Page 58 of Blackheart

These bastards had put my club in its own net. I smiled. Singer must have really startled them.

Idling below, the white-haired Sapphire looked up at me. Someone had wrapped his injured arm, and he now wore a dark navy tunic instead of a blue cloak. The flames reflected in his red-rimmed eyes.

“Can I cut you down, or are you going to misbehave?” he asked, nudging a log further into the fire with his boot. His hair was tied away from his face in a knot, revealing the true grey of his eyes.

“You must be thirsty if you want to release me.” I would throw myself into the flames before I let him use my blood against my own kind.

He considered this. “Not yet. What’s your name, Blackheart?”

I ignored him. If I could keep one thing for myself, it would be my name. He didn’t get that part of me.

He held a vial in his hand, swishing around the crimson contents.

“I’ll make a deal with you. One I think you’ll be interested in.” He didn’t bother looking up at me anymore. The rest of the camp attended to their own business, talking amongst themselves and cleaning weapons.

“I’m done making deals.”

“Ah, but you’ve yet to hear mine.”

I scoffed. “You’ve already taken from me. Any deal would be unfair, as you oweme.”

“You killed one of my men, and I spared your life. I’d say that makes us even.” He kicked another log into the fire.

“I don’t care what you say. Have you considered that, Sapphire?”

That got his attention. He chewed his bottom lip in contemplation until finally grinning. “A name for a name then?”

I ignored him. I would already have a terrible time forgetting his face.

“Mine is Payn,” he said. “Your turn.”

I laughed. “Pain? Your mother must havetrulybedded a troll. Were you named after the horrid experience?”

His menacing red eyes narrowed. He was angry.

Good.

“Dangerous and a sharp tongue. I’m impressed. Though your manners are lacking. If you're set on keeping your name, fine.I’m only seeking one Blackheart, and any information from you would be valuable.”

I would not waste even my dying breath on helping a Sapphire. “I have no need for manners, and I have no loyalty to you.”

He paced, taking contemplative steps. “Loyalty is a tricky thing, you know, because you have to choose. Who should you be loyal to? My advice would be, the person who can set you free.”

“I don’t know where anyone is. I don’t know whereIam. Even if I did know, I would die before tellingyou,” I spat, crossing my arms.

If there was one thing Blackhearts had in common with the Sapphires, it was being hated by everyone. I knew that, but evidently Payn did not.

Uncapping the vial, he drank its contents. After finishing, he tossed the empty container and walked off.

Artwork by Ashley Griggs

I sat on the platform all night, watching the Sapphires interact with one another. I was suspended too close to the fire. Even if I found a way to cut myself down, I would fall right into it. If I used my Nature, I could maybe kill two of them before the rest swarmed me.

Riven had probably already accepted that I’d run away or was dead. How long would it be before he would be on the ship to Castivian, sailing away to deliver the deed himself? I thanked the Mother that at least hehadthe deed. There was still a chance for the Dark Natured.

It was disappointing to die having never met Xavian.

My twin’s name was spoken just as he crossed my mind.