Chapter 40
FORTY
sinner
“Don’t.”
They had two seconds to back the fuck up before my shadows ripped them to pieces.
“We’re on the same side here!” Athena rushed beside me, but I grasped her arm and pulled her back, gripping her tighter to keep her at my side.
There was no use trying to reason with them.
But of course Athena would want to try. She’d search for the good in them, even if it didn’t exist.
She couldn’t see what I’d noted a while ago. They were a lost cause.
My shadows lapped at their feet.
Did they really think they stood a chance? I tipped my head back and laughed. The sound was a little unhinged.
Athena gaped at me, her eyes wide.
But I didn’t care. I’d kill for her.
And it was time to put action behind those words.
“You thought you could hurt her?” I stepped toward Willow. I’d never liked her. Never liked the way she looked at what was mine.
She lifted her hand, and a fireball formed over her palm. But she was too late. She couldn’t set fire to anything here with my shadows suffocating her every move. I gave them the silent order. Kill. And they did.
My phantoms—greedy little bastards—ripped apart her flesh piece by piece. They gave me glimpses here and there through the swirling darkness. And in seconds, she had been turned into a mere pile of bones clattering to the stone with a wet echo.
Her companions both backed up.
“I’ve wanted to kill you for a long time,” I admitted. “Ever since you opened that loud fucking mouth of yours.”
Florence held her arm up to defend herself—as if that would work—but Riot stepped in front of her.
Satisfaction rolled through me. He could protect her all he wanted. They would still die for wanting to hurt my claimed.
Mine.
My phantoms pounced at their next victim.
“WAIT!” Athena’s power split the air with that one word, and I was frozen in place.
My phantoms froze, too, succumbing to her authority.
She gripped Florence’s outstretched arm and yanked her sleeve up, revealing a branded symbol.
We’d seen that symbol before.
On Leon’s dead, limp body.
The defiance symbol.
I let out a breath and pulled my phantoms back, still on guard, but allowing this woman to live for at least the next few seconds.
Athena’s pull loosened just enough that I slipped out of her control.
She gaped at Florence. “Where the hell did you get this mark?”
“Where do you think?!” the redhead spat.
My phantoms nipped and swiped at her feet, ready for their next kill.
Athena shot me a glare. Clearly, she would not allow it. Fantastic.
“You’re working with the defiance?” she asked.
“Why the hell do you think I threw you that knife?!”
Athena pointed to the wound on her arm. “I nearly bled out!”
“But you didn’t. I have great aim. You needed a weapon.”
“And you had to draw blood in order to give me one?”
“Yes!” She wiped hair away from her face. “Working with Willow kept the Ministry from questioning us. They’re always watching. Always. If I acted any differently, it would have attracted too much attention.”
She took a long breath. “At least she’s dead now. I would’ve done it a long fucking time ago if she wasn’t so adamant about hunting you down. You’re welcome, by the way.”
“Why are you here?” I asked. “Why did you follow us?”
“I have a message,” she said. Her green eyes landed on me. “It’s about your sister.”
“My sister?” I snapped, a lump forming in my throat. “Where is she?” My phantoms yanked on their tethers again. “What the fuck have you done to her?”
“They’re close,” she said. “And they’re getting you out of here. I can take you to them, but we have to go now.”
“Them? Who’s them? Why are they here? In the damn war games?” I was losing my mind, but I didn’t fucking care. I didn’t trust her. And the mention of my sister rattled me to the core.
“Calm down!” she barked.
I stepped forward and clutched her throat. “Don’t fucking tell me to calm down. You hurt my claimed and lied about your loyalties, and now say you have a message about my sister? None of this makes fucking sense.”
Riot was on me in an instant, gripping my throat and squeezing harder than I thought possible.
I released Florence and sent my phantoms toward her claimed, but he was a fucking boulder, unmoving. Unaffected by my shadows.
He was her shield. No wonder they’d survived so fucking long.
“Enough!” Athena yelled. “Stop hurting each other for two damn seconds!” The smallest trace of her magic wisped in the air. Enough to make Riot release me, and enough for my phantoms to do the same.
We all focused on Athena. Like we didn’t even have the choice. She was unmistakably powerful and she didn’t even realize it.
“You say they’re coming for us?” she questioned.
Florence nodded.
“Then why the fuck are you here? If you’ve talked to them, why not escape yourself?”
“We were planted within the Ministry. We’re sticking with the mission. After the war games, we’ll push on to wherever the Ministry sends us.”
“You’re informants,” I finished.
“Yes.” She rolled her eyes, like she was irritated that it had taken me so long to figure it out. “Informants. Which is why it can’t look like we aided you. So we really need to stop this little chitchat session and get moving.”
“Fine. We were about to slip into the crowd below and blend in with the party. It’s the only way around these earthlies,” I explained.
“Yeah,” Florence snarked. “One problem with that.”
She turned to the crowd in the plaza and we did the same.
Only to find every single pair of eyes on us. There was no way around this. No way to sneak through, no way to back out now.
“Fuck,” I whispered. There goes our plan.
“Yeah,” Florence added. “Fuck.”