Page 36

??The Plan Unfolds

Kreed

The candlelight flickered low, casting blood warm shadows against the damp stone walls. The air reeked of sulfur, of magic older than memory, coiled like something waiting to strike.

I liked this place. It reminded me of what we were before we started pretending to be men.

I stood with my hands behind my back, watching him, the thing wearing Cassian’s skin, as it slithered into the room like it owned the ground it walked on.

I knew better. That skin wasn’t his. And it sure as hell didn’t belong to Cassian anymore.

“Cassian, you called me,” I said, my voice a rasp of iron dragged over bone. “Make it worth my time.”

The creature grinned. Too many teeth. Too much pleasure behind the eyes. “Don’t call me by his name.”

“Fine.” I sneered. “What do you want, Saze?”

It spread its hands like a showman, casual and arrogant. “To finish what we started. To rip the world wide open.”

I didn’t respond. Not yet. Because I knew what this was really about. Her . The girl with blood laced in prophecy. The one I tried to kill years ago when I ended her mother.

“I should’ve snapped her spine when I had the chance,” I muttered. “Didn’t know what she was. Thought she was just another brat until I started uncovering the truth her mother tried to keep hidden.”

“She’s not,” the thing hissed, eyes glowing faintly. “She’s Watcher blood. The last. The key.”

“I know.” The silence between us thickened, alive with old power. “So what’s the plan?” I asked, though part of me already knew. I didn’t like it.

“We don’t take her,” it said, circling the table like a beast stalking its next move. “We let her leave him.”

I laughed, bitter and sharp. “You think she’ll just walk away from Vale? That blood drunk bastard has her wrapped in silk and secrets. He owns her.”

“She’s confused,” it said. “Choking on the illusion of choice. We don’t steal her, Kreed. We free her. Make her believe she’s escaping a prison, when all she’s doing is walking into ours.”

I said nothing.

“She’s starting to question him,” it continued. “His house. His control. His lies. All we need to do is give her a reason to run. One nudge in the right direction, and she’ll come straight to us. Willingly.”

My jaw tightened. “And then?”

It grinned again, teeth gleaming. “Then she opens the Gate. Her blood, her lineage, her scream, it's the price. And once it swings wide…”

“The lost ones come back,” I finished for him, voice low. Cold.

He nodded. “And the world begins to rot.”

I leaned forward, knuckles pressing into the table. “And what happens after she opens it? You think I’ll let her live? She’s a weapon. One that should’ve never been born.”

“You’ll get your kill,” it said. “But not until we get what we need.”

I stared at him, at the creature that took over Cassian’s skin when I killed him. He was useful. For now. But I knew what he really was.

And he had no fucking idea what I was becoming.

“You get her out of that house,” I growled. “You make her think she’s free. I’ll be waiting.”

He nodded, that grin never fading. “Soon. She’ll come to us, thinking she’s escaping a monster.”

I smiled darkly. “And run straight into something worse.”