Chapter 23
TWENTY-THREE
The greatest horrors live in silence.
RIVEN
My fingers tighten around my glass. Alone in my rooms, I’m surrounded by nothing that matters to me. Nothing of beauty. Emptiness gnaws at me until my bones ache.
They survived.
All of them. I sent Hyacinth to be sure, and now I’ll pay the price.
It would have been easy to let the basilisk die. Without treatment, his odds of survival weren’t great.
If Celine had lost him, she would have been crushed. That was my objective, and it was within my grasp. There was only one problem: if Celine had lost him, she would have been crushed. And it would have been my fault.
My face warps, burning vibrations running from the top of my forehead to the base of my neck. The foxed mirror in front of me would be classy anywhere else, but in this dull, lifeless box, it’s a reminder of how empty my life is. How empty it’s always been.
If my face oxidized like the mirror, would I catch a glimpse of who I am beneath the amber mask? I shake my head. I’ll never know who I could have been. All I have is who they’ve made me.
Luca hates me. He blames the veydran for imprisoning monsters, but we’re bound even more brutally than his kind. Forced to live as no one, we’re locked in a perpetual state of nothing. The ruling shifters made sure of that, securing generations of veydran beneath their heel.
Sometimes I dream of my true face. It’s different every time. A different nose, different eyes—blue, green, honey brown—cheekbones sharp enough to cut glass, a dimpled chin.
I don’t care if I’m handsome or ugly, I just want to be.
I hurl my glass at the mirror, unable to stand my reflection a second longer. It breaks on impact, streaks of liquor trickling down the spiderweb fractures.
Dwelling does nothing. I thought I put these thoughts behind me years ago. Why has this job stirred them up again? I’m cracking faster than the mirror.
The crackling of an incoming portal drowns out my panting.
“You’ve failed me,” S’lach says, his voice tight with fury. His red beard is fuller than the last time he barged in, but the mania in his eyes is the same. I hold my breath and attempt to calm myself. Employer or not, I’m too angry to play nice with him.
“Did I fail, or is your daughter simply formidable?”
“You know nothing of my daughter.” S’lach advances on me, raising his arm.
I tilt my head and narrow my eyes at him.
If he hits me, he’ll break our contract.
I wish he would. It would give me a reason to fight back, and I’ve been training as an assassin since I could walk.
S’lach may be big, but he’s a bully, and a bully is no match for me.
“I hired you to break her,” he snarls. “Yet she remains unbroken.”
“I wasn’t aware there was a deadline,” I say smoothly, curling my lips into a mocking smile. “I did what you asked and forced the others to fight with her. Unless you want me to slit her throat in the night, which I’m more than happy to do, you’ll have to be patient.”
S’lach’s gaze crawls all over me. I can feel his rage. It’s coating the air like thick, sticky fog.
“Results, Riven,” he says my name as if it’s something disgusting he found on the floor. “Get me results, or you won’t live to take another job.”
The contract magic wobbles, sensing the implied threat. S’lach is close to breaking our deal. I want to tell him to get out of my rooms and never come back. Gods, I want to tell him to leave his daughter alone. Instead, I dip my chin and clench my jaw until it aches.
“I’ve never failed a job,” I say calmly. And it’s true. I’ve never even struggled to complete a job before. This current of doubt running through me is new—an infection I caught after interacting with Celine.
That night at the Vegas fight club, I toyed with her, yet she surprised me. With her skill, her toughness, and her intelligence. Fighting her was the most fun I’d had in a long time. Stop this. You’ll drive yourself mad.
Shame rolls over me, hot and heavy. My cheeks burn, and there’s a thickness in my throat when I swallow.
I can’t care. I can’t be curious. I can’t get myself killed for a woman who would never look twice at me except to cringe. She’s not like that. Except she is—of course she is—I only want her to be different. I’m living in a fantasy, entertaining a delusion of humiliating proportions.
S’lach’s brown eyes, identical to hers, rake over me, dragging across my exposed nerves like shards of broken mirror. He makes a sound low in his throat, speculative and primal. “Kill her, Riven,” he says. “It’s time. My daughter can’t be allowed to disrupt my plans any more than she already has.”
He backs into the portal, and the magic fades.
His presence sits like an anvil on my chest long after he’s gone.
This indecision—I must move past it.
Celine is a weakness I can’t afford. I need to get rid of her before it’s too late. She will go back into the arena, and this time, she won’t make it out. I’ll make sure of it.
Outside her cabin, I can’t resist listening at the door.
Cold nips at my hands, but I’m so used to it that it barely registers. Brutal. Uninviting. The monster realm is the perfect fit for what the veydran have been forced to become.
Laughter penetrates the thick wood.
Deep and rich, a clear expression of joy.
My fingers curl. The five of them are locked up. They haven’t left this one-room cabin in days, and they’re still able to laugh. Foolish naivety. It won’t survive this realm, and neither will they.
“You’re cheating, Ciprian,” Celine says.
“How can I cheat when we just made up the fucking rules?”
“By not following them,” she says. “Don’t pretend you’ve already forgotten.”
Metal grinds in the sky. I glance at the clouds of rubble that hover around the realm like a fence, and tiny beads of ice strike my upturned face. Souls lost to the arena. More still claimed by the insufferable weather. It’s never bothered me before.
Fool. You’re a fool, and you must get past this.
Determined, I unlock the door and open it.
