Page 107

On the other end of the line, Seamus exhales."Everything’s running smooth.No major disruptions."

I nod to myself, glancing at the road ahead."And Aoife?"

A beat of hesitation."She’s been occupied."

"Occupied how?"

Before Seamus can answer, a sound filters through the call.Faint but distinct.A deep, metallic clang.Then another.The unmistakable sound of a grate opening and closing.

My entire body goes rigid.I know that sound.

Gripping the steering wheel tighter, I sit up straighter."Where are you?”

He stays quiet for half a second too long.

"Seamus," I snap, my patience wearing thin.

"I’m at the castle," he finally admits.

"Why?"

Another pause.Then, with a casualness that I don’t fucking buy, he says, "Aoife’s holding her brother here."

The words hit me like ice water."What the fuck did you just say?"

Seamus fills me in on how Aoife set Ruairi up and how she’s keeping him in the pit.How she’s trying to make him break.He’s careful with his words, hoping to turn me against her, to plant doubt in my mind.

But it doesn’t work.

I hang up mid-sentence and immediately dial Aoife.

No answer.I don’t leave a message.Instead, I make a sharp turn, cutting through the traffic, and head straight for my castle.

The moment I step inside, the air shifts.It’s heavy, charged.There’s a dark energy to the place.Then I hear it.The slow, deliberate grind of metal against stone.

I follow the sound, moving silently through the dim corridors, until I step onto a shadowed balcony that overlooks the vast chamber below.From here, I have a perfect view.

Aoife stands at the edge, poised like a blade, sharp enough to draw blood with a single look.She doesn’t flinch.Doesn’t hesitate.

Every movement is measured, deliberate.A symphony of control so precise it makes my chest tighten.Power clings to her, thick and electric, humming in the air like the static before a lightning strike.

I should be furious with her.And I am.She went behind my back and made this move without me.She’s playing a dangerous fucking game, and she didn’t trust me enough to tell me.Despite that, I’m rooted in place, watching her with a hunger I can’t seem to bury.

There’s something almost holy in the way she commands the space—destructive and beautiful all at once.

She’s ruthless.Untouchable.

With a slow, almost casual movement, she reaches for a lever embedded in the stone wall.A deep, mechanical groan echoes through the chamber.The sound of old gears grinding to life.Metal scraping against metal.

I shift my gaze downward, watching as the walls of the pit begin to move.Not fast.Not sudden.But deliberate.

Ruairi notices it, too.He steps back, his stance tensing as he glances around, realizing what’s happening.The walls are closing in, forcing him toward the center.Toward the rope that still sways, taunting him from above.

The stone mechanisms controlling the pit are ancient, buried deep beneath the castle’s foundation.I’ve never bothered with them, never had a reason to.The holding rooms below have always served my purposes well enough.But Aoife’s unearthed them.She’s awakened something long forgotten, bending this place to her will, making it hers.

I watch as she keeps her hand on the lever, adjusting the speed.Not fast enough to be immediate.It’s slow enough to sink into his mind.To make him feel his options narrowing with every passing second.

Ruairi lets out a low curse, his fists clenching at his sides.“This is a fucking joke,” he snarls.“What do you think you’re going to prove by doing this, Evie?That you’re more powerful.That you actuallydeservea place in my Syndicate?”