25. Chapter 25
Arwen
Darkness peels back in fragments as dim light registers behind my eyes.
A muffled ringing. Voices somewhere far away. My name, over and over, distant but urgent. Like someone is trying to pull me through water.
“Arwen! Arwen, look at me! Open your eyes.”
My eyelids are impossibly heavy, but I force them open. Everything is blur and light and shadow at first, shapes bleeding together until one sharpens into focus.
Eyes like midnight. Maddox.
His face hovers over mine. I must be on the ground.
“What…” My voice cracks. “What happened?”
The memories flood me all at once. Amaya. My power. Cleo!
I jerk upright so fast the room tilts violently. “Cleo—”
“Easy,” Maddox snaps, grabbing my shoulders as I sway into a sitting position.
I finally notice the destruction all around me. The Grand Hall is almost unrecognizable.
Dust hangs thick in the air, catching the fractured light like suspended ash.
The velvet seats are smeared with gray powder, their gold embroidery now dulled.
Chunks of plaster and veined marble litter the floor like rubble.
One of the towering columns in the room stands cleaved in two, its upper half gone.
Above it, the ceiling yawns open where stone and timber have split, a ragged opening of broken beams and dangling wires.
Did I do that?
Movement catches my eye. “Arwen!”
Cleo runs toward me, dusty but upright, and I nearly collapse with relief as I try to stand to meet her.
“Thank the universe!” I throw my arms around her, falling in my attempt at a hug. She catches me hard, gripping my shoulders the second we pull apart and scanning me. “Are you hurt? Did you hit your head? Are you bleeding?”
“Stop. I’m fine. What about you? Are you hurt?” I eye the trickle of blood from her neck.
“I’m fine. It’s barely a flesh wound.”
Maddox rips the bottom part of his shirt off and hands it to her absently, staring up at the giant hole in the ceiling. “Hold it against your neck until the bleeding stops. I’ll find someone to check it over.”
Maddox’s hand moves to my back, holding me steady when my knees threaten to give when a flash of red hair catches my attention.
Amaya stands several feet away amid the wreckage, dust coating one side of her pristine ivory outfit, hair disheveled for the first time since I met her.
She’s also staring at the hole in the ceiling. Mouth agape, unmoving.
“Amaya,” I rasp, grabbing Maddox’s arm. “Amaya was going to take Cleo. She was threatening me to convince you to stand down. She—”
Maddox goes very quiet. His dark eyes lift from me to Amaya, and whatever had been in them—the worry, the relief—drains out completely, like a light being switched off.
He hands me off to Cleo without another word and stalks toward his sister.
“What are you playing at? Did you threaten my bond?” he growls.
Amaya straightens and regains her composure.
Maddox reaches her and his hand closes around her throat. He slams her into the cracked wall so hard that more debris shakes loose from the ceiling.
Cleo gasps next to me as I hold on to her and track the interaction. Amaya’s feet almost leave the floor as Maddox raises her higher.
Still she smiles.
“What am I playing at?” she says, voice strained but somehow still mocking. Her gaze flicks past him, to me. “Look around you, Maddox.”
Her smile widens.
“Seems someone has been keeping a very big secret.”
“I will kill you,” he grits out.
Amaya gives a breathy laugh despite his grip. “We both know you can’t touch me here. Not unless you’d like to declare formal war or upset father.”
Maddox’s jaw flexes.
“Go ahead,” she taunts. “Make your empty threats.”
“I may not be able to kill you,” he says as his grip tightens. He looks at me… then back to her, and Amaya’s composure cracks just slightly.
“You wouldn’t dare. Father would kill her,” Amaya says frantically. “And you know it.”
Maddox leans closer, and Amaya struggles.
“You need to leave,” he says, voice low enough to make my skin prickle. “Crawl back to your territory, Indulgence Heights.”
He releases her just enough for her to breathe.
“But understand me, Amaya. If I see you in any of my territories, or in any territory Arwen occupies—”
“I will kill you. Consequences be damned.”
She swallows.
“And not Father, not Riven, not anyone will stop me.” He shoves her away hard. Amaya stumbles, catches herself, and straightens with whatever dignity she can salvage, smoothing her jacket with trembling hands. Her eyes find me with that same assessing look as before.
Only now it’s different. Less amused. She almost looks… concerned.
She backs toward the side door and disappears through it without saying another word.
Then Maddox turns to me, his expression unreadable. My stomach sinks. Because out of all the things we were supposed to be holding close to our chests, my power was the most important. And I just revealed all our cards.
Maddox walks us back in silence.
