VII

VII

"Your master killed her."

I didn’t hear anything after that. All the words blurred to a hum in my ears. All I could hear was the sound of my heart breaking, all I could see were blurred shapes and colors as Orion stood over my head, delivering the news of my best friend’s death like he was in any position to be doing that.

All I could hear were Nina’s phantom giggles in my ears

In the back of my mind, all I could see were her excited blue eyes as we both jumped on my bed on the day of the maid selection, happy to be seeing each other again

How I wanted that happiness to last, how I wanted to see her smile like that forever and ever after seeing her go through so much as a slave.

I remembered the taste of the stale bread she used to pass to me as teenagers when there wasn’t enough to eat.

I remembered her voice, God, her voice... but it was a phantom now, chirping, "Riley...

Riley...

Riley..."

Endlessly in my ears while I grumbled back responses.

My chest hurt. God, my chest hurt. My breath snagged.

I looked up through blurred eyes.

Orion was still talking. I watched his lips move, unable to understand the fragments of words filtering through the roar in my ears.

"Hell... I had questions only she could give answers to... So I met her in hell..."

Hell...

Nina went to hell...

I remembered her smile and I just couldn't make the connection.

I was getting up now, almost wobbling off my feet.

"Why?"

Whatever notion Orion had in plan, it was coming together for him. If it was to keep me disoriented, I was very disoriented. The gut-wrenching sadness left me shattered. In pieces.

"Why?" I managed to ask again. "Why all this? Why do you want me to know all this? Why are you here? WHY ARE YOU HERE? WHAT DO YOU WANT?"

"Riley...''

My palms found his chest before he could even complete the sentence and I pushed.

Wide eyes, the sound of his own heartbeat filling my ears, the force of the push sent him staggering a few steps back. The strength in it must have shocked him. It shocked me too, but as soon as the shock flashed across his face, it was gone and another look replaced it.

If he’d been talking coaxingly before... all of that was gone. I saw his fingers tremble and before I even realized what I’d done, he was storming back towards me.

I didn’t run.

I was too sad to even move my legs.

Orion crossed the room. He grabbed me by the arm in one tug and yanked me towards himself. My chest slammed against his, knocking the breath out of my lungs. I didn’t fight to pull myself back. I stayed still, looking up at his face.

"You want to know why I’m here?" he yelled. "You want to know why the fuck I decided it was okay to stoop to my lowest to have a conversation with my brother’s slave breeder?" He stressed the word slave, reminding me exactly what I was in this situation. His true colors were starting to pop. He’d started off as very soft and uncertain, and now he looked like the dragon demon he was with his eyes gleaming red and the veins bulging in his neck with every word that escaped from his mouth.

"You are nothing but a slave... remember that... if I’m here to talk to you... You should be fucking honored..."

My voice was weak when I spoke.

"Why did you go?" Why did you go to hell to find her? "Why are you here? What do you want? WHAT DO YOU WANT?"

He didn’t let me go even as I could feel his palm starting to burn through my skin. I didn’t scream. I could see the desperation in his eyes. "I need your help."

"Wh—what?"

"I need you to kill your master. I need you to kill Seneca..."

I didn’t have control over my body, but I could feel my head shaking sideways; the world, his face, the colors all drained to a blur.

"No... No... NO..." I muttered. "No..."

"No?"

"I won’t—"

"Isn’t that all you’ve always wanted?"

"G-get away..."

''Don't you want that?'

''Go away.''

"From the very first time you set your eyes on him..."

"Leave me alone..."

His patience was running thin. "At the fucking selection game... you put a sword through his chest... you wanted to kill him. I could feel your hate. I could feel how much you wanted him to die. I WANT HIM DEAD TOO..."

Two beads of hot tears splattered down my cheeks. "He-he’s your brother, he’s your..."

He tightened his hold on my arm. "Who needs an enemy if I have a brother like him..."

Without thinking twice, he let go. Wobbly, legs like jelly, I stumbled back and landed flat on the bed again. This time my fingers dug into the satin sheet. I could hear the sizzle of my skin as it burned and at the same time healed itself immediately. But I wanted the pain. I wanted him to set me on fire so it could quell the pain in my chest. My fingers tightened around the sheet. My chest was so tight I could barely force breath into my lungs.

I wanted to die.

I wanted to see Nina one more time so she could tell me she wasn’t truly dead. The anguish was too much to bear. The hot tears dropped to my thighs one after the other. She was dead because of me. She was dead because I’d tried to rebel and she’d burst in just to put a stop to my torture and now... because of me... she was in eternal damnation.

My shoulders quaked. I wanted to cry in this misery. I wanted to scream the pain out. But the sound wouldn’t even escape my lips. Only my shoulders quaked while the presence of Dominus Orion remained in the room, watching me grieve painfully and silently.

"I know you understand why I’m here now..."

I did.

I did.

Now, I did.

"You’re the best person to kill my brother... You already tried once..." He continued to talk. "Failed woefully, but you can always try again. Different ways until you find the perfect way to kill the bastard..."

I wanted to argue, and scream that I’d be dying if I tried, that Seneca wouldn’t hesitate to rip my heart out of my chest if he found out I was plotting his murder, but I couldn’t even bring myself to open my mouth. All I did was stare at my thighs, listening to Orion’s growling voice.

He gave his proposal. Find a way, kill Seneca. The moment Seneca was out of the picture, he was going to give me two things in return for the job. "One... I give you your memories... I’m sure you want to remember who you were before all this... ruin. A mother? A father? Siblings? What the world was before I and my brothers took it? I’ll go beyond and above to make sure you get all your memories back... I’ll make you remember it all..."

But that wasn’t all.

"Two other things..."

I didn’t look up once.

"If you find a way, and do as I say to kill him... I’ll give you freedom to live in the regent city. I’ll offer you anything and everything you want under the heavens... And I’ll go to hell to bring your best friend back as a bonus."

My head snapped up. He stood there promising heaven and hell, while the presence of Seneca drew closer and my eyes ached and blurred with tears.

"...For the next few weeks, just do as I say, Riley... and I promise to stand by my words... Just do as I say and all of this will be over."

It was tempting to make a deal with the devil when you were already in hell. To say a yes without thinking twice because a few minutes of ease seemed better than lifelong suffering. If I said yes to him, I would be betraying Seneca, but I would be saving Nina from anguish and would be saving myself from this prison. Freedom. It was a word Nina and I had discussed over a million times as slaves. The day we got to be free, to live without fear, to breathe without the ache of anxiety in our chests, but was this really freedom if the regent city itself was another hell with a more glamorous branding?

Give me your soul and have everything under the heavens, the devil says as he sets another trap for you. Give me your yes and I’ll give you freedom, Orion said, but I didn’t believe a word that came from his mouth. The desperation in his eyes was a warning on its own.

As Seneca’s footsteps approached behind the door, time ticked, but I said nothing.

The last thing Orion said before he vanished were three words. "Think about Nina," and right after that, the knob twisted and the door opened.

Think about Nina.

Think about the anguish.

Make your decision.

Make a deal with the devil.

Seneca stood at the threshold, bloodied shirt. I didn’t ask whose blood. He didn’t mention a word about it. He stepped fully into the room, engulfed me in a hug. I didn’t fight it. My heart pounded in my chest. In sync with his. He didn’t ask about my red-rimmed eyes. I didn’t mention anything about it.

He placed kisses on my jaw; I didn’t fight it.

He whispered into my ear, "I want to get ahead with the mating ritual soon." I didn’t say anything against it.

I thought about the blood on his hands.

I thought about Nina’s blood on his hands, and my stomach tied in knots.