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Chapter thirty-five

ATALIIA

I kicked the bottom of my boot against the door, slamming it closed behind me and flinching at the way it rocked the house.

I swallowed back the static the noise awoke beneath my chest, my arms tightening around the crate cradled between them.

Oxygen filled my lungs as I inhaled deeply to ground myself, and I rolled my eyes into the air.

Just another annoyance to add to the growing list of things that made my nervous system shrivel like a scared child.

Though it was inconvenient to be triggered by a fucking sound, it was also comforting. Comforting because I was no longer numb enough not to feel it, and maybe that was the first step to healing.

A knock sounded at my back and I turned, setting the box on the floor and pushing it against the wall before pulling the door open. A grin spread across my lips as Andrues came into view, casually leaning against the doorframe as his thumb fiddled with the rings on his right hand.

“I have a surprise for you,” he said, smiling as he pushed away from the frame and sauntered inside. Cyloe poked her head out of the sitting room archway at the sound of his voice, excitedly padding over to him as he lowered himself down to her.

“Oh?” I raised a brow, as he gave her one last scratch behind her ears and rose to his full height.

Andrues pushed his sleeves up his forearms and I forced myself not to look as he took a step closer to me. A smirk slid onto his lips, the vibrant sapphire in his eyes darkening.

“You feel like spilling a little blood?”

My eyes narrowed on him as I crossed my arms. “Is this a test?”

He took one more step toward me, his eyes glittering like stars dancing in the night sky as they held my gaze. “No, Ataliia. This is vengeance.”

A feral smile split onto my crimson lips as I lifted my chin up to him. “Are you trying to seduce me, Necromancer?”

He reached for me, his fingers sliding down my jaw, the cold metal of his rings kissing my skin.

“That depends, Witch .” His eyes flickered to my mouth as his thumb began to trace the outline of my bottom lip. “Would you like me to?”

We had never flirted like this—he had never been so brazen with his touch, and my heart began to rapidly pulse.

Five inches.

That’s all the distance I would have to travel to feel his lips on mine.

“No,” I said, stepping out of his touch and clearing my throat as I slipped from my skin.

He smiled, a soft chuckle rolling from his throat as he ran that same thumb over his own lips. I strangled the whimper that was on its way out of my lungs as I watched him. My eyes darted away from him as I forced oxygen to flow back to the part of my brain that had just malfunctioned at the sight.

This friendship was going to fucking kill me.

The moon shimmered off the silver locks that cascaded down my back as I stared at the large manor in front of us.

Candles flickered behind the closed, frost-covered windows, giving it an eerie glow against the snow-covered ground.

My eyes tore from the house, drifting to the crumbling shack on the corner of the property.

My throat constricted as I stared at it.

The bastard had held me captive on his own property.

“Is anyone else inside besides Clayson?”

Andrues nodded. “A man named Alexi. I believe he was there that night and was the only one that managed to escape Hyacinth.”

A smile crept over my mouth as I lowered my hood and strode up the overgrown pathway to the front door.

I would make every second of this painful.

My fingers twisted around the door handle and it popped open, heat seeping through the crack. I grinned. He really thought himself so safe, so protected—he didn’t even bother locking his doors.

Not that a little lock would have stopped me.

Andrues and I slipped through the opening, silently shutting the door at our backs as I stilled to listen. Voices echoed down the curved staircase in front of us, muffled by what I could only assume was a closed door.

The home was immaculate, overly decorated with gaudy furniture and art.

That was unsurprising though. Nothing makes a small man feel bigger than the objects he flaunts.

My eyes scanned the foyer as I took a step forward, my shadow flickering off the polished stone floors against the dim candlelight.

I moved toward the stairs, taking them two at a time, as the sound of them talking grew louder.

The voices stopped as we stepped onto the landing and I held my breath, my hand shooting into Andrues as I backed into the shadows.

My heart pounded against my chest as I waited for another sound, my fingers tightening around Andrues.

Booming laughter finally rang out down the corridor to the right of us, mixing with the sound of glass clinking together and I let out a heavy breath.

I refused to let them find me first.

Light shone from the small gap at the bottom of a door only steps from us and I stared back at it, hesitating for one fleeting moment.

These men did not deserve my fear .

