Page 230 of Eternal Ruin

“I have lost myentirefamily for Uxlay.” The dean’s bronze eyes cut in sharply, then remembering herself, she straightened. “It is your responsibility as well to put Uxlay first.”

Kidan staggered away from the woman, truly seeing her now. To keep her idea of peace alive, there was no line she wouldn’t cross.

A horrible taste flooded her mouth.

“They must have heard us scream for help. The Sicions… they must have. Why didn’t they help us? Why didn’t they save Yusef??”

Dean Faris remained cool, not a flicker of emotion.

A soft breath left her mouth. Kidan had pieced things together slowly. “You saw the protests and got worried. The 13th wanted to break the universal law, that was always their purpose, and you couldn’t have it.” Kidan went back to the first house meeting, the dean standing up, declaring a new proposal. “So you had their attention diverted. Distract them, a false promise of democracy. In the end, you never planned on surrendering your middle position.”

The dean’s lips remained pressed together, the raven eye of her pin stark. She was too smart to confirm such accusations even in the privacy of a cell. When she did speak, her words were carefully curated.

“Your ancestor and mine created Uxlay to end senseless slaughter, so actis were not hunted like animals, so we never became slaves under those like Lusidio. Do you not know what a gift Uxlay is?” A trace of ice cut her tone. “You must be able to put Uxlay first. Above family. Above friends.”

“He was a good person!” Kidan screamed, banging the bars with her palm. “You let him die! And my parents? What did they do that was so wrong? They wanted to help change Dranacti. They wanted to create a better system!”

The dean regarded her with clear disappointment and stepped back. “I’d hoped you’d be different. Under my training, I’d hoped to groom you to be dean of Uxlay.”

“You already have your student, don’t you? Where is she?” Kidan snarled, unable to even say her name. “I know she told you everything.”

“Slen Qaros showed exceptional loyalty to Uxlay. You should aspire to be more like her.”

Dean Faris motioned with her hand and a guard left the tablet on the floor.

Kidan sank to the ground, eyes filled with tears, watching her sister cower from the professor’s interrogations.

But… something was missing.

“Wait.” Kidan glanced up, staring at the dean’s retreating back. “Where… is he?”

“Susenyos Sagad?” The dean’s tone tightened with bitterness.

Kidan could barely manage a nod, a sinking feeling growing inside her.

“He conspired with your parents to conceal a powerful object, plotted to possess it and break the binds that threaten our coexistence. What do you believe the punishment would be for such a crime?”

Kidan’s very cells whimpered at the thought. “Please, I’ll do anything besides what you’re asking—just let them both go. Please.”

Dean Faris gave her a backward glance, the turquoise-bead hair clip in her sleek bun like a third blue eye. “Just this rumor of Adane House harboring the artifact has fractured Uxlay in ways you cannot imagine. There are protests and violence brewing again. Balance must be restored.”

“You want to keep the artifact safe, right?” Kidan moved forward. “I’ll never let anyone change the current law. It’s safe now.”

The plea in her voice made the woman’s face shift slightly. When the dean spoke again, Kidan could almost hear sorrow. “You should have come to me in the beginning. Now it is too late. Neither I nor Uxlay trusts you to protect the artifact. You’re dangerously unpredictable. The fate of our world cannot fall to your hands.”

The dean’s low-heeled shoes clicked away, the door shut, and Kidan was alone again. The square screen highlighted her chin, making her eyes burn, but she didn’t dare look away as June’s face became tearstained, tortured.

Kidan felt useless. It ate away at her, this weakness of hers, always at the mercy of those more powerful. She missed the armor that cloaked her in Adane House. If she had it now, she would pry these bars apart and squeeze Dean Faris’s throat until she released her sister.

June jerked on the screen, eyes shut in pain. Kidan couldn’t see what Professor Andreyas had done but she’d kill him too, if she could.

She must have dozed off like that, skull uncomfortably pressed against metal, because she flinched awake when the door opened.

The Sicions marched inside, and she crawled backward. They opened her gate and, without a word, threw in a limp body.

“We have something for you,” the red-haired Sicion vampire said.

It took all the strength in Kidan to move toward the body. With a shaking hand, she reached for the shadow, tracing for a shoulder, and flipped them to their back.