Page 42

A short time later , we’re both sprawled across the floor, an entire cake between us we eat straight out of the pan. We both have had one too many drinks, leaning into each other and giggling madly as Vera details some shenanigans she got into with a Magi named Kaelen in this very kitchen.

It’s a novel feeling for me. The way she genuinely seems to warm to me, to want to be friends with me. A nought. I never even had this kind of acceptance in Eden where everyone aside from Syra ostracized me because of what I carried. And even Syra was always having to choose between her own friends and me. The clatter of the kitchen door quiets us.

“Vera,” a cold voice pierces the air.

Vera scrambles to her feet. I’m quick to follow, vision hazing slightly in my inebriated state. In strolls the blonde Mask, I recognize from the wedding except he’s not wearing his armor this time. A dash of panic tightens my ribs.

“You’re late. Morin wants to know what the hold up is.”

Vera’s face pales notably. She flounders, forming a series of symbols with her hands to summon a plate. “Oh, I am so sorry, Valik, I’ve lost track of the time. I’ll have it right up.”

Valik continues to prowl forward. Vera shuffles in front of me, trying to block me from view. He eyes the bottle of wine and cake spread over the floor in front of us and clicks his tongue. “Drinking on the job?”

“We’re just celebrating.”

He sidesteps her. “With the prince’s nought whore? That’s low even for you, Vera.” He turns to me. “I wondered if I’d ever see you around. Didn’t figure Nightshade would let you out of your cage.”

He looks around the room. “And where is your demented chaperone?”

“He—he had to grab something from his chambers,” I stammer.

“Did he?” His eyes gleam as he curls a hand to study his fingernails. “Because I heard he was in Cerna just this morning.”

I swallow nervously.

“I’ll bring the plate right up, Valik,” Vera dismisses.

Valik nods his head toward the bottle of wine. “Aren’t you going to offer me a glass?”

“It’s only table wine, nothing special.”

“I’ll take a glass,” he insists.

Vera flicks a hand, and a glass floats down from one of the cabinets. She pours it with trembling fingers and hands it off to him.

“What’s the occasion?”

“What?”

“You said you were celebrating?”

“Oh—it’s Pa—Syra’s birthday,” she lies.

“Is it?” He asks, smirking in my direction. He takes a couple of steps forward. “I’ll admit I did not expect this to be under that God’s awful contraption they sent you in. I suppose you do have your uses, don’t you? Is this why Nightshade has kept you so carefully contained? Maybe that’s what the so-called touch of ruin is referring to.”

“I…I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I lie, taking a step back. My body locks with the unwanted embrace of his magic around my legs. I fight against it, eyes straying to Vera behind his back whose eyes are wide with horror.

“The prophecy,” he says calmly. “ The nought that bears the crown. ”

“S-sitri said that wasn’t real.”

He leans forward, muscles tight in his jaw. “You won’t find me betting against the soothsayer,” he seethes, cold grey eyes penetrating into mine. His face loosens and I tense as he raises a hand and strokes a knuckle down my cheek. “But you are rather defenseless. Not a lick of magic. You should be careful around here. Do you even know the kinds of things noughts did to our kind?”

“It was my kind that was killed and tortured by yours,” I snap.

The corner of his lip quirks. His magic snakes up my waist and lifts me from the ground until we’re at eye level. I clench my hands into fists and lift my chin as the dāemon fires to life inside of me.

“Is that what they’ve told you? You really don’t know, how they used to identify us witches ?” he says spitting that last word distastefully face so close I can feel hot breath against my cheek. “They would flay the accused alive. Cut off strips of their pretty skin.”

I grit my teeth as he traces a nail across my jaw. “Do you think you would scream? If the accused screamed it was obviously evidence of their guilt. Other times they were certain they could identify a witch by their heart.” My heart thumps erratically as his hand finds its way to my sternum. I look down as he closes his hand into a fist and thumps me twice. “Naturally, they had to cut it out to discern that and by that time the accused was already dead, guilty or not. They killed many of their own kind that way too but sometimes they got lucky and found a real witch. If the witch was burned alive it was said to prevent their body from unleashing curses against them. And then sometimes drowning, hanging.”

