Page 81 of His Ruthless Match (Below #3)

EVA

I couldn’t breathe. The magistrates’ words still echoed in my mind like a haunting refrain.

Magical. No. No, it wasn’t possible. It couldn’t be.

I was human. Human . My entire life, I had been nothing but human—normal, grounded, boring Eva.

The notion that I was anything else felt absurd.

But the fear clawing at the edges of my mind told me a different story.

I stood frozen in the throne room, my heart pounding in my chest. It felt like everything was spiraling out of control, and the more I tried to piece it together, the harder it was to breathe.

What did they mean? How could they claim I was magical?

I wasn’t. At least… I didn’t think so. My thoughts twisted in every direction, looping back to the same, terrifying question: What if they’re right?

Raffaele caught my attention and mouthed, I’ll explain later. It did nothing to settle the sensation of my world being flipped completely upside down.

And then there was Jareth. He’d nearly died trying to protect me, standing against the magistrates with that stubborn defiance I had come to love.

Seeing him pinned against the wall, gasping for breath, had nearly broken me.

If he’d died… The thought alone was unbearable.

My knees wobbled as I struggled to stay upright.

This was all my fault. I was the one who followed the damn rat. And I was the one who’d ran my mouth and told Genevieve magic was responsible for all the shit she’d been through.

I glanced over at my brother. Raffaele stood as still as a statue, his dark eyes locked on the magistrates, his expression cold and calculating.

I could practically see the wheels turning in his head as he worked through the puzzle.

His entire demeanor had shifted, and even in the face of the magistrates’ overwhelming power, he radiated control.

Shadows curled and twisted around his legs, flickering like living things as they responded to his growing tension.

How could he be so calm? How could he stand there and strategize when everything was falling apart?

I looked at Jareth. His breathing had evened out, but his body was still tense, like a predator ready to pounce. I could feel his anger, and for a moment, I thought he might lunge at the magistrates again. Instead, he did something I hadn’t expected.

“This is my fault,” Jareth said.

My gaze snapped to his. What?

“I was tasked with managing Eva and her situation with Genevieve in the human world,” he continued, ignoring my gaping stare. “I failed. If there’s punishment to be had, take me instead.”

“No,” I said immediately, my voice cracking as I stepped forward. “Absolutely not.”

He didn’t even look at me. “This is on me,” he said firmly, his gaze locked on the magistrates. “I should have done more to prevent this from happening.”

My anger rose. “Jareth, stop. This isn’t your fault—it’s mine. I’m the reason we’re in this mess. I lied. I made stupid decisions. Don’t you dare try to take the fall for me.”

He still didn’t look at me. “If your goal is to fix the fallout from a high-profile human having knowledge of magic, I know someone who specializes in this sort of thing. He can clean up the mess and ensure that no trace of magic remains.”

The lead magistrate raised an eyebrow, their expression cold and amused. “Oh? And who, pray tell, is this miracle worker?”

“Cain Corvell,” Jareth said simply. “He has experience handling situations like this. He can eliminate any evidence of magic from Genevieve’s case.”

The magistrates looked at one another, smirking as if they were in on a joke that we weren’t privy to.

“Let me guess.” Jareth said. “You already know who that is?”

One of the magistrates leaned forward, his pale eyes glinting in the dim light.

“We are not at liberty to disclose who we do or do not interact with. We will ensure the fallout is taken care of. It’s important to note that even if the fallout can be contained, there are still larger issues at play.

Namely, the instigator behind this entire ordeal. ”

They gestured to the side, and my breath caught as a pair of guards dragged someone into the room.

The man was tall and thin, his white hair disheveled, his pale skin marred by bruises.

His eyes darted around the room in desperation, and when they landed on Raffaele and Jareth, he looked at them pleadingly.

I stared at him, my mind racing. Who the hell was this guy?

The magistrate spoke again, their tone dripping with authority. “Izold Maren, also known as Izo, you are hereby charged with organizing rebels, coordinating attacks within the Crimson Dominion, and interfering with a high-profile human using illegal magic.”

Izo tried to protest, but a gag covered his mouth, and his words came out as a muffled gurgle. The guards held him firm, his arms bound behind his back, his struggles futile.

