Page 33

It isn't long before Reece and I are the only ones left. The room crackles with tension, the kind that makes the air feel heavy and sharp. Reece breaks it, her words weak and curious, as she asks, "Why did you do that?"

"Why?" I raise a brow at her. "Why did I have to… Are you not a person?"

"Don't act like you're any different," she scoffs, glaring at me. "I've seen you do a lot worse."

"No, human, you haven't seen anything." I smile again; it’s wide and sharp. "But I promise you, I don't humiliate my prey. And my prey don't usually take it."

"I know what I get myself into, Haze." Reece defends herself. "This is my punishment. It's easier to—"

"Easier?" My voice is sharp, biting. "It's easier? You tried to do something good, and in return you were punished… and you can just accept that?"

Reece stiffens, her eyes blurring with tears at my words.

But I have no remorse. Something about her words bother something deep and forgotten inside me.

She didn't have to finish speaking; I knew exactly what she wanted to say. She thinks it’s easier to face the abuse, the humiliation than to own up to the guilt.

Fuck. That.

"And if tomorrow, your son tried to do something good, and it backfired… Would you let them punish him? Would you tell him what you tell yourself? Just take it—it's easy?"

Reece's eyes blaze, glittering with fury at my words as she seethes, "You have no right to say that to me! None! Especially not where it concerns my son!"

"I called you prey." I chuckle softly and shake my head. "Clearly, I was overestimating your abilities. Because prey run. Prey fight and kick and claw to the very last fucking breath to survive. But you —you sit down, and you take it… because it's easy."

I'm in her face in an instant, her throat in my hand as I wrap my fingers around the delicate column of her neck with just enough pressure to make her panic. "W-What… What are you doing?"

"You're just a normal, unimportant human," I murmur coldly, Reece stiffening at my words, "and somehow, the reason I'm in this mess."

Her pulse flutters beneath my fingertips, frantic and uneven, like a trapped bird beating its wings against a cage. She’s trembling, her body shaking so violently it seems to echo the fear radiating off her in waves. I know it isn’t my doing. I know her fear is for someone else.

His presence brushes against my back, and his hand reaches over my shoulder as his fingers brush away a stray tear with a gentleness I know he doesn’t possess.

"Pretty," Damien whispers, his chest pressed to my back.

Her nails scrape against my skin, leaving faint marks that I barely register. Her wide, tear-filled eyes lock onto mine, desperate and pleading, but I don’t loosen my grip.

I tilt my head, and reveal to Damien, “I have a new piece on the chessboard I’d like to play.”

“And who might that be?” Damien steps around me, his footsteps slow and predatory, but his eyes are on Reece as she whimpers in my hold.

“A mate.” Damien stops, clearly surprised by my words. “She’s an interesting creature, one with a soul-deep connection to our beloved Hero. It’d be such a waste not to use her.”

“Interesting,” Damien murmurs, sliding his eyes towards me. “I thought you killed his last mate less than two weeks ago?”

“I did.”

“The Grand Arbiter has had a couple mates in the last seven years, but his mates have always made their appearance a year after his current mate either leaves or dies…” I turn to Damien, taking in this new information. “This one’s a little early.”

If Alissa has made an earlier arrival than expected, that can only mean the Gods are up to something.

Could it have something to do with her unique shifter form?

I shake myself out of my thoughts. I have plans to kill her anyway, so whatever plan the Gods have for the fox shifter can die with Alissa.

“Or perfectly timed to set my plan into motion.” I smile, lifting a brow at Damien. “Alissa will bring the Saviour to us.”

“And Reece won’t?”

“Reece’s poor, selfless heart will gladly die before I can punish her Saviour. She won’t be suffering if she sacrifices herself, now, will she?” Reece stiffens in my hold, and I turn to her with a chilling smirk.

Now, that fear in her eyes—it’s for me. All for me.

“What do you say, Reece?” I ask, the pulse in her neck thumping wildly as she stares down at me with wide, terrified eyes. “Are you ready to break your family?”

"Why are you doing this?" She sobs, her voice cracking as tears slip down her cheeks. The sound of her words, brittle and raw, only makes me tighten my hold, tilting her head back slightly to force her to meet my gaze.

"To remind you."

"Remind me?"

The mask on my face shatters at my feet, and I stare at Reece. My mismatched eyes peering into hers as I say the next words slowly, my tone cold, empty and dead.

"That I'm a monster. I'll always be a monster. And I'm okay with that—really, I am…" I press, leaning close so she hears my next words carefully. Her eyes widen as mine shine golden. "So, remember that the next time you smile at me, and pretend that I'm not."