Cleo stays close enough that our shoulders brush every few steps, as if she thinks I might get hurt if she lets me out of reach. I almost laugh at the irony of that, considering I’m capable of demolishing architecture now.
By the time we reach my door, Tabby is already pacing outside it, having abandoned her post the moment she heard something happened.
Her eyes go wide when she sees the dust coating us.
“What in the—”
“You’re both staying in here tonight,” Maddox cuts in. His tone leaves no room for argument. “I’ll station guards outside.”
Then he turns to me. “Come with me.”
Cleo grabs my wrist before I can move. Then she yanks me into a hug hard enough to knock the air out of me.
I can’t believe I almost lost her.
“It’ll be okay. I promise. I’ll be back soon.”
She pulls back, cups my face like she’s confirming I’m still in one piece, then nods and slips inside with Tabby.
Maddox leads me to a new bedroom. I guess because his last one was pretty much all but destroyed thanks to me.
He closes the door behind us, without saying a word. Walking to the edge of his bed, he sits, elbows on knees, one hand dragging down his face.
I stand rooted in the center of the room, dust still clinging to my clothes and skin. My fingers traced a smudge of grime on my wrist. “I’m sorry,” I said, voice low. “I really… messed things up this time.”
Maddox lowers his hand and looks up at me, his expression softening. “You didn’t mess up.”
“What do you mean? I spilled our biggest secret.” I huff out and cross my arms, feeling like a fool.
“Amaya provoked you.” He leans back with a sigh, shaking his head. “She tricked you into meeting with her and threatened your friend. This was bound to happen eventually. I was just hoping it wouldn’t be this soon.”
The knot in my chest twists tighter. “So… what happens now?”
He stares at the floor for a moment before answering.
“Well.” His voice is grim. “There’s no chance Amaya keeps this to herself. The first person she’ll tell is my father. He’ll likely demand an audience.” Maddox’s mouth flattens. “Then Riven. Then whoever else she thinks she can sway with the information.”
He looks up at me.
“She’ll use this as ammunition to pull more of our siblings to her side. She can be brutal when she has information to use as leverage.”
“I noticed that,” I mutter.
Maddox’s brow furrows. “What do you mean?”
“She hinted at what her power is. I think she used it on me. That’s how she knew Cleo would work as leverage,” I mumble.
He exhales sharply through his nose.
“I should have warned you about her power. Amaya can read people’s wants. What they care about. Even what they fear. It’s how she keeps the rich and those in political positions in line. That’s why her territory has so much influence.”
His eyes shutter. “I didn’t want to give you more to worry about. I didn’t think it would be an issue as long as I kept you away from her.”
“Do you know what the others can do?” I venture carefully.
Maddox leans back, crossing his arms, looking lost in thought. “Some.”
He pauses.
“The truth is… most choose to keep their sin power under wraps. The longer you keep it hidden, the more power it has because no one can prepare for what they don’t understand. Having that secret is almost power in itself.”
His eyes hold mine. That makes sense strategically.
“So they don’t know how to counter it.” I say. “Don’t know what to look for. Don’t know your limits. That sounds a lot like the dynamics at SinVail Academy.”
“Exactly,” he huffs a humorless laugh. “Hell, in this family, powers are currency.”
He rubs his hand down his face. “That’s why Riven worries me the most.”
“Because you don’t know his?” I ask.
“Because no one does. Riven is like me,” Maddox says. “Held it close. Never revealed it publicly. No rumors. No confirmed sightings. Nothing. Showing power in other ways. Making people constantly second guess what it could be.”
That sends a chill down my spine.
He shakes his head. “That makes him dangerous. Most know about Amaya’s because it benefits her if they do. She’s the center of Gluttony’s political world. The wealthy fight for her favor, knowing what she can pull from people.”
I grimace. “I guess that’s useful.”
He hesitates.
“Valentine is powerful. Hers is a lot like yours, actually… but not the same. A lot smaller and more controlled. Like a pinpoint… but still destructive.” He shrugs. “She never uses it. I only know because she told me.”
Interesting.
“And Vex?”
Maddox rolls his eyes.
“They call it the Craving Mark. He can induce obsession. Which means he gains complete trust. Almost like a compulsion.” Maddox’s lip curls. “Make someone fixate on him. Spill secrets. Lower defenses.”
My jaw drops. “Oh my universe. How does he not have all of Gluttony enslaved?”
“Because he can only use it on one person at a time.”
I blanch. At least the Universe plays somewhat fairly.
“Everyone knows Teeth’s because he won’t shut up about it.” His voice goes flat. “He can drain power from one target and transfer it to another. He uses the weak in his territory like batteries.” Maddox’s jaw flexes. “Boosts his guards by siphoning from civilians.”