“Hiding outside the room like the coward you are? How shocking,” I sneer, and seconds later the lock clicks over and the door squeaks open. Nevin’s scowl makes me laugh out loud. If he thinks he looks intimidating, well he should pay more attention to my guys. He looks like a kid trying to be the big bad. He might have outsmarted me, but I’m not afraid of him. I’ve never had reason to be. Could he kill me? Probably. But am I afraid of him? Not a fucking chance.
“You don’t have all that much to be smiling about,” he spits as he moves to crouch in front of me. “No one knows where you are. No one is coming to save you.”
“Then why aren’t I dead yet?” I ask, and the smarmy smile on his face thins.
“Because it’s not time yet.”
“You want everyone to think you’re something more than you are. That this was all you. But it wasn't, was it? You’re nothing more than a puppet.” I grin as I say the words, because they feel right. They feel true. He’s not behind all of this. He might have played a part, and I still haven’t worked out why, but I feel a little better knowing he’s answering to someone. It doesn’t make much sense that I feel better, but I do.
“You have no fucking idea.” His words bounce off of me, which seems to rile him up further.
“Then why? Tell me why you would go through all of this? Do all of this? What the actual fuck did I ever do to you to deserve this hell?”
“It was always you,” he mutters and stands, starting to pace in front of me. “I tried everything to make him see me, but you were always there in the way. Then, I figured out a way to get rid of the problem. An arrow to the heart. Clean, simple, and done from far enough away that I wouldn’t be seen. I even aimed for him, because I just fucking knew you would be the martyr and take the hit. But you even had him in fucking death!”
“You killed Amantara? You shot that arrow? For Levi?”
“Yes, for fucking Levi. I have loved him since before he even knew you existed. I was his right-hand guy. And then, then there was fucking you. The Shadow Walker filth. I knew the only way to win him was if you were gone. But even in death, you had his heart. He created a whole fucking race for you.”
I sit, blinking at him, trying to take in what he’s saying, but shock keeps me quiet. All of this, because he’s in love with Levi. That’s why he’s been terrorizing us all? It doesn’t make any sense. Why would he try to keep the factions fighting if that was his goal? He could have just wiped me from the board.
I pinch the bridge of my nose and realize he’s still pacing in front of me. “Nevin…” his name comes out as barely more than a sigh.
“Don’t. Don’t try to twist this. This is all your fault. If you’d never come along, he would have loved me.”
I shake my head, because there's no reasoning with him. No way to tell him that Levi just isn’t that guy. Nevin storms from the room, slamming the door behind him.
I take the small win, I didn’t get dosed with whatever he’s been giving me, but my head is spinning with everything he just told me.
I guess it's true. Love really is War.
Fallon hasn’t become lucid again since that one moment, and I’m worried about her. I’m so close to breaking through that glass wall to my powers now I can feel it, but I need her to be okay. She’s in this mess because of me, and it breaks my heart that we’re here. I’ve seen her sleep, but every time she wakes, her eyes are still foggy, and she doesn’t move. She doesn’t talk. She just sits, like an empty shell, as if she’s waiting for something or someone to bring her back to life.
I’ve heard more activity outside the room we’re in the last couple of times I’ve been awake, but it’s all muffled words and banging, so I have no fucking clue what’s going on outside of here. My stomach cramps from the lack of food or drink I’ve had since I’ve been here, but I try not to think about it.
“Remy…” My gaze flicks over to Fallon, whose fog seems to be clear. “Remy, where are we?”
“Fallon. Thank fuck. We need to get out of here. Can you access your power?” Relief floods me, it's been a while since she was bought here… I think. She closes her eyes, but more tears stream down her face.
“I can’t feel it, Remy.” Her voice breaks and her body shakes as her tears turn to sobs.
“It’s okay. We’ll get out of here,” I try to reassure her while my heart sinks.
“I don’t remember… Remy, how did we get here?” Her eyes look wild, and I can tell she’s on the verge of breaking, when that fog descends over her again.
“No!” I scream, but it's no use. She’s gone from me again. Angry tears stream down my face. I don’t know if she’s going to survive this. She barely survived everything she went through with Azriel, but this… I honestly don’t know how to fix her, or if I even can after this. I’ve never seen her look so broken.
“Why so sad?” I look up and my stomach flips. My mouth waters and it takes every part of me to not throw up. This can’t be right.
“You look a little pale,” Gabriel grins down at me, and my stomach rolls again.
“You…” I start, but I can’t finish the words, as if my mind refuses to believe it. He’s been my friend for so long. One of Levi’s allies on the Archangel council. He took our side when we were just in Avalon. My mind reels that he’s here.
“That's right, sweetheart. Little old me. Bet you didn’t see that, did you?” He winks at me as he saunters further into the room. With the click of his fingers, a chair and table appear opposite me and he sits down, still grinning.
“But why?” I ask.
“You’ll find out soon enough. But for now, we need to make sure you’re nice and pliant.” With another snap of his fingers a syringe appears in his hands, filled with a black substance. He moves towards me, watching me closely. I try to move away from him, but there's nowhere for me to go. “It’ll just pinch a little.”
His hand darts forward and wraps around my throat, cutting off my air supply, before the needle breaks my skin and a sting like I’ve never known comes from my neck, before spreading outwards to my extremities.
“Soon, everyone will see you for what you are. They’ll take my side. Even Leviathan won’t be able to save you then.”
His words are fuzzy, like I’m in a bubble, and black spots dance across my vision, but I don’t miss how he injects Fallon with this same inky liquid he gave to me before he leaves the room.
I’ll kill him too.
Chapter Two
Roman
Fucking witch’s wards.
They make my skin crawl. My wolf is just below the surface, assessing every threat and hating the fact that we can’t see Remy, but she can handle herself. She’s proven that time and again, though it's never going to make me stop worrying about her. I smirk, just thinking about how fun it is to subdue her when she gets all fiery about not wanting to be protected. Fuck, my wolf practically purrs at the thought.