Page 52

His gaze flicked lazily towards the canvas, entirely unbothered by the painted versions of us watching from within it. “That’s how the Hells watch us, Sunshine.” A wicked smile tugged at his mouth. “Smile for them. They love a good show.”

Something moved in the trees over his shoulder, my attention snapping to it as Helion held up his middle finger towards the painting.

A woman stood motionless amongst the soot-dark trunks, her skin unnaturally luminous against the gloom. Long lilac hair hung to her waist, drifting in the breeze like silk beneath water. Her wide eyes tracked me, silver and hauntingly familiar in a way that made unease slither down my spine.

I stilled, watching her with the same curiosity she was showing me.

“Keep moving,” Helion said, making me startle as he turned and kept walking. When I looked back towards the woman, she was gone.

My hands clenched at my sides, nails biting into my skin instead of clawing his throat open like I wanted to.

Play nice. Save Rythos.

I repeated it like the desperate prayers I used to whisper while the priest split my skin apart. Except this time, I wasn’t helpless.

The anger inside me was endless. A vast, consuming tidal wave clawed at my ribs, begging to break free and drown everything that had ever tried to shackle me.

“Stop seething, it’s distracting me,” Helion said, raising his eyebrow as he looked over his shoulder.

Before I could respond, Helion slammed into the ground. Ash burst into the air around him, thick and choking.

A woman grappled with him in the soot, rolling on top of him and raising her fist. Her back faced me. Exposed. I could have ended her then. Filled her lungs with water. Stolen the breath from her body. She drew back her fist, and a cruel, satisfied smile curved my lips—pain exploded across my cheek.

I staggered, breath hitching and hand flying to clutch the stinging flesh.

Her fist connected with Helion again, and agony flared across my own skin, sharp and immediate.

The bond.

Rage turned molten in my veins. I could fucking feel his pain as if it were my own.

Helion thrashed as she forced something into his mouth, her hand clamping over it, sealing it shut. My lungs seized.

No—my breath cut off, invisible fingers tightening around my throat. I clawed at my chest as if I could rip the air back into myself. My knees hit the ground hard, ash billowing around me as I tried to gasp for air.

Helion swallowed whatever she had shoved into his mouth. Air rushed back into me in a violent gasp, tearing through my lungs with release.

She turned slowly, deliberately, her ruby lips curling into something wicked. Something eager. Her burgundy gaze locked onto mine with a predatory glint.

Kaezlyn.

She crouched low, coiling like a serpent ready to strike.

I squared my shoulders and raised my chin.

She lunged, crashing into me with a force that made light flash across my eyes.

I was not prey. I reached into the storm inside my chest, into the wild, thrashing magic rising to meet the threat. It surged from me in a violent, unseen tide.

Her body jerked on top of me. Her eyes widened as a strangled, broken sound tore from her throat. I pushed deeper, not just flooding her lungs, but forcing it into her head.

An agonised scream tore from her lips, cut off by a gargle of water that poured down her chin. Her crimson eyes snapped to mine, a mix of agony and amusement reflecting back at me.

I smiled up at her, humming as her body convulsed, frantically fighting a death it couldn’t escape.

Dark satisfaction crashed through me like a breaking wave, violent and absolute, as something vast and merciless beneath my skin claimed the kill as its own.

Her body collapsed next to me in the ash with a dull, final thud. Her eyes were wide and unseeing, red hair sprawled around her and lips parted as if still begging for air that would never come. She looked beautiful without the cruel curl of her lips.