They’re half-dressed, clothes spread by the fire to dry. Sprawled in a messy tangle on the floor, all five of them glance up as I enter. The slight movement disrupts the demon’s balance, and he falls on his ass, taking Celine with him.
“Dammit, Ciprian,” she snaps. “I was going to win.”
“I know,” he says. “The guys didn’t stand a chance unless I took you out. I was doing them a favor.”
“Excuse me,” I drawl.
“Shut the door. You’re letting the heat out.” Celine glares at me.
I close the door. “You’re not in control here.”
She rolls her eyes. “Or leave it open forever, Riven. We’ll go on a long walk and see you never.”
“It’s time to fight,” I tell her. “Get ready. You have five minutes.”
That, at least, gets an appropriate reaction. The others scramble, sliding out of their interwoven positions on the floor and climbing to their feet.
“We’ll fight with her.” Malach gives Luca a hand up.
I scoff and cling to my annoyance. He’s unbelievable, acting as if he has any say in this. “You will not.”
The vampire advances on me, red bleeding into the blue of his eyes. “That’s not the agreement. Celine fought—”
“To have you restored to her.” I glance around the circular cabin. “Which you clearly have been. That agreement had no bearing on future fights. You’re my prisoners, and I decide what happens to you.”
“Fuck you,” Ciprian snaps. “You can’t take her.”
“Yes.” I examine the back of my hand. “I can.”
Celine faces me, the half-smile she was wearing when I interrupted their game nowhere in sight. “What’s my incentive?”
I look her up and down. She’s wearing an oversized shirt, her long legs bare and glowing in the firelight. “Another day spent breathing.”
She narrows her eyes. “What changed?”
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“Something changed. You’re acting differently.” She gestures at me, a groove appearing between her eyes. “Did my father tighten the leash?”
I hiss before I can stop myself. “You’re confused, darling. I have no leash, no constraints, no walls keeping me caged. We are not the same.” It’s a mix of truth and lie, but without her magic, she won’t be able to tell the difference.
Because one part is painfully correct: we are not the same. I can’t forget it.
For a long moment, Celine doesn’t respond. Then her shoulders dip.
“He wants me dead, doesn’t he?” Her lips quiver, then stiffen. “The wins must have pissed him off. Is he hurting you?” Celine studies my face, squinting as if she’ll be able to see beneath my mask and uncover a bruise if she looks hard enough.
“I’m a contractor—”
“And I’m his daughter,” she interrupts. “That never stopped him before.”
Malach moves to her side, positioning himself slightly between us. “Don’t do it,” he says to me. “I’m appealing to your honor, Riven. Take me instead.”
“That’s not the solution.” Celine pushes him back.
“There’s no room for hypocrites in my arena,” I say to Malach. “Your time is up, Celine. Come without a fuss, or I’ll take them away again.”
She deflates, hunching in on herself until she’s too small in the oversized shirt. Her fingers curl against Malach’s chest, then she drags them to her hair, combing through the bright red strands and braiding them in jerky, brisk motions.
Once she’s finished, she grabs her jeans from the hearth and puts them on. “Can I have time to say goodbye?”
I shake my head. “Put your shoes on.”
Luca glares at me, his handsome features distorted by anger. “What? We can’t even watch this time? What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“I suspect we don’t have the time to cover that to your full satisfaction,” I say drily.
“I-I can’t do it,” Alistair hisses, gripping Celine’s upper arms in his. “I can’t let you walk out the door, angel.”
“You have no choice,” I say. “This cabin is surrounded by my guards. If you step one toe out of line, you’ll all be dead in five minutes.”
Alistair turns his head and bares his fangs. “I’ll kill you.”
“Maybe.” I smirk. “But it won’t be today. I have the upper hand and no intention of losing it.”
Alistair tenses to lunge, and Ciprian slides in to block him with his body. “Stop,” he says. “We can’t get separated again. Hold it together.”
Celine laces her shoes and glances between the four of them.
I might as well be invisible. I’ve never let it bother me before, but tonight it stings.
“I’ll come back to you,” she says. “I won’t give up, no matter what. Do you hear me?”
Ciprian drags her into his arms and kisses her, then spins her to face Luca.
“Please, baby,” he begs. “I-I can’t . . . not without you.”
She cradles his jaw and kisses him softly. “I love you, Luca. You’ve never given up on me and—”
“I never will,” he assures her, burying his face in her neck as Alistair curls around them both.
“You’ll win, angel.” He dips his lips to whisper in her ear. I can’t hear what he says, which is a relief. I don’t want to hear his goodbyes.
One limb at a time, they detach from her reluctantly.
Then Malach is the only one left.
He stares at her, and she stands taller.
They breathe in sync, each rise and fall of their chests aligned. When Malach speaks to her, it’s in one of the celestial languages. She lifts her hand and locks her thumb with his. As soon as their skin touches, her eyelashes flutter, thick and beautiful against her pale skin.
“Nai khirith, mash n’tel,” she whispers.
Her voice wobbles, and Malach snaps. He yanks her into his body and kisses her fiercely. Green eyes wide open, he watches her as if he can’t bear to lose a single second.
My stomach churns.
“Enough,” I say. “It’s time to go.”
Celine pulls away from Malach, all emotion leeching from her expression as she studies me. “Let’s get this over with,” she says.
I nod. I couldn’t have said it better myself.
This ends tonight.
It must.