His hand travels up, lacing itself around my neck. I raise my hand and grip his wrist to tug him off and he flicks his other hand. His magic locks around my wrist and forces my arm back to my side. “I would never be so cruel but I could do Samore a favor just to be certain no prophecies come true. Just a quick snap of your neck. I doubt it’d even hurt.” My heart thunders, dāemon lancing through me in sharp hot flashes.

“Valik—I—I—think the prince will be pretty unhappy if he comes back to find you like this,” Vera says nervously.

“Ah, but I think we already established the prince is not here.”

His hand tightens around my throat. Not a single second passes before the dāemon crashes out of me. Slamming straight into his chest, it flings him back. The magic holding me unleashes and I stumble back, barely catching myself against the counter. He smashes into the cabinet against the opposite wall so roughly it sends him hurtling to the floor. He’s back on his feet in a flurry of movement, our open mouths of shock mirroring each other.

“How did you—“ he snarls. “You don’t—“

Never has the dāemon struck a person before. He wheels to Vera. “You!” he accuses. “How dare you strike a Mask? You have no right to do so. A punishable offense,” he spits as he advances on her.

Vera shakes her head, face pale. “I—I—I—didn’t—“

“It wasn’t her, you idiot.”

Valik jolts. We all do as Sitri strides forward. “What’re you—“ Valik looks around the room as if this is all some sort of trick. “You were in Cerna just this morning!”

“Don’t know where you get your information but you would be wrong.” Sitri’s face is pale, his eyes bloodshot and a sheen of sweat glistens above his brow yet his demeanor is cool and even.

“You know exactly where I get my information.”

Sitri slides a stool out behind the counter, settles himself into it and props his chin on a palm. “Interesting, that. Morin giving you wrong information. That kind of implies that she doesn’t really trust you, doesn’t it?”

Valik opens and closes his mouth.

“What reason would she have not to trust you, Valik? Maybe because you’re not completely loyal to her? As much as I’d appreciate you ridding me of the thorn stuck in my side--” His gaze travels pointedly to me. There’s no hint of secret awareness pooling there, only cold, blank apathy. He’s so convincing I really can’t tell if it's the truth or not and my cheeks sting. “I don’t think Morin would appreciate you foiling her plans,” he sighs, finally looking away to turn a smug look back on Valik.

Valik’s face scrunches with anger. “I wasn’t going to—don’t worry. I would never rid you of that,” he sneers. “It's much too fun to watch.”

He turns to Vera. “Morin’s plate? I’ll take it up,” he says, shooting Sitri a snide look I’m sure there’s a double meaning in. The plate trembles in Vera’s hands as she hands it off to him.

As soon as the swinging door clatters behind Valik’s exit, Sitri’s on his feet. Gone is the calm facade. The intensity of his anger coats the air, or maybe it’s his magic, swelling and expanding the room until me and Vera are both holding our breaths. He walks around the counter and turns bloodshot eyes on us. Fear pulses through me, maybe even more intensely than when Valik was leering over me.

“You—we were just—um, you’re back already,” I finish lamely.

He doesn’t speak. Only stares us both down long enough to know he’s severely disappointed. His shoulders are tense and his fingers tremble at his sides. His fists clench shut at my perusal. His eyes find the bottle of wine behind us on the counter, the remains of the cake on the floor and narrow even further. He heaves a single breath before turning and stalking out, swinging door clattering behind him. Vera and I share a horrified look. “Am I supposed to follow him?” I whisper.

She lifts her shoulders. “I don’t know, but he’s really pissed off.”

I cross my arms. “Well, if he wants me to follow, he’ll have to come back and get me.” Vera’s face pales. “I’ll take the blame,” I whisper.

She shakes her head. “No, he’s already going to know I came to get you.”

“I’ll just say you came to check on me and I begged you to bring me down here.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

Sitri stalks back in, and Vera hastens to clear away the mess of cake and bottle of wine with a few flicks of her hand. He takes his two plates to the counter, not even bothering to look at us as his chair screeches across the floor.

