Chapter Forty-Six #2
A pleased-as-punch expression spreads on Caius’s face as he watches me figure out how well and truly I’ve fucked up.
“I gave you time. Then I watched you use that time to sneak out, go into the Salt cliffs; watched you emerge with the heretic. I thought you’d merely found some way to manipulate them, outside of Nolan’s knowledge, wanting the rewards for success all to yourself.
Honestly, I even respected that. I’ve never had the forces to really sift through this city’s filth, in that maze or otherwise.
But I didn’t need to. All I needed to do was wait for you to finish your treachery, and then intercept.
” He scowls. “That idiot Ramiro almost ruined everything, of course. It’s very lucky that you’re at least competent.
And then, when you put out your obvious little signal—well, I knew it was time.
And given how, hmm, aligned the two of you seemed to be, I decided to rouse Nolan, so he could witness your betrayal with his own eyes.
” The scowl recedes, replaced by something much worse.
Much… darker. “But even I didn’t suspect your true intention. ”
As much as I want to curse, or yell, or lob some clever quip at Caius, I say nothing. I have nothing to say.
“Is it true?” When Nolan speaks for the first time, I hate it. The searing accusation in his voice makes Caius’s sound gentle. He’s not asking because he wants to know. He knows. He’s just working on the acceptance part.
I keep quiet.
“Search her,” orders Caius. “Let’s see this weapon. This… reliquary.”
The number of Thorn Guard who descend on me makes fighting back both pointless and foolish.
Caius isn’t Ramiro—he knows our limits, our skills, and has prepared his soldiers for any resistance I might put up.
So, I don’t bother. They push me to my knees, rip away my sickles, and rifle through my coat.
They find the box. Give it to Caius, who opens it.
His eyes brighten with uneasy reverence as he touches the reliquary… within. It glows faintly in response. “This is it, what you were after.”
“Yes.” Nolan just looks tired. “A power unlike any other in the world.”
I grasp, desperate. “A prize. You’re right. I didn’t feel like sharing the glory with anyone else. Sorry, Nolan, but you should understand the lengths any of us would go to in order to be chosen Executrix. Even playing the heretics for the chumps they are.”
I can see right away that the ruse is not going to fly.
“We heard what you said, Lys.” For the first time, a hint of anger breaks through Nolan’s carefully arranged mask. “About consuming the blood, killing the Goddess. Being free. Don’t deny it. No matter what you think, you tell the truth far better than you lie.”
My own fury rises to meet his. “Fine.” In an instant, the deceptions fall away, as liberating as the reality is damning.
“Fuck Tempestra-Innara. Fuck what they did to us, what they turned us into. Yes, I agreed to help the heretics and do my own encore to Emmaus’s attack.
All so I could be freed from their manipulative, horseshit ‘love.’ ” I snicker.
“And you would have been too, even if you assholes wouldn’t be smart enough to realize it. ”
Caius strides forward and backhands me so hard I taste blood.
I laugh, loudly and for real this time, and spit red onto his boot. “Keep that. It’ll fetch a good price around here.”
He raises his hand again, then lets it fall.
“I never believed such a foul thing as you could even exist. Divinely gifted—Chosen—and a traitor.” He takes a deep breath, composing himself.
“You and the heretics will be punished. But them first, so you can watch what happens to your new friends.” He summons one of the Thorn Guard over.
“The heretic she met with, have you found where he was going yet?”
The guard shakes his head awkwardly. “Arbiter Caius, we… we lost him.”
Caius reddens. “What?”
“We trailed him.” The guard delivers the report in a flat, detached tone. “Closely. But he… he turned down an alley. We were only a few steps behind, but when we entered it, he was gone. Disappeared.”
“Disappeared?” spits Caius. “A person doesn’t simply disappear.”
They do if they have a god on their side. I smile to myself, even though I won’t be getting the same assistance. “Tch, tch. You really think you’re gonna outsmart my ‘friends’ in their own city?”
Caius simmers. “The Goddess will send their legions. They might escape for now, but eventually they will be flushed out.”
No, they won’t, but that’s not an argument worth having.
“The heretics are roaches. It’s only a matter of time before they are crushed.” Caius’s eyes narrow. “But you… you will pay a much higher price.”
I’m dead. The knowledge doesn’t sting quite as much as I expect.
Not nearly as much as Nolan’s glare, which I can feel despite keeping my gaze firmly locked on the Arbiter.
But maybe I’ve been dead since that morning in my village, that day on the ice, the moment a goddess’s blood passed my lips.
Who I’ve been since is simply a puppet of Tempestra-Innara, as much as any of their avatars.
“You will be executed,” says Caius. “By the Goddess’s hand.”
“Yup,” I sigh. “The usual. Got it.”
“But first, your heresy must be found to be incontrovertible, here and now. You will be judged.”
No. I jump to my feet, moving before I realize what I’m doing, but the guards are ready. Chains appear, weaving around me, driving me back to the ground as I struggle.
I can die. I can bear the thought of the divine flame consuming me, turning me to ash. But Caius, his Arbiter’s power, forcing its way into my mind?
No. No.
I kick, feel a bone break. Bite and taste blood that isn’t my own.
It comes to nothing. There are too many Thorn Guard.
Manacles lock around my arms, my wrists, my ankles.
I am dragged onto my knees, subdued. Caius has handed the reliquary box to Nolan, whose expression is even emptier than before, lips pressed into a thin line.
And in the Arbiter’s hand the blue bottle appears.
A reliquary in its own way. Two drops, one in each eye.
The last of the morning fog swirls around Caius as he steps forward, eyes alight with power.
He reaches for me. There’s a heartbeat right before his fingers find my face, before his thumbs dig into my cheeks, that I think to fight back again. But then his flesh touches mine.
And I—