Chapter 28
Bash
Blood splatters across the floor and wall as Cato flicks his knife, turning them into a crimson display of death to join the others. Another soldier thuds to the ground, hitting the concrete like a marionette whose strings have been cut.
“You know if we get caught, they’re going to murder us on the spot,” he says as he frowns at the twitching corpse at his feet. “Gods, that’s gnarly.”
“Did you have to cut so… deep?” Ego nudges the body with her toe as though it might spring back to life, careful to avoid the blood pooling across the tiles like spilled ink.
Sakane shudders his agreement from beside her, his skin paling in the dim light.
“Can we focus and please keep moving?” I beg.
My stomach twists as I pointedly try not to look at the dead guard, but the metallic punch of blood chokes me even without the visual. Cato rolls his eyes but nods, and everyone shifts to high alert as we move into the next corridor.
Xeni has been gone for five days now, and I’ve been close to losing my mind. We tracked where they transported him, but the news wasn’t good. We’re in the middle of the central district, in a building with more protection than any of us have ever seen.
This place is damn near a fortress, and we leveraged our entire list of contacts to reach this point.
Distractions on the streets to get us past the gates.
An insider to leave an alleyway door to the compound open, and another to tell us where Xeni is being held.
A long-owed favor with a city utility worker to help with an escape route.
We needed Ego’s expertise to clear the security system, Sakane’s knowledge of the hidden passages to remain out of sight, and Cato’s strength—and weapon collection—to eliminate the obstacles in our way. I hate putting them at risk, but I can’t do this alone.
Random waves of agony have hit me since he’s been in their custody. The mark on my hip is the same pale peachy white as his skin. It means he’s alive, but it doesn’t tell me what condition he’ll be in when I find him.
There have been more patrols than we expected, though security has grown thinner this high in the building. I keep waiting for Cato’s strength to wane, but he leads the way with fire, even coated in blood from the bodies we’ve left behind like a crumb trail of death.
We move to the next hallway, and another guard rounds the corner. She’s too far to reach, but Ego whips her arm out as a metallic whistle pierces the air. The guard stumbles backward with a knife lodged in her throat, and Cato curses and runs over to finish her, guiding her to the floor.
“Nice shot,” he mutters as he jogs back and hands Ego her knife. She looks pleased as she wipes it clean on his pants and tucks it into the holster on her belt.
“You never taught me that move,” Sakane complains, frowning at her collection of knives.
Ego clicks her tongue and tosses him a glare. “Because you said, and I quote, ‘Daggers are too boring when you could use ninja stars instead.’”
“Am I wrong?”
Ego rolls her eyes as we proceed past the body. “Considering you don’t know how to throw them? Yeah. You’re wrong.”
“I’ll figure it out eventually,” he mutters.
We step into a larger room, and my eyes land on the doorway splitting the far wall. A guard stands watch outside it, but he’s quickly silenced by Cato’s hands snapping his neck. My palms sweat as Ego gets to work picking the lock, unsure of what we’ll find inside.
The lock clicks, and Ego steps aside.
A faint ray of light splits the darkness as I push the door open, and the world tilts beneath my feet.
Xeni’s hands are chained to the wall high above his head, leaving barely enough slack for his knees to brush the ground.
His uniform is filthy, and a shock collar gleams around his neck.
His white hair is matted with shades of pink and red from drying blood, and it’s knotted and wild as it curtains his face.
His name tears from my throat as I rush forward and drop to my knees before him. His single eye is bloodshot and unfocused as his head lifts slowly, as if the effort costs him more than he can spare.
Bruises mar his fair skin in violent blues, purples, and sickly greens, while a fresh cut slices through his swollen lip. His body trembles uncontrollably as we kneel there, face-to-face.
In this moment, I want to burn the world to ash.
“What did they do to you?” I whisper, voice breaking as my hands hover, afraid to touch him and cause more pain.
He stares at me for a few long, disoriented seconds, not comprehending the reality of my presence.
“Bash? Darling? Are you… are you really here?”
I nod, fighting back the tears burning my eyes as I brush his tangled, blood-crusted hair from his face. “Yeah, princess. I’m here. It’s me. We’ve gotta get you out of here, okay? I know you’re hurt, but we have to move fast.”
Alertness crashes over him as panic surges into his voice, and his chains clang and rattle as he scrambles to his feet, forcing me to stand with him.
