Page 124 of Eternal Ruin

This had to be the final connection to her mother she had to sever.

Kidan surrendered herself to the wall inside herself, raised it high, fortifying her heart.

She turned away from Etete.

“Etete,” Kidan told Samson, her voice not her own, staring into darkness itself. “Susenyos cares about her.”

Samson’s head tilted to the side, studying Etete over Kidan’s shoulder. His lips twisted. “You expect me to believe this is how I’ll hurt him?”

“She’s been here for years. Ask her.”

Kidan heard a soft gasp behind her but didn’t turn to look. Couldn’t.

“If you’re lying to me, heiress, I will not hesitate to kill you.” Samson’s claw disappeared from under her chin and he marched to Etete.

There was still a narrow path leading to the garden, to the light. It seemed to shrink with each second as Samson disappeared from her vision. Kidan didn’t peel away her gaze from the grass as Etete’s cry shot like an arrow through her back.

It made no true impact, but it stayed ringing in her ears for a long time.

She touched the wall, feeling the expanse of power waiting inside it. Kidan didn’t need to burn her mother’s portrait. This was the sacrifice required of her.

Even as a part of her writhed inside, Kidan gave in to the path of no attachments.

They waited for Susenyos in the lounge room, the fireplace crackling. He came an hour later, quick strides across the carpet, calling out Kidan’s name.

“We need to talk. I can’t let you useAser—”

He froze when he turned the corner. Kidan noticed the expansion of his pupils as he spotted Samson on the couch. A flash of alarm crossed over his face. And in this moment, Susenyos was the vulnerable one, human, while she was the very core of the earth. Unbreakable.

How often their roles reversed.

Etete, bruised from a blow to the head, knelt on the carpet between them.

Susenyos’s eyes flicked to Kidan, searching for something, though she didn’t know what. To his credit, he recovered fast enough, his tone cool.

“Uxlay’s law enforcement is quite weak.” Susenyos directed his gaze to Samson. “How did you get out?”

Samson simply stood and approached Etete, pulling her by the arm roughly. Susenyos followed the movements, still by the corridor wall.

Etete’s flour-stained hands gripped Samson’s shirt with a startled sound. “Let go of me.”

Samson’s eyes only brightened when they caught on Susenyos, like pieces of ocean rocks illuminated by the moon. “Who is this woman to you?”

“A house cook. I have a particular taste for fine dishes.” Susenyos crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. “Why? Are you hungry?”

Samson must have grabbed her harder because Etete cried out, frail in his grip. Kidan watched it all from a great distance, a spectator who analyzed pieces on a chessboard.

Susenyos’s fingers tightened but all he did was pull outThe Mad Loversand a pen. Kidan’s heart didn’t race. It didn’t beat at all. A fraction of her mind told her to stand, to help Etete, but her body remained still. Safe.

“We had a chance to talk while you were away. Ruth. From the Eagle Order,” Samson announced. “A cook for Adane House for decades. That is delicious. Yos over there must truly like you to keep you around this long.”

Etete’s gaze flicked to Kidan, wide and frightened but also heartbroken. It wasn’t a look of betrayal but of sadness. For her. Kidan searched her memories ofAseractifor an explanation. Why, at the point of her impending death, would Etete be grieving forher?

A thousand words and quotes flicked across her mind, too many, but none that could solve this problem.

Samson forced Etete to her knees. She yelped, her long patterned dress nearly tripping her. His hands—one metal, one flesh, rested atop her gray head.

A slow, faint drum pounded in the panic-choked house, beating to the rhythm of war. It wasn’t her emotion. It was Susenyos’s brushing up against Kidan’s steel armor, trying to find a way in. He was afraid.