Chapter 19 #2
He knew exactly what that meant. Exactly what that conversation with Simon meant, too.
The resistance was already here.
The Ministry party we’d been forced to attend weeks ago had been…well…not great. We had been brought out of the dungeons and into a party filled with the esteemed guests, and by the end of it, I was unconscious in a cell with Sinner.
I’d never again let the Ministry have that much power over me.
Yet here we were, getting ready to attend another fancy event.
When we returned to the barracks the next night, we found preselected outfits for Bellum Partium laid out on our cots.
Half of me was grateful that we didn’t have to endure another evening of magic training, but the other half had a very, very bad feeling about tonight.
Best-case scenario? We’d be paraded around like the Ministry’s cattle.
I zipped up my dress, then stepped out of the tiny sliver of privacy I had behind one of the pillars in the bathhouse.
My dress was solid black. Striking. The neckline was high, ending just below my chin, and the silky fabric fell all the way to the floor, but I still felt uncomfortably exposed. The back was mostly open, and the fabric was so formfitting that it left very little to the imagination.
I kept my head down, ignoring the rest of the cadets bathing and dressing for the event, and headed for the door.
The Ministry rarely surprised me, but when I stepped out and discovered a large ship docked against the rocky shore, my jaw dropped.
Quickly, I collected myself. Then I approached confidently—just like the others—boarding the ship while wearing an unimpressed look, as if I wasn’t entirely in awe of the largest boat I’d ever seen.
As I reached the top deck, a large form stepped out in front of me, pulling me up short.
Sinner.
He wore a fitted black suit with a shirt made of the same material as my dress—and the fabric clung to his chest muscles in a way that stole my attention.
“There you are. I was looking for you,” he said flatly.
I stiffened, suddenly very aware of how cool the night air was. “You found me.”
The two of us were many things.
We were allies, at times. Enemies more often than that. We fought. We screamed at each other. We kissed—sometimes. Strangely enough. And we were…claimed? Sort of claimed?
But we were never awkward.
Never—until now.
I didn’t know what to say to him or how to act—who to be. At times, he acted like we were lovers. Then he’d flip a switch and behave like he wanted nothing to do with me. He wanted everyone to know I was his—yet in private, he closed himself off from me.
With everything else on my plate, this emotional whiplash was too much to handle.
“Ugh,” I groaned, rubbing my temples. “Can we just act normal for one night? Would it truly be too much to ask for one night where I don’t have to decipher you?”
The corner of his mouth twitched upward. “Decipher me?”
“Yes.” I dropped my hands to my sides. “That’s all I freaking do these days. Try to figure out what you’re thinking, what you’ll do next. It would be a lot easier if you just told me.”
A pained expression crossed his face, but it was gone as quickly as it had come. “Fine,” he said. “I’m thinking you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on.”
My heart jerked in my chest and I gaped at him.
“What?”
He stepped closer, taking me in from head to toe. “I said, you are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on, Athena. That’s what I’m thinking.”
My cheeks flamed, but I collected myself. “Well, at least you can be honest about that.”
He smiled softly. It was an unfamiliar expression on him. In fact, it was freaking me out.
“I’m always honest,” he said. “You just never ask.”
My heart fluttered and nerves skittered through me. But I refused to show him how flustered I was. How much that tiny, obscure compliment affected me. “Remind me not to ask, then.” Chin lifted, I marched past him, brushing his shoulder.
The grand deck of the boat had been drenched in deep blue fabric.
Every inch of the space paid tribute to the sea with blue crystals and deeply woven fabrics.
Ice sculptures dotted the space, as if they’d grown out of the white marble floor, and staff, dressed in matching sapphire pantsuits, weaved through the already large crowd, offering shrimp and champagne.
It was…well, it was stunning. Extravagant in ways I couldn’t have imagined.
“Athena!” Alexander called out. He wore a dark gray suit, and beside him, Karlyle stood in matching fabric. “Over here!”