Three steps later I was at the door, my fingers wrapping around the handle as I glanced over my shoulder at Andrues.

“I will not let anything happen to you,” he whispered.

It was the only thing I needed to hear to let my rage overpower the fear.

Every image, every moment that they seared into my memory that night came crashing back into my mind in a violent onslaught as my boot connected with the door.

The door split from the contact, splintering further as it slammed against the stone wall, and both men’s eyes flashed toward me as the sound reverberated around the vaulted room.

Every ounce of blood drained from their faces as their eyes locked on mine, their complexions greying as Andrues slipped into the room behind me and leaned against the broken doorframe.

“Hello, boys,” I sang, a smile bordering on unhinged stretching across my lips as I stepped further into the room.

Clayson’s eyes flickered from Andrues to me as he cleared his throat and stood from behind his large wooden desk, forcing a smile. “The Woman of Many Faces, what a pleasure it is to see you again.”

Alexi slowly stood from where he sat in the chair across from Clayson as I gave a mock bow.

“The pleasure is mine, I assure you. Please, sit,” I said, taking another step closer to them.

Clayson’s eyes flashed to the corner of his desk where a dagger sat.

“I think we’ll stand,” he said, his body inching toward it.

My tongue clicked against my teeth.

“That would be a bad idea.” I sauntered closer, relishing in the fear emanating from them as their backs went rigid.

It was intoxicating really, seeing them cower before me when just days ago they had been so brazen, so arrogant in their assault.

“Sit down,” I spat, my voice sharp as a whip cracking against flesh. They hesitated for a moment before slowly sinking back into their chairs, eyes never leaving mine.

“Funny, isn’t it?” I asked, my fingers sliding against the polished surface of Clayson’s desk before plucking up the dagger. “How big and strong you were when you drugged me, when you had me bound. Where is that confidence now?”

Alexi swallowed hard as my eyes flashed to his, and I watched him flinch under my gaze.

Clayson held up his hands in a placating gesture. “Now, let’s not be hasty. Surely we can come to some sort of agreement. Name your price and it’s yours.”

A harsh laugh escaped my lips. “Blood is the only payment I’ll accept.”

My fingers curled around the empty chair beside Alexi, pulling it away from Clayson’s desk as the legs screeched against the ground.

Both men instinctively pulled away from me as I casually fell into it, twirling Clayson’s dagger between my fingers.

I leaned back into the chair, lifting my feet and resting them on the desk.

“You know, you forgot to ask one important question that night. Seems you were a little too focused on yourself to bother.”

“And what would that be?” Clayson growled, the vein in his neck giving away the frantic pace of his beating heart.

I tilted my head to the side as my lips curled upward. “Who I am.”

“W-who are you?” Alexi asked, his voice almost a whimper.

“I am many people,” I started, running my fingers through the silver dripping from my head. “I’m The Woman of Many Faces, the harbinger of death, sister to the King of Locdragoon”—their eyes widened—“sister to your ‘bastard God.’”

My feet fell from the desk with a quiet thud as I leaned toward them, resting my forearms across my knees.

“But, above all, I am a woman. A woman born with violence in her blood. A woman capable of making even the devil weep. A woman who will make you suffer as I did, who will make you beg for the mercy of a quick death long before I grant it.” The words fell from my mouth like drops of poison as I pushed to my feet.

“Look w-we didn’t know who you were,” Alexi stammered, his words tumbling out in a desperate rush. “If we had, we never—”

I silenced him with a glare, slowly pointing the dagger toward him.

“You never would have what ? Never would have drugged me? Bound me? Violated me in the most heinous ways imaginable?” I shook my head, a mirthless smile playing at the corners of my mouth. “No, I don’t think so. Men like you only understand one language.”

I took a step forward, turning my focus to Clayson.

“And that language is pain.”

The dagger slipped from my fingers as I said the words, flying through the air before they could stop it. Clayson’s scream filled the room as the blade tore through his flesh, lodging itself into his shoulder.

Crimson trickled from the wound, staining his elegant tunic as he hissed through clenched teeth.

Behind me, a dark chuckle rolled from Andrues’s throat.

“I suggest you start praying to your Gods for forgiveness. You will be meeting them tonight,” Andrues said, fear clawing at the men’s features in response to the promise.