child.
“None of them ended up in Hell by mistake. They earned their way here, just like you. And there’s no goodness left in any of your souls. ”
The fire-cage closed around Felix, shrinking just as it had for the others. He had tried to hide his truth behind a smile. As though he didn’t matter, and that no one would choose to save him.
Maybe he was right, and none of us would. That was the cruellest truth of all.
“You may leave,” Alexei said to me, waving me off. “It’s time I play with my new toys.”
Dominik’s cage disappeared. But Felix, Selene and Amabel were stuck, squirming away from the fires that had them enclosed.
“I will keep you in my domain for as long as I please, and I have a few things in mind on how you can please me,” he said, cackling.
“Wait,” Felix cried. “I want to bargain.”
Alexei paused, resting his chin on the back of his hand. “What do you have that I want?”
“I will trade you a relic for my life. And for the others, too.”
The room went still, and my stomach twisted.
“You will give up three relics?”
“Yes, if you let us go.”
The cages vanished, and all three stumbled free.
“I accept.”
Felix took out a small leather pouch from his trouser pocket and held it up. Alexei grinned as he vanished it away in a wind of grey mist.
“For those of you who did not earn my relic,” he said, glowering at Dominik, “do try again. I’d love for you to lose once more. That’s when the real fun can begin.”
He cackled, loud and shrieking, until it shifted into a piercing screech. We all clasped our ears as a grey mist materialised, swallowing the tent.
A moment later, the space around us disappeared, and we were standing on cracked, burnt soil that stretched in every direction.
The Crossing.
“We need to go,” I said, eyes panicked as I scanned the area. I wondered if the Furies had already picked up our scent.
Selene groaned, rubbing at her eyes. “What happened?”
Dominik shifted on his feet, avoiding everyone’s gaze. “Alexei sent us out the back door into The Crossing.”
Felix wiped the sweat from his forehead, eyes narrowing. “What are you doing here? Don’t you get to stick around in your own domain?”
Dominik tensed. “Alexei likes to punish souls by throwing them out of Chaos and into The Crossing. I guess this is what I get for failing his trial.”
I raised an eyebrow. Did that mean Alexei wanted Dominik to win his relic?
“Felix,” Selene whispered. “You saved us.”
He grinned. “It was nothing.”
“It was a very big thing,” she said. “Thank you.”
He swallowed. “We’re friends, aren’t we? So I couldn’t leave you in the clutches of that mad man.”
She smiled, and her eyes shone.
“We don’t have time for this,” Dominik snapped. “You all know what’s out here, right?”
“Furies,” I said grimly.
A crimson storm was brewing overhead, and I wondered if it would give way to rain, just like the clouds back home – or something else. Something corrosive.
We had survived Chaos, but something told me Alexei wasn’t finished with us just yet.