“You can’t be here,” he says, shaking his head in jerky, confused motions. “He’ll… gods, he’ll kill you. Go, Bash! Leave! Get out of here!”
“Not without you,” I insist. “I came for you, and I’m not leaving you behind.”
His entire face crumbles as his forehead falls onto my shoulder. “Please,” he begs into my shirt, the muffled word coming out raw. I’m not sure if he’s begging me to run or to drag him out of this hell, but there’s no question which is happening.
My palms smooth his matted hair back before carefully cupping his bruised cheeks and lifting his face to mine. “I know it’s hard to focus right now, but I need you to try. Where do they keep the key to the shackles?”
He shakes his head, dazed and swaying.
Ego steps closer with a gentleness I’ve rarely seen from her. “Here, let me take care of that,” she says.
She makes quick work of the bands around Xeni’s wrists, and I gather his hair and hold it aside as he leans forward for her to work on the collar.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper as my fingertips trace the back of his neck, loathing the cold bite of metal against his skin.
“Why are you sorry?” he asks, his gaze meeting mine with a vulnerability that pierces straight through me.
What a loaded fucking question.
I’m sorry for so much.
For spending so long hating him, and for allowing that hate to put him in this position. For refusing to believe there was a reason for his actions, even if I couldn’t understand it.
He was always the best part of me. Those hollow, uncertain spaces inside me were full when I was with him. He saw every side of me and loved them all, and without him, I’ve grown cold.
I’m so tired of missing his warmth.
The lock clicks, and Ego pulls the collar away as Xeni stands tall, stretching his neck as he waits for my answer.
Audience be damned, I want to tell him I’ve loved him every minute of every day, even when I swore I hated him.
I open my mouth to find the words, but his ears twitch and he freezes. His gaze shifts over my shoulder a split second before I hear it, too.
Footsteps.
A single pair that moves with utmost confidence through a hallway littered with death. It sidesteps bodies without changing its cadence, unconcerned with the destruction left in our wake.
Xeni’s head whips around frantically, searching in vain for an escape. Even if we weren’t hundreds of feet in the air, the windows are barred. The only exit is the door, and those footsteps are seconds away.
“Get behind me,” he orders, throwing his shoulders back as he makes himself appear larger. His presence takes up the whole room, his magic suddenly stifling.
Xeni has used his powers around me before, but it never felt like this.
Never suppressing and foreboding, and never this intense.
A shadow fills the doorframe, shaping a silhouette illuminated by the faint light in the hallways. They step forward, and I blink in surprise at the person who stands there.
It’s a reflection of Xeni, only one that’s been twisted into something grotesque. His shoulders and chest are broad, and every inch of his uniform is decorated.
Stripes and stars, insignias.
Symbols I recognize as important, even without knowing their meaning.
Long white hair is pulled into an intricate network of braids that are secured behind his neck, and his horns are enormous, twisting things that nearly brush the top of the doorframe.
But my eyes lock on his smile.
That familiar, measured tilt of his lips as he stares with grim satisfaction.
“Holy fuck,” Ego breathes from beside me. “That’s The Architect.”
My blood runs cold as those lips curve higher, edging into a smirk.
The identities of the High Commanders have long been guarded secrets within the military, limited to the strictest need-to-know basis, but over the years rumors have circulated about the one who started it all.
The ruler who wasn’t satisfied with his reign of terror on the other side, so when the pathway between our worlds opened, he unleashed his armies on our cities. He slaughtered mercilessly while wearing that same smile he wears now.
Ruthless, with an unquenched thirst for more.
“I didn’t know we were expecting company, Xenesis,” he muses.
His voice is softer than I would’ve expected. It’s velvety and rolls over me like silk. His solid white eyes never leave Xeni as he tilts his head with predatory interest that makes my skin crawl.
“Don’t be rude,” he continues. “Introductions should be made in these types of situations, wouldn’t you agree?”
“We’re leaving,” Xeni says with a threat spiking every word. “Turn around and walk away.”
“Now, why would I do that when this is such a special opportunity to meet those important to you?”
His eyes shift beyond Xeni, clocking Cato, Sakane, and Ego before landing on me.
For the first time, his composure slips.
“You—” he begins.
Xeni takes a step forward with a growl that rumbles from deep in his chest. “Don’t look at him!” he shouts.