Page 96 of Eternal Ruin

Susenyos made sure his voice didn’t fail him. “Kidan’s useful.”

“I saw the way you caught the pin at the ceremony. Such display of loyalty.” Arin spoke with dancing venom. “The Nefrasi bowed to you. The only thing you should wear is our silver.”

In a flash, she appeared before him, a lithe figure deceptive in the power she wielded.

“My crowning achievement.” The dangerous lull to her voice made his spine straighten. “I can see the veins along your temple, hear the pounding of your heart, and your urge to flee.”

Her hand was on him in seconds, locking his jaw with her claws emerged, strong enough to dig through skin. The darkest of orbs bore into his soul.

“You left us to be tortured, mutilated, and used by Lusidio. I made you strong, not a coward.” Her gaze raked down his face with disgust. “Not for you to become a slave to an acti house.”

He made sure not to move or shift to adjust the House Adane pin. The mountains were upside down and it bothered him. But Arin’s eyes, cold and violent, could pick out any imperfection, just like his father.

She tore his house pin out so violently a chunk of his sleeve went with it.

Susenyos’s vision pulsed with red, but he kept his fists by his side.

“Who would bow to you like this?” she continued in cutting Amharic. “Who would want you like this?”

The deep marks in the lower half of his back ignited with shame, a curse branded into his soul. Almost as cruel as the claws around his jaw. He seized her arm and pulled it away from his face with great effort, though he didn’t show it. Arin’s strength might have surpassed his because she was older, but Susenyos was quickly losing his temper. He bent her hand so far back any human being would be howling.

She merely looked bored, her arm about to pop out of its socket.

“Lusidio will die. No one on this earth loathes him as much as I do. He’s taken more from me than anyone else.”

Arin’s pupils shone, losing their tar-like hatred. “At least you haven’t lost your ambition. It should be easy to kill her, then.”

It was an effort to control the beat of his heart. To pump slowly, steadily.

“She is the only one who can master the house and retrieve the mask,” he said coolly.

Arin leaned back and he let her go, folding his fingers inward. “June will be ready. She is ours.”

Once again, Susenyos’s hatred for the girl returned. If Kidan simply killed the girl—

“Kill Kidan. Show me your strength and I will speak to the Nefrasi. You will lead them again. No more of this back-and-forth.”

Then she walked away, done with the conversation.

“Arin,” he called after a moment. “My pin.”

Her clicking boots stopped, and she looked back, her cut cheekbone glinting. She pursed her mouth and flicked his house pin back at him. He caught it swiftly, making sure it didn’t touch the ground.

“Your loyalty is scattered, and so long as it is, you’ll never be able to lead us.”

He tightened his grip, watching her go, knowing the truth of her words. Iniko caught his eye and gave a brief incline of her head. She quickly followed Arin out to distract her long enough for him to speak to Biruk and Henok. They had both stretched themselves out on their seats, lost in the blood they’d consumed, the ends of their twists burning still. Outside, Iniko would return something Arin lost sixtyyears ago—an armband forged with ancient silver. Susenyos hoped it’d ease some of her resentment.

Freshly satiated, Biruk’s and Henok’s faces were still glowing when they got up to leave.

“Wait,” Susenyos said.

He searched his pocket, fished out a golden ring, and offered it to Biruk. His old friend’s breath hitched, pupils expanding.

“Sorry it’s chipped.” Susenyos thumbed the crack at one edge, courtesy of Kidan Adane’s axe. The piece had been too small to locate. “I share a house with a violent girl.”

Biruk reached out carefully, eyes watery. It had belonged to his mother, who died in childbirth.

“Thank you,” he whispered.