The only noise that permeates the room is the sound of his chewing and his forks scraping against his plate. Somehow, even that sounds angry. Vera and I continue standing there awkwardly, sharing nervous looks every few minutes. She abandons me to busy herself on the other side of the kitchen.

Finally, he breaks the silence.

“Vera,” he says sharply. Vera hurries over, head bowed.

“Do you know how many Magi here would prefer any nought to be a dead nought?”

“It’s not her fau—“

“I will get to you,” he cuts me off, turning his filleting gaze back on Vera. “Do you?”

“I—I don’t know,” she squeaks out.

“Take a guess.”

“M—many of them,” she stammers.

“The majority of them. And, while it was brave of you to try and take up arms for her do you think they would pardon you attacking a Mask in defense of a nought?”

She shakes her head in confusion. “I—I—di—“

“It’s not her—“

“I will get to you,” Sitri spits, voice reverberating around the room. I clamp my mouth shut.

“And how adept do you really think you’d be at defending her against a Mask or anyone for that matter?”

“I…don’t know,” Vera says, voice now quavering.

Sitri rises to a stand in the most ridiculous display of bravado. “Would you like to test how you’d do?”

“SITRI!” I march forward, placing myself in between them, ready to fight him if I have to. When I glance up, he’s frozen, blinking rapidly in stunned silence. “It’s not her fault. She just came to check on me, and I begged her to bring me with her. We made sure no one even saw us until Valik came in here.”

It’s evident that he isn’t buying a word of what I’m feeding him. “Well, I’m glad to hear you have one minuscule fucking speck of common sense between the two of you. Remember when we talked about doing reckless things, pet? This— this is exactly what I mean. Gods, you have no fucking clue what I’ve gone through—you have no idea—“

“Sitri! Would you sit down?” I snap. “You’re making everyone nervous.” He blinks. “Sit. Down,” I demand. He blinks at me for only a moment longer before he plops down on the stool. A little violently but nevertheless.

He turns his attention back to his plate. “I’m surprised to see you still even here,” he grumbles.

“What?”

“What are you doing?”

“What do you mean?”

He glances around the kitchen and back to me, mystified. “You’re still here. Haven’t run away again.”

“Did you think I was trying to escape? We were just hanging out, Sitri.”

His head swings back down to his plate. That is what he thought. “You could’ve left a note,” he mutters.

“What do you mean?”

“You could’ve left a note explaining where you were. So I didn’t think you’d been abducted or murdered or…”

It’s my turn to blink at him. “I didn’t think you would be back yet. You said three days.”

“I said three days at the most. And, hasn’t it been three days?”

I falter at that. Had it? I suppose if you counted the day he left. I turn back to seek out Vera but she’s nowhere to be found. I stride forward to the counter across from him. The movement makes the room spin slightly. The adrenaline had lessened the potency of the wine slightly but it was still very much there and I trip over my own feet a little on the way. I look up to check if he’s noticed and he shakes his head in disapproval. “Why would you think I was abducted if no one can get into your chambers?”

“It’s not impossible,” he gruffs.

“You haven’t mentioned it.”

“Didn’t want you to worry. I , at least, take that into consideration.”

The corner of my lip tries to quirk and I fight it down. This man, sour because I didn’t leave a note is so at odds with the one that said he wouldn’t mind being rid of the thorn in his side. “I’m sorry I didn’t leave a note,” I say softly.

His returning stare is deadpan.

“You should apologize to Vera.”

“No,” he says curtly. “She needs to understand that she put you in danger. If I can scare her out of doing that again, I will. The Gods know I can’t scare you out of anything.”

I scrutinize his face. I’ve seen this man tired before, but this is a whole new level.

“You’re bound and fucking determined--“

“I think you need a nap, Sitri. You’re being a massive dick.”

“Pandora,” he says sternly. That one word still stirring an unfamiliar and discomforting jolt through me. “What do you think would’ve happened to you if I hadn’t shown up?”

