Chapter 39
Thirty-Nine
Darkness threads faintly beneath Xavier’s skin—the curse reacting to his emotions—and his mouth twists into a humourless smirk.
“Please,” he adds, voice dripping with sarcasm as he steps into the room. “Don’t stop on my account. Really. I’d hate to interrupt your little…moment.”
I feel my face ignite.
“Get behind me,” Riven growls, stepping forward with his jaw clenched, the shift in his posture almost predatory, but Xavier only scoffs.
“I see,” Xavier snaps. “So it’s okay for him to protect you and give you little nicknames, is it?”
The tension in the room goes blade-sharp.
I can barely breathe. The taste of our kiss lingers, mingling with humiliation and something like grief. Riven’s chest rises and falls beside me, controlled, but tight, like it’s taking everything in him not to tear into his brother.
Xavier ignores him, his gaze burning into me. “So,” he says coldly. “While I was out there cursed, grieving, and trying to solve the murders, you two were in here…what? Comparing saliva? Nice.”
“Xavier–” I start.
But he holds up a hand. “No. Don’t,” he says sharply.
“I was worried sick when I couldn’t find you anywhere these last few days.
You didn’t reply to any of my messages—I had half the Division out looking for you.
Yet here you are, in his arms. How could you?
After everything this monster’s done? He’s a murderer, Octavia! ”
“No, he’s not!” I shout. Though on second thoughts… “Well, yes, actually he is I guess–” I throw a glare at Riven and he shrugs like it’s no big deal, “–but he didn’t kill Vesper, and you’re hardly innocent here, are you?”
Xavier’s eyes narrow as he steps slowly towards me. In the twenty years I’ve known him, he’s never once looked at me so coldly, and the sight instantly makes me nauseous.
“And what lies, exactly, did he tell you?”
I look up at my friend, fury etched into every one of his features, and I stumble.
If Riven is telling the truth, then Xavier has been lying to me for a long time about a lot of things.
Not to mention the fact he clearly tried to derail this investigation for some reason I’m still yet to figure out.
But he’s my friend. A man who’s unselfishly stood by my side and defended and protected me through most of my life.
I meet his gaze and a flash of pain crosses his features behind the anger, mirroring my own.
I’ve hurt him. We’ve hurt each other. I can feel our friendship fraying rapidly, and all I want is to cling onto it for dear life.
But I also can’t ignore the evidence piling up in front of me either.
Between the two of them, I don’t know what to think.
But before I can force the words out, Xavier shakes his head at me dejectedly, betrayal spreading across his face.
“You know what? It doesn’t matter. It’s obvious now that you don’t care for me like I thought. You’ve made your choice, Octavia. Now I’ll make mine.” He turns on his heel and storms out the way he came, boots echoing down the corridor, leaving me frozen in shock.
I sag against a metal table, mortified.
Riven swears under his breath, low and vicious, scrubbing a hand through his hair. His blue hair. My blood pounds loudly in my ears. Obviously Xavier would know about Riven’s heritage given that they share a father, but now he knows that I know about it too…
I share a nervous look with Riven, and he strides towards me and cups my face with his hands, his eyes boring into mine.
“Everything’s going to be fine,” he insists, and I nod uselessly, unable to tear my gaze from his.
“You’re blushing,” he whispers, his thumb caressing my cheek.
“Shut up,” I joke, but it’s a strangled, choke of a laugh, and both our smiles falter.
I force away the image of Xavier’s face, the pain of our fractured friendship, and focus on Riven’s heated gaze.
The echo of what almost happened hangs heavy between us, unbearably loud now that it’s gone, and whilst a very big part of me desperately wants to continue what we started, this is neither the time nor the place.
Riven seems to share the feeling, his expression falling back into unease.
“I’m no good for you, Octavia, trust me.”
I raise my eyebrows. “What if I don’t trust you?”
He chews on his lip, his eyes darkening. “You’re making this really hard, you know that?”
“Is that supposed to be an innuendo?”
“Gods you’re infuriating,” he growls, though I don’t miss the smirk he tries to hide. “Come on, then. I guess we have to be upstanding citizens and stop Xavier from inevitably doing something stupid now.”
The sun has almost risen by the time Riven and I reconvene outside the apartment, the mists of the Veil illuminated against the stark silhouette of the waking city. We agreed to split up and search for Xavier, but both of us have arrived empty handed.
Well, not entirely empty handed.
“Cute little knife you have there,” Riven jokes, looking down pointedly at the blade clutched in my hand.
“Fuck off, Riven.”
“Yes, dear.”
I roll my eyes as I stride past him into the building, trying my best to hide the smile on my face.
I decide not to tell him the only reason I have it is because a gang of youths decided to follow me a few streets back, likely due to them spotting my white hair.
It takes more than that to frighten me, but I’m not an idiot either.
Stryx is pacing the length of the apartment when I enter, her ears plastered to the side of her head in barely contained fury.
“Where in the Voyd have you been?” she snaps the moment she sees me. “You disappear without a word, and I wake up alone, and Quill is gone–”
Her eyes land on Riven as he finally steps inside behind me, and the anger drains from her in an instant, replaced by stiff surprise. “Oh,” she says. “You’re here.”
