Page 118 of Eternal Ruin

Kidan caught a glimpse of the sketch—a pair of warm reflective eyes and a turtleneck that hid his chin. Slen flicked a glance to it and hardened her jaw.

“GK had nothing,” she said. “He had no family or legacy to sacrifice. It is easy for him to remove himself from Uxlay.”

Kidan’s blood burned whenever Slen spoke about him like this.

“That’s not true,” Yusef said, nostrils flaring. “He saw us as his family.”

“He wanted toput us in prison.”

“He wanted to free us from Dranacti,” Yusef countered. “And we—”

Yusef cut off, turning away.

Fire took over Slen’s eyes, no more ice. “Nothing can free us from Dranacti. Youmustkill to feed a vampire. It is fact.”

Silence draped over them, revealing the layers of frustration in her tone.

“You want peace?” Slen said, glancing at Kidan, then Yusef. “No more protests? Vote for deanship to be accessible to all Border Houses. Remove the Founding Houses.”

“I almost believe you.” Kidan’s voice was all venom. “You advocating for peace. All you want is Qaros House to climb to the middle position. Just like your father.”

Slen blinked and extinguished the flames of emotion she’d accidentally let slip.Her left hand went to her bare right hand, touching the scars there. Kidan regretted her words as soon as they came out, but she couldn’t take them back. Last semester, Slen had shared about her abusive father reluctantly, in a rare moment of trust and comparing her to him would hurt. Just like the pain Kidan felt glimpsing Mama Anoet’s cruelty in herself. Their parents might have been gone but their legacy remained in their blood whether they liked it or not. Kidan’s mouth dried, and it was difficult to swallow. Sometimes, Kidan was afraid she had already inherited a culture. Only it was the wrong one, Mama Anoet’s.

By now Slen must have realized the same thing with her father.

Yusef got to his feet with a sigh. “I have an appointment to see my dad. Please don’t kill each other while I’m gone.”

They watched him go, a shadow of darkness trailing him. Yusef wouldn’t escape what was coming to him as a house master. He would have to choose.

“Did you get your answer, then?” Kidan asked icily. “About which of us has the most power? That’s why you’re doing this, aren’t you? To prove to us you’re not influenced by us.”

Kidan half blamed their studies. Professor Andreyas’s classes always made them rip out their soul, examine all the rotten parts, and then shove it back in. The only problem was Slen had decided it was Yusef and Kidan she needed to rip out of her heart.

Slen leaned against the carved wall and pulled out her cigarette, lit it, inhaled deeply, and exhaled. “No. It keeps spinning between us three.”

Her tone sounded troubled. Like it was all a complicated piece of translation.

“So stop this,” Kidan said, unable to help herself. “Before anyone gets hurt.”

There was no light in Slen’s expression, her form almost one with the shadow’s pillar. “Someone has to get hurt. It’s inevitable. Did you know that after the Last Sage died, Demasus could have wreaked havoc again? Yet he not only chose to keep the promise of Dranacti but began teaching it, just like the Last Sage wanted.”

“What does this have to do with anything?”

“Think about it, Kidan. The Last Sage’sdeathinfluenced Demasus’s goodness. I think that’s when we’ll know who has the most power between us all. It’s in how we react to one another’s death.”

Kidan tasted smoke on her tongue. The ash of their future battles. “Do you realize how fucked up that is?”

Slen inclined her head. “It has already happened once.”

Small cinders sparked in the space between them.

Kidan’s brows drew together for a second, then a disbelieving laugh left her. “GK?”

Slen nodded, entirely serious. “His death caused a ripple effect. It made us all act in ways we hadn’t before. I killed him and yet I wanted to revive him.” There was a furrow to her forehead. “I knew the risks, the chance of expulsion for conducting a death transformation, and yet… none of it mattered. I did it.”

Kidan had always thought GK didn’t haunt Slen the way he haunted her and Yusef. But maybe she was wrong. Slen carried GK in the back of her mind, trying to understand why she had helped revive him.

Kidan shook her head. “You changing your mind is not a weakness, Slen. You saved him.”