I prop my elbows on the counter and lean my head into my hands with a sigh. I feel weighted, sloppy from the wine. It’s probably for the best. I would’ve reacted worse to Sitri’s tantrum without it. “You wouldn’t appreciate being rid of the thorn in your side ?”

He releases a low growl. “I would appreciate if the thorn in my side would stop being such a thorn. Be more like a stem of a….daisy.”

“A daisy?”

“It was the only white flower I could think of.”

“Do you know what flowers need to survive, Sitri?”

He shrugs. “Water.”

“Sunlight,” I snap. “They have to be outside. And they need company.”

“I don’t think they need that…”

“You can’t really expect me to stay in your chambers for the rest of my life, Sitri. I’ll go mad. I’m already going mad. I’ll probably end up murdering you for it.”

He puffs a breath out of his nostrils. Not quite a laugh, but close. I peek up with a grin. “Or I’ll drive you so mad with my madness you’ll murder me for it.” I can see him fighting back a smile and satisfaction spears in my chest, along with something else. Excitement. He’s back.

“If anyone’s close to madness right now, it’s me.” He points his steak knife at me. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”

I shoot him a withering look.

“What? Cute not good enough for you, pet? What would you prefer? Beautiful…exquisite…divine?”

“Give me that.” I lunge for the steak knife and he pulls it just out of reach with a grin. I scrutinize his weary face.

“You look terrible. Have you slept since you left?”

Several beats of silence pass before he gruffs, “Not exactly.”

“You know people do go mad from that, right?”

“I know,” he says heavily. I lean a little too far over and teeter. “You’re drunk,” he accuses. “And I doubt you’ve eaten anything.” Stabbing his fork into a chunk of meat, he tries to feed it to me.

“Go to hell,” I snarl, yanking my head back. He chuckles. “I ate some cake.”

His brows climb his face. “Cake? Good decisions all around today,” he hums out.

“I’ll eat later. You know you really have no room to lecture me when you’re the one that hasn’t slept in three days.”

He rubs at his eyes. “Did we agree it’s been three days?”

“I think you’re asking because you actually don’t know.”

He laughs, pushes his plate away, and slides his head to the counter. “You would not be wrong,” he mumbles.

“I would say it’s been roughly two and half days.”

“I think if we stay here any longer, I’m going to pass out on this counter and no one will be able to get me back up.” I’m not opposed to the idea and he gives me a meaningful look. “I would prefer not to sleep here, pet.”

“Wait.” I search the empty kitchens. Vera’s nowhere to be seen. “Let me at least say goodbye.” I scramble toward the storerooms, calling Vera’s name. I find her behind the third door I open, crying into her hands. I quickly close the door behind me. “Vera…you can’t let him get to you. He’s an asshole.”

“No…he’s right,” she blubbers. “I put you in danger and I..I didn’t even…I didn’t defend you, Pandora. I froze. I don’t know how that happened. Valik was going to hurt you and I wouldn’t have been able to defend you.”

“Look at me, we’re fine. Nothing happened.”

“Something did happen. Valik happened because I wasn’t paying attention to the time and—“ She breaks off with another sob. “Now he’ll probably quit bringing you here, and I’ll never see you guys again.”

“What? No way. Of course, we’ll be back. I’ll make him bring me back. If he doesn’t…I’ll mix up all of his potions and cut holes in his socks. I’ll—I’ll put wild parsnip in his shampoo and stinging nettle in his body wash.”

She lets out a wet sounding laugh. “Vera…this was one of the best days I’ve ever had. Even with Valik…I don’t regret it for a minute.”

She peeks up from behind her hands. “You’re just saying that.”

“No, I’m not. I…really, really needed this,” I say, squeezing her shoulder. “But if Sitri doesn’t get some sleep, he’s probably going to stroke out soon. We’ll be back. I’ll make him bring me back.”

The dāemon has settled enough I don’t even feel paranoid about pulling her into a tight embrace. “Don’t cry anymore,” I plead.

“Okay,” she says meekly.

Sitri’s right where I left him, wearing an expression that’s oddly…troubled until he notices my entry and it clears. “Haven’t collapsed yet, I see.”