It’s only then I realise this is the first time they’ve seen each other since he saved her from the attack in the Archives.
Riven inclines his head, expression unreadable. “I’m…glad you survived,” he says quietly. “I’ll find who attacked you both, I swear.”
Stryx hesitates, just a moment, before dipping her head in something like a respectful bow. “Thank you,” she murmurs. “For saving my life.”
“And thank you for saving mine,” Riven replies.
“If you hadn’t told Octavia the truth about her heritage…
” He trails off, and the silence that falls is awkward, a triangle of unspoken tension and half-formed questions between us.
I clear my throat, gesturing toward the small table in the centre of the room.
“Let’s…sit. We need to talk.”
We gather around the table, Stryx perched on the arm of a chair opposite me whilst Riven sits beside me, his thigh touching mine, his fingers steepled, unreadable as ever.
I quickly recount to Stryx everything I saw in the victim’s memories and Riven’s explanation for them, as well as a brief summary of everything he revealed to me. Stryx listens silently with a grim set to her jaw as Riven’s expression darkens.
“So, the Children Of The Briar,” Stryx says finally. “They truly are the ones responsible for these murders then?”
“Yes,” Riven confirms. “These are rituals, I’m sure of it. They believe that in order to access unlimited magic, they must free the Faceless God from behind the Veil. A sacrifice is needed, and I believe a mortal body is required as a vessel for the God to work through.”
Stryx leans forward. “But the rituals didn’t work, though. If they had, we’d all be in a lot of trouble right now. So what did they miss?”
Riven’s sharp gaze fixes on her. “Because they didn't have the Codex of Thorns.”
Stryx’s eyes widen. “That book we found in the Archives, it said something about the Codex, but the rest of the page was ripped out.”
“Not surprising,” Riven says. “It’s powerful enough to override the magic woven into the Veil itself.
Without it, every ritual they attempt will fail.
But with the Codex…if you use ancient, dark magic and the right incantation, it can be done.
” He pauses. “Most references to it were destroyed by the few remaining members of the Memonic Council who are not part of the Briar. It was charged to one member to keep it safe, and for decades Titus kept it hidden from them; he detested them. Even with the council as corrupt as it is, no one has ever been able to locate where he hid it. It’s why my father couldn’t try the rituals again, even when he discovered your whereabouts, Octavia.
But a few weeks ago, Titus died. As is tradition, on his deathbed he revealed the location of the Codex to a member of the council he trusted, so they could take over his role. ”
I feel cold seep into my bones. “Who?”
Amusement flickers in his eyes. “Me.”
“You have it?” Both Stryx and I recoil.
He shakes his head, frustrated. “No longer. Five days ago, when you came charging into my office, demanding I tell you the truth–”
“You looked like you hadn’t slept all night, you were drinking?” I remember now, wondering what could have possibly happened to make him look so morose.
He nods. “The Codex was stolen from me that night. The Briar became too paranoid, they must have been certain I was working against them. The keeper of the Codex is supposed to be a guarded secret, for obvious reasons, but someone on the council must have broken that oath. Not only have they tried to pin these murders on me, but they also sent someone to steal the Codex. When I went to retrieve it I was ambushed.”
I inhale sharply. “They followed you?”
“Apparently so,” he says dejectedly. “I was so distracted by Vesper’s murder, I wasn’t in my right mind, I wasn’t careful. I managed to fend them off, but by the time I realised what was happening, it was too late. The Codex was gone.”
I sigh heavily. “So we find who has the Codex,” I say, my voice wavering. “And destroy it.”
Riven bites his lip. “If we’re lucky.”
“And if we’re unlucky?” Stryx asks, her face stricken.
Riven leans back, expression hollow. “Then it’ll already be in use, which means we’re all as good as dead.”
I glare at him in disbelief. “That feels like quite an important detail you should have immediately mentioned, Riven,” I scold him. “We’ve been sitting here chatting away while they could already be using it? Someone else could be dying for the sake of this stupid prophecy as we speak!”
He avoids eye contact, staring at his feet with a grimace. “I know, I’m sorry. I just knew if I told you straight away, you’d most likely run straight into the fire. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Whilst I appreciate the thought, we don’t exactly have a choice right now,” I remind him, and he sighs heavily, running a hand through his hair.
A heavy silence settles over us.
“There’s one thing you’re both missing,” Stryx says quietly, looking between us warily. “Octavia, what’s the one thing you always say every time you get a case?”
I think for a moment. “That I don’t believe in coincidences?”
She nods. “Exactly. So don’t you think it’s a bit strange that both leaders of the cult just happened to each have a child that fits the prophecy? What are the chances of that?”
“Literally zero,” Riven growls, his concerned gaze fixed on me, and I swallow hard.
“You’re right,” I whisper, my stomach twisting. “There must be something we’re still missing. But we don’t have the luxury of time anymore. Right now, we need to figure out where they’re keeping the Codex. We need to stop this first, ask questions later.”
I look between them both—my unlikely ally and steadfast friend—and feel the weight of what’s coming settle on my shoulders.
Riven’s hand rests on my thigh under the table, his thumb grazing my skin as his gaze flickers toward the window, toward the city beyond. “I know where to start,” he murmurs. “But you’re not going to like it.”