Chapter 9 August
AUGUST
His sister had not taken kindly to his arrival. August hadn’t exactly been expecting a warm welcome, but locking him inside a tent, shackled and bound, seemed a bit excessive.
Mere seconds after he had made his grand entrance, a pair of guards had apprehended him, tossing him into a nearby tent before tying him to a chair and binding his wrists with fire-infused shackles.
Every time he so much as flinched, a searing heat scorched his wrists, traveling down his arm as though his veins were dripping with fire.
It was funny, having more power than he’d had at Blackwood yet still feeling pain.
But that was the one advantage Silas and his Ascended had.
Numbed pain receptors granted by the Headmaster himself.
And though August could now heal faster than a regular student—he still felt pain. Which made for an unwelcome weakness.
Not that it mattered. August wasn’t going to put up a fight. He simply sat, waiting. Because a moment alone with Edith was precisely what he had been hoping for.
And he had known exactly what buttons to press to get what he needed.
August glanced around the tent, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.
Inevitably, his mind began to wander. He couldn’t stop himself from latching onto the moment he had walked back into the encampment…
the image of Wren staring back at him. He had expected to see the tiniest glimmer of joy, some indication that she was relieved to see him again, but all he had found reflected in those blue eyes of hers was abject terror at what he had done. A heartbreaking disappointment.
He had tried to explain. To whisper into her mind using their psychic connection: I have a plan.
Just play along. I promise we’ll speak later.
At first he had assumed she was ignoring him, or perhaps hadn’t heard him, because she’d said nothing back.
But the closer he’d gotten to Wren, the more he’d felt a strange disconnect in her soul.
An emptiness. It had dawned on him only a second later.
Her magic. Edith has blocked her magic.
He’d have to find a moment alone with her—and quickly. He couldn’t bear the thought of Wren believing he had decided to give up his humanity for the Order. That he was truly willing to betray her.
Yes…he had given up his humanity. That much was true. His soul was ruined. He had tethered himself to purgatory—permanently—and welcomed in the shadows. But he still had time before the shadows completely took over.
The Quarterly Equinox was approaching, a sacred ritual meant to honor the Soulless One and his prophecy.
But it was more than just a simple ritual.
Every new recruit within the Order—all the Demiens who had yet to succumb to the shadows—would be brought upon the altar and tasked with performing the Reaper’s Kiss.
An ancient shadow magic spell that would push them over the edge.
Once the spell was complete, those new recruits would officially succumb to the shadows and become fully formed Demiens.
Nothing but weapons for the Soulless One’s game.
Nothing but monsters.
Just like his sister.
A seething voice cut through August’s thoughts and dragged him back to the present.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Edith strode into the tent without warning, beelining toward August. He tried not to flinch when she shot her hand out, commanding her shadows to wrap their tendrils around his throat. They answered with pleasure, crashing down upon August, enclosing themselves hungrily around his neck.
His own shadows screamed inside him: Use us, use us, use us, use us. But he wouldn’t answer their pleas. He had to restrain himself. He had to be strategic about how much shadow magic he used.
He forced a tight-lipped smile, wheezing through the suffocating pressure. “Is this…how you greet…family?”
Edith’s lips lifted into a snarl. “You dare step into this encampment after your betrayal? After you tried to leave us, abandon us—”
“Just…” August croaked, fighting to speak against the serpentine shadow squeezing his windpipe. “Hear me…out.” And just when he thought he might actually black out from the shadows’ vise grip, Edith let out a frustrated groan and released the shadows from his neck.
“What do you want, Augustine?” She spoke his full name like a curse. Bitter and sharp.
He kept his response simple. “I’ve come to join you.”
Edith snorted, unamused. “Bullshit.”
“I’m telling you the truth.”
“You expect me to believe this…this performance?” Edith practically spat the last word, sneering with disgust.
“I gave up my humanity, Edith. The one thing I swore never to part with. The one thing I was desperate to cling to—”
“And what of taking what is rightfully yours?” she interjected. “You took my crown. In front of everyone. Questioned my authority.”
“Come now, sister.” August chuckled softly.
“I have no genuine intention of taking your position as High General. I just knew I needed to get your attention. But…I would like to take my rightful place by your side. To honor the Soulless One’s prophecy.
” He let the weight of his words linger before tilting his head to the side. “If you’ll have me.”
“And what of the girl?” Edith asked without hesitation.
The question took August off guard. He swallowed, his jaw reflexively tensing. The mere thought of Wren sent a searing pain through his chest. A terrible anguish. But if he was to truly get back in his sister’s good graces, he needed to do everything in his power to push Wren out of his mind.
He shrugged. “What about her?”
Edith let out a cackle, head thrown back. “I’m not a fool, Augustine. You love her.” August flinched at the accusation. “Did you really think this would work? Waltzing into the encampment under false pretenses? Tricking me into thinking you give a damn about the prophecy?”
August bit down on his cheek, hard, tasting blood, though it didn’t last long. His wounds healed faster now, another swift and stark reminder of the irreparable damage he’d done to his soul.