“Any time now,” he sighs, pushing himself to his feet.

This time, with the aid of wine, I barely even react to the thirty heads that lift in our direction as we make our way through the dining hall. We walk part of the way in silence. When I cast a furtive glance in his direction he has that remorseful look on his face again. His eyes snag against mine and I quickly look away.

“I bet Vera has filled you in on a lot of nice things about me,” he says bitterly.

My lips shape into an unspoken oh . With everything going on I’d completely forgotten about all the things Vera confided in me hours ago. But now that he’s mentioned it and standing here in front of me…

He makes a sound through his teeth, turning his head toward the opposite wall.

“Pretty presumptuous of you to think we discussed you at all,” I smart. It’s too late. He’s already seen it flashing across my face.

“Well, you are still here,” he grumbles with a wave of his hand. “Don’t appear to be running away and screaming.”

I halt. “You really thought I was going to try and escape again?”

“If you weren’t before I’m sure you will be now,” he mutters under his breath.

“Sitri.” He stops and slowly turns to face me. “I’m really sorry about your parents. I…didn’t realize it was so recent.”

He immediately turns around and continues walking. “Hey! I’m trying to talk to you!” I chase after him. He doesn’t even as much as slow. “Is this really what you’re all bothered about? What? That I’ll find out about your sparkling reputation and hate you again? As if you haven’t already hinted to me as much.”

I snort. “As if I didn’t watch you carve a man’s heart from his chest with my own eyes. Why do you even—“ I break off as I position myself in front of him, halting him in his path. He looks…vulnerable. It’s so out of character my eyes keep flitting over his face to make sure I’m not imagining it.

I see him, then.

All of it clicks into place and my world here of being locked in his chambers, shifts. Under the cockiness, the posturing, the flirting is maybe just a lonely man who’s lost everyone and everything. Who’s maybe as chained as I am. Who maybe has just as many scars as I have. I trace his forehead to his jaw where I know that scar remains under his glamour.

She has a hold over him. A man in a situation I can’t even begin to comprehend. “Why do you even care what I think?” I ask, curiously.

His eyes flicker to mine for a brief second before veering off again, shoulders sagging. “I don’t have…you’re…I’ve worked very hard to try and gain your trust and…” He lifts a palm in a struggle for words.

“You know Vera was crying because she thought she’d never see us again?” A tense wrinkle forms between his eyes. “She’s not trying to turn me against you, Sitri. She cares about you.”

He looks both pained and confused. I know if I badger him for answers right now, I won’t get them. He doesn’t know that he’s already earned my trust. Has proven it to me again and again. But what have I done to earn his? What have I done to make him feel comfortable sharing himself with me? Maybe it's the wine in my veins dulling the dāemon to where I can breathe for once but I… want that.

“I guess that is the one plus side about my being here. There’s no one around for you to question about my reputation.” My dāemon curse reputation. There’s a flash of surprise in his eyes before he snorts. I arch a brow.

“What could you have done? Forget your morning prayers? Dare to look in the direction of a…man,” he gasps.

I pace backward. “You know what? I think I’ve changed my mind after all. I’ll go see if Vera can get me out of here because there’s absolutely no way I can stay here with your arrogant and assuming…prickly and insufferable,” I list off, still pacing backward a challenge in my eyes.

He watches me through hooded eyelids. I see it the moment it clicks for him. He sees what I’m offering. Acceptance. His face goes from surprised to…pleased and back to supercilious. I scoff under my breath. That didn’t take long.

“Demeaning, arrogant…” I continue.

“You already said arrogant.”

“That was for a reason!”

His laugh is a light, pleasant sound. “You’re not going to win, pet.”

I grin, taking another large step back with a shrug. “Awful confident for someone suffering from sleep deprivation.”

“Pet. Your legs are this big,” he says demonstrating between his thumb and index finger. He twists his fingers and my back meets an invisible wall.

“No magic! That’s cheating.”

His eyes roll but the wall behind me disappears, causing me to stagger back a few steps. “You already know I don’t need magic for you. Plus you’re drunk.”

