Page 42

H.A.Z.E

I t's a dangerous thing to be fearless in the face of death.

I know. I do. I'm the monster in many nightmares, the villain responsible for ruining so many lives, the freak of nature that should never have existed. I'm despised, and more importantly, I'm feared.

When creatures look into my golden eyes, when they see death coming for them, they run. They do whatever they have to, to survive. I like to show my golden eyes; I like to let creatures know the trap they’ve just stepped into and give them the chance to run, especially if they’re boring.

Unless, of course, I’m the trap. Like I was with His Majesty King Valadez.

But the Saviour—the Saviour disappoints me. He is the one creature I can’t reach, and the only one who can satiate this boredom inside me. And I'll admit, I'm not bored anymore, but what will his decisions cost him?

He should have fought me when we met. It was supposed to be inevitable; the two of us clashing and only one of us walking away.

The stories of how he ripped our species apart, the black blood that still paints the areas where he captured and mutilated his prey, so creatures can see, creatures can hope, that we die before they can rebuild what we broke.

I wanted to be part of those stories; I wanted the whole world to see it, and instead, he enslaved me. Me.

I stand at the top of a sixty-story building on the precipice of life and death.

I gaze out over the sleeping city, my figure barely a silhouette against the endless expanse of darkness and light.

Far below, the sea of lights twinkles in the darkness like distant stars as large, towering buildings rise from the depths of shadows, their glass facades reflecting the artificial lights that glow from frozen and cracked billboards that have never recovered.

"I'm losing my patience, Alissa."

My voice is soft, hardly recognisable, as my gaze focuses on the world beyond me. It's a pretty sight. It's too bad the ones within the Yellow Zone can never experience it. They'll die in the dirt where humanity has abandoned them.

"I-I… I don't… I d-don't know…"

Alissa's eyes are wide, and her heart pounds furiously as sweat coats her skin. I inhale sharply, briefly closing my eyes as the potent scent of her fear engulfs my senses. She knows where she is; she knows what's going to happen. I see it in the way she's trying so hard not to look.

"Relax," I muse, looking towards the scenery with a smile on my face. "It's not you I'm after. You're just a pawn, a causality… You both are."

Right on cue, Reece hops down the sixty-story drop, unaware of the danger around her, or perhaps she no longer cares. Alissa turns to her, wide-eyed, and Reece simply offers her a smile as I say, "Go on, take a peek."

I rise from my perched position and place my hand on the wooden chair Reece had so kindly tied her to.

Alissa sobs and shakes violently against the silver ropes that bind her wrists.

It burns her so badly that smoke wafts off the rope in gentle streams, and the smell of burning flesh eats my nostrils.

Alissa shakes her head, clearly not wanting to look over the sixty-story drop, as I push the chair back. Her toes disconnect from the ledge, and her eyes glue shut tightly. Large, fat tears roll down her face. I know she wants to scream; I sense it building, and building, and building.

"Go on, Alissa." I tilt my head towards her. "Scream. No one will stop. No one will listen. No one will care. Scream—because if you don't, it'll live inside you. It'll eat a hole through your soul, and it'll live there, and you'll feel it. For the rest of your life… You'll feel it."

My warning is clear, and Alissa screams, feeling powerless and afraid.

She screams straight up into the night, shattering the silence with tears streaming down her face.

I simply watch her, because as heartless as I am, even I can't tell her that Gods have favourites, too, and that we're not one of them.

I shake my head and finally set her back down. I see the relief in her expression the moment her shoulders sag, and I turn back to the world beyond me.

"Why? Why? I haven't done anything to you! To either of you."

Alissa sobs, her head hanging low in defeat and exhaustion, and I shake my head. Because I can hear it; I know how she feels. She’s tired of being used, of being a victim in her sad little tale.

"It's nothing personal; your precious Saviour needs to be taught a lesson, and you're going to help me." She doesn't say anything and avoids my gaze. "It may not seem like he cares, but he would never let you die. You're his mate."

"But I'm not his first!" she spits, her anger and sadness briefly overwhelming her fears, "I'm not even his second."

"You know?" I raise a brow and turn to Reece, who simply smiles happily. She must have told her while they were alone.

"It makes sense now, the way he acts like I don't even exist. He doesn't want us. He doesn't want me. He won't save me," she whispers, and I smile, leaning close to her ear and whispering.

"You underestimate the bond. I assure you, if he doesn't care… he wouldn't be standing behind me right now." Her eyes widen, and so does my smirk.

"Let her go."

His voice sounds dangerous, threatening, and tight with restrained anger, but his anger isn’t something he can hide; it bleeds into the air, thick and suffocating, coiling around my throat like smoke.

The shadows around him shift unnaturally, leaning towards him, drawn by the power that seeps from his very being.

"I will… soon," I drawl as Reece places a hand on the back of Alissa's chair—a warning. The Saviour's gaze narrows at her actions, and his red eyes practically flare to life.

"What do you want?"

I chuckle softly. "I think we're past that, don't you?"

"You're underestimating me, Nightmare," he says, his knuckles white, fingers trembling ever so slightly. I take a step forward as his swirling red eyes seem to be fighting a war. "I promise you; this won't end how you think it will."

"That's been your problem, Saviour. You think I'm underestimating you. You think I care what happens to me if I fail tonight. I promise you, I don't. I have no illusions of death, I have no fear of death, and that puts everyone around me—around you —in danger, and I. Don't. Care."

He takes another step. "I'll release you; you'll be free…"

"Do you know what this is?" I ask, ignoring his comment and gesturing to the brass cuff around my wrist. "It's a relic that fell after the Tearing; the destruction was so massive, it shook the heavens.

Artefacts that were simply too powerful to reside in a half-broken world fell.

I came upon them by accident; wherever the artefacts were.

.. There was danger close by, and I loved the scent.

" I slip the cuff of my wrist and examine it closely.

"It's far too powerful for anyone but a Nightwalker to wield. "

His fists clench on either side of him, and I'm sure he knows where I'm going with this, because I smile. "If you wield it, you'll die. But if you don't, she will, and Reece will have to live with the guilt."

"Haze, you don't have to do this."

I pause at the sound of my name on his lips. I think that's the first time he’s called me by my name. I grit my teeth, glaring at him.

"It's too fucking late." These feelings that are bursting inside me, I can't kill them, and it's because of him.

"You did this the moment you enslaved me.

The moment you trapped me. The moment you chained me.

The moment you poisoned me. This is all your doing!

Everyone warned you, and you didn't listen— now look at us! "

He remains silent, and I throw the brass cuff around my wrist towards him. It clashes with the concrete ground and stops beside his shoes.

"Was Reece's life truly so important that you went and made an enemy of me?" His face remains expressionless, but I know his answer. "They say you should learn from your mistakes. Unfortunately for you, this will be your last one."