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Because the longer we stay here, the longer we let her believe she’s in control, the more we rot beneath the illusion of obedience.
Silas
They give off bad vibes. Not the fun kind that sayswe might stab you, but we’ll make it sexy.No. The kind that reeks of too much power wrapped in too little consequence. That’s what happens when you let immortals build pedestals under their own feet and forget who carved the first stones. We voted them in. We propped them up. But that was back when we were free. Before the binds. Before the Hollow twisted its roots around our throats.
Now? The Council drips greed like perfume, layered thick enough to suffocate.
Keira’s the worst of them.
Not because she betrayed Ambrose—though, let’s be honest, the girl could’ve written a how-to manual on how to crack a sin in half and smile about it. But because she walks around like sheearnedhim. Like her betrayal was some righteous strike of enlightenment instead of a fucking ego trip.
She’s dressed like she’s trying to seduce a god, all sharp edges and crimson silk, her smirk practiced and poisonous. And yeah, I could be subtle. I could play diplomatic like Lucien always hisses at me to be.
But that’s not who I am.
So I grin. Wide. Wicked. Lean against the wall like it’s the most comfortable place in the world, arms folded over my chest, one boot kicked out lazily. And I stare. Right at her.
I don’t blink. I don’t hide it.
I glow.
It’s the kind of glow that should worry her. Because underneath the charming curve of my mouth and the boyish sparkle in my eye, I’m vibrating with the urge to make her regret everything.
Beside me, Elias mirrors the stance, but not the expression. His glower is subtler—darker, carved from disdain. The kind that saysI don’t need to light you on fire, but I’d enjoy watching someone else do it.
I love this man.
Keira falters.
Just for a heartbeat, her gaze catches mine and the corner of her mouth dips, betraying something that might be nerves—or guilt—or the sudden realization that the sins she tried to leash haven’t forgotten how to bite.
“She’s overcompensating,” I mutter out of the side of my mouth to Elias, never looking away from her. “Too much red. That’s the color of people whoreallywant you to know they have power, but don’t.”
Elias hums. “She’s the human equivalent of a ‘do not touch’ sign that makes me want to toucheverythingjust to be petty.”
“I bet if we licked her shoes, she’d moan.”
He chokes, wheezing once, and I feel him turn his face just enough to glare at me through silver lashes. “Silas.”
“What?” I whisper innocently. “I’m just saying. She probably has a ‘step on me’ complex.”
“You have adeathcomplex.”
“Luna likes it.”
That earns me a smack to the shoulder, but it’s light. Familiar. Like always, we fall into sync. Him with his knives of sarcasm, me with my chaos-dipped spoon, stirring every pot in reach.
Keira’s gaze shifts again. Not just to me. To Luna.
And that’s when I stop smiling.
Because if she so much asthinksabout her—
Luna is tucked just behind us, shielded by our bodies but not hidden. She doesn’t need us to protect her, but we do it anyway. Instinct. Bond. Love. Rage. All of it tangled into something that doesn’t have a name yet, but would look like fire if it did.
Keira narrows her eyes.
I tilt my head. Just slightly. And let my grin return—slow, sharp, full of promises she doesn’t want cashed.