“Only a little.” I continue pacing back, waiting for him to lunge. “Letting me get quite a head start here. I thought you were on the verge of collapsing.”

He snorts again before ushering me onward with a hand. “Go on, then. Do your best. If you can make it to the end of the hallway, I’ll let you free.”

My brows shoot up. “Really?”

“Yep, freedom, all yours. All you have to do is make it to those stairs,” he says, pointing. “But if you don’t make it…I’m afraid you’re mine, pet, forever.”

I’m nearly halfway down the hallway when I finally turn on my heel and book it, heart thundering in anticipation. I don’t even hear him on my heels until he’s directly behind me. I squeal as his hands bind around my middle. He peels me off the floor, flips me, the air puffing out of my chest as he slaps me over his shoulder. He turns and casually strolls back the way we came, cool hands binding around my bare legs.

“Your hands are cold,” I gasp. He only tightens his hold. “God,” I choke out, still trying to catch my breath. “How are you so fast?”

He chuckles. He doesn’t even sound winded. I struggle halfheartedly. His arms lock around my legs like steel. That grip is grounding. Is this what I’d been after? An excuse for him to touch me? Subconsciously, I think it was, and that pushes a dull pulse of panic through me. What am I doing? “Alright, you can put me down now.”

“No, no, no. You’re mine now, pet. That was the deal.”

“Sitri! Put me down!” I tear at his shirt, fully intending to dig my nails into his back and get sidetracked by the symbols glimmering there.

“What are you doing?” he asks, an air of panic in his laugh.

“What do these mean?” I ask, drawing a finger over the lines.

“They mean many things. Cut that out.”

“Are you ticklish?” I dig my fingers into his ribs. He makes a choked sound before my hands lock and drop limp. “Hey, no fair, that’s cheating!” I complain.

“You already lost, pet.”

He unlocks the chamber door and slaps me down on the couch in a way that’s…less than gentle and leaves me a little breathless. Something vehement passes between us as our gazes lock, but then he’s quickly retreating to the other side of the room. “Hmm.”

I turn onto my side and prop my head on an elbow. “What?”

“You’re different when you’re drunk.”

“I’ve been really bored. Are you going to change the lock to the door?”

“Yes.”

My face falls. “I’m never going to get to hang out with Vera again, am I?”

He scrubs at his face. “Can we talk about this later?”

“Right, I’m sorry you need to sleep. Here, let me get my things out of there,” I say, pulling myself upright.

“I got it.” He forms a sign, and all of my books clap down on the coffee table.

I slump on the couch. Now I’m going to be alone again. “Thanks.”

“Goodnight, pet.”

“Night," I mutter, waving a hand without meeting his gaze.

I can’t bring myself to concentrate on any of my books. I end up on the balcony thinking about all of the things Vera told me. With the grimoire strewn across my lap, I scrawl the names of the magic Sitri dabbled in when he was a teenager.

Only retreating back inside when the sun sets. Vera brings up a plate, and we hold a short conversation through the door where I reassure her once again that everything is fine, we’ll be back, and Sitri’s really not even that mad.

After she leaves, I pick idly at my plate. Eventually, I’m forced to creep through the bedroom to use the bathroom. He’s passed out crossways on top of the comforter, still fully clothed, boots hanging off the side of the bed. He couldn’t even be bothered to turn down his side of the bed, head instead stuffed into the pillow I’d been camped out on for the last three days. Moving as quietly as possible so as not to wake him, I click the door shut behind me.

I plop down onto the sofa. I might as well go to sleep. The wine’s worn off, however my mind’s still fuzzy. With the fading alcohol, the dāemon thumps back to life in a dull torture. I slide to my belly, arm draping listlessly to the floor. My mood grows dimmer with each passing second. Tomorrow, Sitri will leave again and change the lock before he goes, so there’s no chance I’ll be visiting Vera in the kitchens again. I’ll be stuck here. In this room, with little to nothing to do.

Tomorrow.

And the day after that.

And the day after that.

Forever?