Without looking back at Sinner, knowing he’d be giving me a harsh look, I pranced over to my friends.
“Damnnn, four,” he said, grabbing my hand and spinning me in a circle. “Who knew you were hiding that ass in there!”
I choked back a laugh and swatted his arm. “Quiet! Do you want Sinner to come over here and kill us?”
“Oh, please,” he said. “There’s nothing I love more than a jealous man.”
“Let’s not make enemies the day before the war games begin,” Karlyle suggested. “And let’s definitely not make enemies with him.”
Alexander waved, dismissing his warning. “He won’t hurt me. Not when Athena here is going to protect us, right?”
“Protect you?” Another laugh bubbled out of me. “I can hardly keep myself alive over here. You think I have the capacity to keep you alive, too?”
“Oh, please!” He rested his elbows on the cerulean cocktail table beside him and angled closer. “I think you have the capacity to do a lot more than you think you do. That’s why you’re a four and we’re all mere, lowly threes.”
The comment rankled me. While he was only joking, I didn’t appreciate the comments about my magic. I never did.
And he knew that.
The small cocktail table between us was littered with five or six empty glasses.
Had they all been his?
Now that I took a moment to examine him, I discovered his eyes were glazed over and his shirt had come untucked.
I forced myself not to react. This was unlike him.
Karlyle looked as sharp as ever. Nervous, even.
On edge.
“What’s going on with you two?” I asked. “Are you okay?”
“We’re great,” Karlyle said, forcing a smile. “Alex’s nerves have just gotten to him. The night before the games and all that, you know.”
I wasn’t convinced, but I took a long breath, choosing to let it go. “I understand that,” I told him. “How are we supposed to prepare for the games when we don’t know anything about them? We don’t even know what obstacles we’ll be facing.”
“I’ve heard stories,” Alexander said, his words slightly slurred. “That this is essentially real war. It’s so realistic that it’s impossible to tell the difference.”
My stomach sank. “Why would they do that? They already know what magic we wield. Why not just train us for real war?”
Florence and her fire-red hair stepped up to the table. “They don’t trust you, obviously,” she snapped. “And they sure as hell don’t trust that you have what it takes to fight for them. It’s an honor, you know.”
Confusion washed over me. “What’s an honor?”
She wore a white dress with a plunging neckline that left little to the imagination.
“Becoming one of the elites,” she replied. “A mystic warrior. One of the few who actually get to defend our kind.”
“Our kind?” As if we needed defending.
Mystics in general were powerful. If anything, I needed protection from the other mystics. From the Ministry, from the forces keeping me locked in this wicked mystic fortitude.
Lip curled in disgust, she said, “Sometimes I really have no idea how you’re a four. Do you really not know anything? Or do you just not care?”
I shrugged. “I guess where I come from, news was a bit…limited.”
Limited was an understatement. If Father didn’t think we should hear the world news, then we didn’t hear it.
All our knowledge of the outside world was filtered through him.
“Shocker,” she sassed. “Looks like having tier four magic doesn’t get you everything, does it?”
I ground my teeth, biting back a retort. When had I ever said it did? In fact, when had I ever acted like I was better than anyone here?
I tried my best to keep my magic hidden.
But now that the truth was out, there was no going back. Each person I encountered had their own theories and judgments.
“God, Florence,” Alexander groaned. “Do you have to be so damn rude all the time? Where’s your claimed, anyway?” He glanced around the room. “He’s never far. You’ve got that brute on a tight leash.”
Florence, who hadn’t seemed to care about Riot one way or the other, went dark. “Your mouth is going to get you in trouble one day, Alexander.” She turned, flipping her hair over her shoulder, but glared back at him. “Keep up the jokes while you can. They won’t help you survive the games.”
The low hum of music ceased, and the floor trembled. The structure around us groaned. Creaked.
My heart froze.
The massive ship moved, that first jolt jarring, but the adjustments were subtle now.
“Bellum Partium has officially commenced.” Simon’s voice echoed through the room, resulting in a cascade of applause.
