Page 104

“Bristara,” I croak. The woman who took me in.

The woman who never tried to mother me yet had become a guardian and a mentor.

My chest is hollowed out to make room for the screams of rage that are burning up my throat.

The fire is present in my eyes when I jerk my chin up at the sound of Ravin’s footsteps drawing near.

He tsk s with his tongue. “Such an unpredictable power. So helpful at times. Useless at others. Spin the wheel of fate and one never knows where things will land.”

I release Bristara. As much as I want to cling to her and weep, itwon’t do any good. She’s gone. But Ravin has used his greatest weapon.

Fuck finding out the truth and every last detail of my mother’s death, I’m killing him now.

I stand.

Ravin chuckles and tilts his head to the side, pausing to assess me as if I’m little more than an amusement. “You think you can fight me? As you are?”

“I will kill you if it’s the last thing I do,” I swear.

“Doubtful.” Another card rises from the deck strapped to Ravin’s biceps. “We won. You lost. The world is as it is, and nothing will ever change that. Not you, and certainly not my accursed brother.”

Just as I go to summon a card from my deck, I realize what card he’s called upon. It turns, exposing the inking. Silver.

Another Death card.

“You…” Only Majors can use other Majors’ cards without the blessing of the Hierophant. Which means Ravin is a Major. But not just any Major…the one who I’d always assumed was left behind at court. Hidden away. No, King Oricalis hid him in plain sight. I whisper, “You’re Death.”

Ravin merely smiles. “Clara Daygar,” he repeats the name again.

The card bursts, a thousand howls of spirits long gone tearing through my mind. But they’re distant. The magic washes over me, leaving nothing but a clammy chill on my skin akin to walking through a graveyard at night.

The crown prince stares at me. Shock instantly crumbles beneath the weight of rage. Without warning, he grabs me by the throat. I clutch at his forearms. The last of my cards rise from my deck, instantly destroyed by Ravin and the Stellis behind him.

“Which name is fake? Clara? Daygar? Both?” Ravin snarls as he squeezes.

I gasp for air. I claw and scratch, but the Nine of Wands has worn off, and all the exhaustion I’d dulled hits me with the same force as Silas’s Ten of Wands on the enforcer’s head earlier.

“What is your name?” I wheeze. He shakes me. “Tell me your name!”

I wheeze again, trying to form words as my face grows hot from the lack of air. Ravin eases some. I move my lips slightly. The prince leans forward, as if trying to hear better.

“My real name is…” I rasp. He leans closer still. “Lady Go-fuck-yourself.” I bring a knee up into his groin, hard.

Ravin drops me, and I stumble. I scramble for Bristara’s deck. She still has cards. If I touch them, I can know them, and if I know them, I can call upon them.

But the prince recovers quickly. He slams into me, sending me tumbling. His boot meets my side, and, for a second, I fear he’ll know I have his gold card. But he seems none the wiser.

“It’s fine. It’s fine.” He laughs wildly, smoothing his hair from his face. “I can kill you the old-fashioned way.”

He needs to know my true name to kill me, I realize. It must be a rule of the Death card. Guard your name at all costs, Mother whispers from beyond the grave. Protecting me to this day.

Any sense of triumph is short-lived as Ravin kicks me again. And again. Each time with more force than the last. I gasp for air as his toes sink into my stomach.

Instinct has me curling into a ball to shield myself. But I’m utterly at his mercy. All I can do is endure. And he’s enjoying himself far too much to stop anytime soon…

He stomps on my side, heel digging into my already bruised ribs. There’s a distinct crunch and a pop that has me screaming. His eyes shine with perverse pleasure.

The prince does it again. Then rolls me over to do the same to the other side.

I’m wheezing, gasping. Fighting bile out of fear I’ll choke myself if I throw up now because I won’t have the strength to get the vomit out of my mouth. My whole abdomen is torn from the inside. I clench my teeth for every hit. Bracing.

Make it stop, I plead silently. But I’m no stranger to pain, and I will push through it rather than giving him the satisfaction of seeing me begging for mercy. Kaelis… The second-born prince appears only in my mind, as if I could will him into the present. Save me, please.

Without warning, Ravin stops and staggers back. Heavy, ragged breaths mirror my own. Involuntary trembles rip through me. I’m coldall over. Cold enough that I wonder just how much blood I’ve lost…

I blink, trying to see what made him stop.

A figure looms, and, for a quivering, hopeful breath, I think maybe Kaelis did come.

Maybe even after what felt like goodbye, he found me.

He came for me. A sob almost escapes me.

But then my vision sharpens just enough to bring the shining, silver-plated boots of a heavily armored Stellis into focus.

I try to turn my head to see who it is, but my body doesn’t respond.

The world fades in and out, more the latter with each passing second. It’s distant.

“…think you’re doing?” Ravin snarls.

“My prince…more valuable alive?” The voice is masculine.

Vaguely familiar. But it’s not Kaelis. My heart sinks.

Why would he come for me after our goodbye?

“After…force her to ink her card…nothing else…draw out Kaelis.” I can’t place who’s speaking.

My ears are ringing too loudly. Head swimming in its own fluid.

Who would stand up for me? Though keeping me alive now might be more of a cruelty than a kindness…

There are a few more words exchanged. I strain to listen but miss almost all of them.

“Very well.” Ravin doesn’t sound pleased. “Take her.”

Clanking plate surrounds me. My battered form is hoisted upright. I’m completely suspended between two Stellis. Blood and bile drip from my slack jaw.

Another silver Death card hovers in Ravin’s palm.

“No loose ends,” he murmurs. “Silas Erentu.” The card flashes, and when the light fades, a ghostly outline of Silas runs above Ravin’s outstretched hand.

The projection of Silas looks over his shoulder, talking to unseen figures.

The rest of the club, I realize; they’re still with him.

None of them knows that the eyes of Death itself are set on Silas.

I try to open my mouth to object. To beg, if that’s what it takes. But no sound escapes me. Silas…he was loyal until the end. He knew my name and never gave it to Ravin. He put all his faith in me, and what did it get him?

Ravin clenches his fist, and the specter of Silas seizes and collapses just as Bristara did.

Dead. Because of me.

The last of any fight leaves me. I’m too weak. Too unarmed. Too broken. I spun the wheel, and now I’ve no choice but to surrender to whatever future awaits me.

My luck has finally abandoned me, and I am truly alone.

Or so I thought…But then Ravin turns and addresses the Stellis carrying me. Halting them. I barely have the strength to lift my head to watch his lips sound the words:

“This time, she goes into the dungeons of Halazar. Somewhere deep. Somewhere no one, but especially not my brother, will ever find her.” A smile slithers across his lips, so cruel it transforms Ravin’s face into something inhuman. “Put her with her sister.”