The magistrate’s voice was cold and unyielding as he stood. “For Izold Maren’s crimes against The Below and the human world, he is hereby sentenced to immediate death by beheading.”

I gasped. Immediate death? Beheading? My stomach twisted as the finality of those words sank in. My gaze flicked to Izo. His pale skin gleamed under the harsh light, and his bound hands trembled. His wide, pleading eyes darted toward Raffaele and Jareth, desperate for mercy he wasn’t going to get.

To my shock, Raffaele stepped forward. My brother, usually the first to demand retribution, the last to show leniency, was about to speak on behalf of the man who had caused so much pain and chaos in our lives. I didn’t know whether to be furious or confused.

The lead magistrate turned his cold gaze to Raffaele, arching a thin brow. “Shadow, do you have anything to add?”

For a moment, I thought he would speak. His lips parted slightly, his eyes narrowing as if weighing the words on his tongue.

But then, with a sharp inhale, he clamped his mouth shut and shook his head.

I could see the tension in his jaw, the faint flicker of shadows curling tighter around his legs.

Whatever he’d considered saying, he thought better of it.

The magistrates gave no indication of approval or disdain. They simply gestured to the guards, who dragged Izo to the center of the room and forced him to his knees. My heart thundered, threatening to break right through my chest as one of the guards unsheathed a blade.

“No,” I whispered.

This was real. This was happening. I tried to look away, but I couldn’t. My eyes stayed locked on Izo. He struggled against his bindings, his muffled cries echoing through the room.

The blade sliced through the air in one clean, brutal arc.

The blade cleaved through flesh and bone with a sickening squelch. Blood sprayed across the floor, pooling beneath Izo’s lifeless body as his head rolled to the side. The air filled with the sharp, metallic tang of blood, and all I could hear was the rushing in my ears.

I fell to my knees, my stomach heaving. My hands pressed against the cold marble floor, trembling as I fought the urge to vomit.

Jareth was there in an instant, his arms wrapping around me, grounding me. “Don’t look,” he murmured, his voice rough but steady. “It’s over.”

But it wasn’t over. Not even close.

Guards moved swiftly to clean up the scene, wiping away the blood as if it had never been there. But the stench lingered, nauseating me. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the spot where Izo had knelt, the dark stain on the floor that no amount of scrubbing could erase from my mind.

The lead magistrate cleared their throat, drawing everyone’s attention back to them. “As I was saying, the second matter that needs to be handled is the sentencing of Eva Delgado for divulging magical intelligence to a high-profile human.”

My head snapped up, my blood turning to ice. “What?” I croaked.

The magistrate ignored me as he snapped his fingers. A guard rolled in a screen, and with a flick of the magistrate’s wrist, a video began to play. My stomach dropped as Genevieve’s face filled the screen. It was a social media post I hadn’t seen.

She smiled nervously, her voice soft but steady.

“I want to apologize to all of you for my outlandish behavior. It has been brought to my attention that there is something else at play here, something completely out of my hands. In fact, my behavior was not of my own volition. I’ll share more in the coming days, but just know that I am still the same Genevieve you’ve grown to know over the years.

You, my fans, mean more to me than anything in this world.

I’d also like to thank my attorney, Eva Delgado, for getting to the bottom of this mess.

I couldn’t do anything without her unwavering support and ability to see beyond the obvious to discover the truth. ”

The video ended, and silence fell over the room. Blood rushed to my face, and anger coursed through my veins. I pushed to my feet, righteous fury surging through me and burning away the lingering nausea.

“That’s all true,” I said. “Her behavior wasn’t her own.

Izo was manipulating and influencing her behavior magically with that fucking rat!

You can’t just silence her and punish me for telling her the truth.

This isn’t my fault. I was doing my job—supporting my client, who was being influenced by an out-of-control magical creature in your jurisdiction. If you ask me, this is all your fault.”

A deadly silence fell over the room, and the air crackled with tension. One of the magistrates leaned forward, his lips curling into a predatory smile. “Shadow, you might want to get your sister under control before we silence her ourselves.”

Raffaele’s dark gaze snapped to mine. The look in his eyes was clear: You’re right, but shut the fuck up.