“You’re right,” he breathed out, a trembling agony in his voice.
“I love her. I do. And it hurts, Edith. It fucking hurts. Because I see it now…the inevitability of our ending. You’ve won.
There is no future for me and Wren. And as sad and pathetic as it might seem—I can’t stomach the rest of eternity like this.
With all these…these feelings. This pain.
” August grimaced and a choked sob escaped his throat.
“I can’t do it anymore. And the Reaper’s Kiss…
it’s the only way. The only way to make it stop. ”
Silence flooded the tent. Edith stepped closer, analyzing him with narrowed eyes.
“So…” she mused out loud, eyes raking his face. “You intend to succumb to the shadows on Equinox to free yourself of these pesky little…feelings?”
“If I let the shadows take me…if I bend to the Soulless One’s control…
I won’t be in pain anymore. I won’t have this…
this weakness. It’ll all go away,” August explained in a shallow whisper.
When he spoke the next sentence, he made sure to stare directly into his sister’s eyes. “That’s why you did it…isn’t it?”
And there it was.
The faint crack in her mask.
Because as soon as the question left August’s lips, he swore he saw a tiny glimpse of the sister he had once known.
The sister who would hold his hand when he was too scared to cross the nearby creek on his own.
The sister who would vehemently defend their mother during their father’s nightly outbursts.
The sister who, despite everything, he had loved.
But then shadows swarmed the whites of Edith’s eyes and the moment vanished.
“Why should I offer you this mercy?” she spat out, staring down at him as though he were nothing but a bug to squash beneath her palm. “I should banish you from the encampment and let you wither away in your torment for the rest of eternity.”
“Because…” August lifted his chin, meeting his sister’s scornful gaze.
“Despite the fact that you utterly detest me…you know that the two of us are stronger together. Imagine what we would be capable of once I’m free of Wren.
Once I’m rid of the guilt and shame. Once the love I feel for her is ripped away from me.
” August’s voice trembled as the words tumbled out of him.
“The two of us…together…we could be Silas’s undoing. ”
Edith hummed. The crown hovering over her head darkened, the shadows swirling around her with a fervent hunger. August sensed his own shadows purring in delight, slinking up and down his chest eagerly.
Yes, yes, yes, they cried inside him. Together. Together. Together.
Edith straightened her shoulders and crossed her arms.
“I will permit you to stay”—a rush of relief coursed through August as soon as the words left Edith’s lips, though the feeling was quickly squashed as she finished the rest of her sentence—“under one condition.”
August let out a sigh. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”
Edith’s white teeth gleamed in the darkness as she lifted her lips into a vicious grin.
“You can stay and participate in Equinox…as long as you are stationed with Onyx Unit.”
August’s heart sank. Some retaliation from his sister had been expected. He had assumed she might keep him confined. Force him to participate in practice duels and push his shadow magic to the limits. But placing him in Onyx Unit as a new recruit?
That was a cruelty no soul deserved.
The Demien Order was organized like a military base—separated into four distinct quadrants.
There was Silver Unit, the quadrant that housed all the new recruits, the Demiens who had given up their humanity but had yet to succumb to the shadows.
New recruits still had some control over their emotions.
Some semblance of morality. Mostly…they were just assholes looking to cause a bit of trouble.
Once those new recruits participated in Equinox, once they underwent the Reaper’s Kiss, they’d move into Emerald Unit.
The Demiens in this quadrant were volatile, lacking total control over their shadows’ hunger.
They were unpredictable. Erratic. Like ticking time bombs.
With enough training, those Demiens would eventually learn to tame their shadows, honing their skills and cruelty into a finely sharpened blade.
Once they reached that level of control, they would transfer into Sapphire Unit.
This was where most Demiens would end up—where they would spend the rest of their time training and preparing for the lingering battle ahead.
But there was one more quadrant.
One group of Demiens who were…different.
All fully formed Demiens were cruel. Emotionless soldiers for the Soulless One’s bidding. But those within Onyx Unit possessed a darkness—a hunger—that made other Demiens look like bloody angels. They were ruthless. They didn’t simply want to please the Soulless One.
They craved carnage.
And now Edith was going to force August not only to live with those Demiens…
but to train with them. Because she knew that if there was any risk that August would not succumb to the shadows on Equinox, placing him in Onyx Unit was her next-best bet.
He couldn’t completely lose himself until he cast the Reaper’s Kiss, but he could come pretty damn close.
As if sensing August’s realization in his silence, Edith sucked her teeth, smiling.
“Why the long face?” she teased. “I thought this would please you. You know, considering how eager you are to succumb to the shadows.”
August inhaled a sharp breath. He wouldn’t let himself shrink under his sister’s cruelty. “Fine.” He conceded. “I accept.”
“Good.” Edith snapped her fingers and the chains shackling August’s wrists snapped open, falling to the ground. “Because, let’s be honest with ourselves, little brother…it’s not like you ever really had a choice.”