I spun around, searching for him.
Sinner wasn’t standing where I’d left him, and while I told myself I didn’t care, I couldn’t help but search the room for him, too.
“Mystics of Ashora!” A familiar voice—a female one—rose.
The crowd roared in excitement.
I, on the other hand, was disoriented. I still couldn’t tell where the voices were coming from or where the speakers were. The crowd was too thick and too many sculptures blocked my view.
“Blood may not form this family,” the speaker said, “but magic runs deeper than crimson.”
My heart pounded wildly.
Thud.
Thud.
I knew that voice.
Had heard it in my head on repeat for weeks.
Had waited for the day I’d see the face that belonged to it again.
Director.
I spun, searching for her, and lost my footing. I wobbled, but before I could fall, Karlyle grasped my bicep and steadied me.
“Whoa,” he said. His brows furrowed. “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”
Words lodged in my throat. Then a warm presence appeared behind me.
“She’s fine,” Sinner said. “I’ll take care of it.”
His hands replaced Karlyle’s. He held both my arms from behind, keeping me upright. Keeping me steady.
“Calm down,” he whispered in my ear. “You’re making a scene.”
“Are you kidding?” I whisper-shouted back. “How can you say that after what she did to us?”
His hands tightened, his fingertips digging into my skin almost painfully. “Remember our goal here.” His breath caressed the exposed skin on the back of my neck. “Remember the greater mission.”
Greater mission? My mind spun. Hell, I could hardly remember any mission at all.
Stay alive. Wasn’t that our mission?
“I know you’re eager to begin the war games—the games that will determine which type of mystic you are. They’ll determine if you’re a warrior.” The crowd grew quiet. Focused. “Not all cadets will survive—but that is war—is it not?”
Even Karlyle to my right nodded emphatically. Like he wholeheartedly believed in this mission.
Had they all been brainwashed? We’d all bonded—as strange as that was to say—over the torture we’d been put through these last weeks.
And in that time, I’d forgotten.
I was nothing like these people. They were here to fight for the Ministry.
“We are all here with one mission in mind, and as members of this army—no, I don’t want to call us an army…” The crowd shifted a little, finally giving me a glimpse of Director. She was walking through the gathered people, splitting the room like the sea itself.
The wind picked up. The ship gained momentum.
“We’re a family. A unit forged through an invisible yet tangible bond. We feel this connection every day. Every moment. And the world…”
The people closer to me parted, and my heart pounded. Pounded. Pounded.
Then Director was stepping in front of us.
For the first time in weeks, she looked me in the eye.
She looked different. Though maybe it was my perception of her that had changed. I wasn’t shocked by her feminine, thin figure. I wasn’t fooled by how absolutely non-evil she looked.
God, she even looked younger. Fresher. Like she’d been living a rejuvenating life since I’d last seen her.
That disgusted me to my bones. She didn’t deserve happiness. She was the reason so many suffered. She was controlling us like she had the right.
“Relax. Right. Now.” Sinner slid his hands down my arms, bringing me back to life. “Don’t let her have control over you. Breathe in.”
Director’s focus was fully fixed on me, but I forced myself to inhale, to obey Sinner’s words.
“Good girl,” he said. “Breathe out.”
I relaxed my diaphragm, allowing the air to escape my lungs.
Director stepped closer, her eyes flashing in victory. “You all deserve this,” she continued. “You deserve a reward for all your hard work.” Her smile widened.
The expression sent a shiver down my spine. Did nobody else notice she was staring directly at me?
“I have a surprise for you all tonight,” she said. “A small token of my gratitude.”
She stopped in front of me. For a second—even though the shields were still working overtime to stifle our magic—I could feel that flare. That anger. That beast within me.
Kill. Kill. Kill.
God, how much better my life would be if I’d just killed her already.
Sinner’s hands tightened on my arms.
Director finally ripped her attention away from me, spinning to face the crowd.
“Bring them out!”