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Synopsis
The breathtaking sequel to the #1 New York Times bestseller, Immortal Dark
Like all ruinous things, he came from the abyss.
Kidan Adane has finally embraced her darkness. She’s killed without remorse, lied, and broken Uxlay University’s most sacred law by inviting elusive rogue vampires, the Nefrasi, into Uxlay.
Trapped with a violently unstable vampire, and reeling from her sister’s return, Kidan wields her anger like a weapon. She vows to master her house and protect the sacred artifact hidden inside, even if it means forging an alliance with the depraved leader of the Nefrasi, Samson Sagad--and betraying Susenyos.
A dangerous new philosophical text seems to hold the answers and promises the very thing Kidan has lost: control. Even as the dark pages consume her, Kidan knows no soul at Uxlay is trustworthy—least of all Susenyos. For Kidan and Susenyos, the lines of loathing and attraction may blur, but the quest for power rules them both. And neither is willing to surrender.
As devastating secrets resurface from the past, Kidan and her sister, June, must finally confront each other and take their rightful places in the looming war.
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Print pages: 544
* BingeBooks earns revenue from qualifying purchases as an Amazon Associate as well as from other retail partners.
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Eternal Ruin
Tigest Girma
Death waited in Kidan Adane’s house, and tonight it would regret ever visiting her.
Locked in one of the private wood-and-metal workshop rooms in the School of Art building, Kidan finished her reread of Weapons of the Dark and picked up the tool that would kill vampires.
An impala horn.
Tonight, Samson Sagad would die.
And Kidan would finally use hellfire to snap her sister free from his hold.
The thought of June made her fingers tremble, and a familiar square appeared on top of her desk. Kidan shook her head, adjusted her safety glasses, and focused.
Samson had to die first.
Kidan’s fingers smelled like the ash of cigars, but even the ghost of Mama Anoet couldn’t reach her in this place. For three hours each day, Kidan came to the fourth-floor room that looked out onto Ahnd Cemetery, locked herself inside, and ground a curved impala horn against a whetstone, creating curling peels of animal remains. It was tough work, but the process of deconstructing an object, even one such as this, gave her peace of mind. Sometimes, she imagined using just her bare hands to shatter an object. It almost happened a few days ago, when June appeared on her doorstep with fucking Samson. The metal doorknob had bent under Kidan’s hold. Since then, she kept searching for that wisp of power again, willing things to break at her mere touch. But it seemed only her anger at June could call forth that power.
Cupping a hand on the edge of the desk, Kidan scraped the shavings into her palm with the other and deposited them in a small black cup. Reaching for a blowtorch and a pair of thick gloves, she paused to glance at the empty desk across from her.
A memory came to her, Susenyos bent over the artifacts she’d shattered, a frown between his straight brows as he taught her how to piece broken objects back together.
The last time they’d spoken had been four days ago, the start of winter break, the day June arrived on her doorstep. They were allies now, had agreed to work on mastering the house together. So why did he suddenly leave?
He’d told her to wait until he got back, and nothing else.
Kidan’s hand drifted to her neck, remembering his burning bite in the Bath of Arowa. The solid outline of his body under his drenched shirt, impossibly close to hers. She shook her head, trying to stop the images. But the longer he stayed away, the more she went back to their old conversations and burning touches, slid them under a microscope, and tried to understand where they stood.
He’d said he didn’t blame her for the loss of his immortality in Adane House. But he also hadn’t touched her since.
In her darkest moments, Kidan thought he’d left her behind. Susenyos was running from something. A danger he wouldn’t tell her about. It had worried her parents enough for them to set a punishing law on him, preventing him from leaving Uxlay. But fear of the Adane House law couldn’t keep Susenyos in place forever.
He was human now.
In all the rooms of Adane House. He had nothing left to lose.
Kidan’s hand shook slightly as the whirring blue flame of the torch sparked like a small spear, illuminating her face.
Wait for me before you do anything, he’d said.
Patience wasn’t really Kidan’s strong suit.
She brought the fire to the bottom of the cup, watching as the shavings writhed in an effort to escape the heat before becoming ash.
Sweat beaded on her forehead as she worked. Going through the motions—shave, burn, collect ash—and letting her thoughts fade. She needed a large amount of impala horn ash. At least a full bag’s worth.
And today, it was ready.
Next came the tricky part.
Kidan stretched the opening of a black balloon apart and funneled the impala ash inside. Once she tied the balloon, she held it up with a smile. She now had seven balloons filled with impala horn ash.
After wiping her desk down with disinfectant, Kidan exited the room with her hand around the balloon strings.
Uxlay’s campus was a ghost town. Most students were vacationing in Africa, visiting distant relatives. Slen and Yusef were here, though, waiting on Kidan’s call.
She checked her watch again. As previously rogue vampires, Samson, Arin, and Warde had to attend three hours of compulsory induction every day. Kidan could weep before Professor Andreyas for giving her such freedom.
South of the Arat Towers, Adane House appeared like a depreciating, exhausted creature. She didn’t feel the itch to burn it down like her childhood home. It certainly harbored more evil than Mama Anoet’s little house and racked her with nightmarish visions. Yet there were some days, rare days, when the sun concealed the old wooden panels and made it look timeless. This house had stood in Uxlay for generations, passed down through her ancestors as the only tangible thing she knew, and it only felt right that it would outlive her.
Besides, Kidan hoped if she was civil to the house, it would let her master it.
Etete opened the front door with a smile. She looked as though she’d been baking, flour stains on her dark elbows, her Afro hair a short crown around her. At once, the tension in Kidan’s shoulders eased. The heady scent of fresh bread welcomed her in.
Kidan swallowed roughly, her stomach tightening. She gazed at the narrow staircase leading upstairs. “Is she here?”
Etete seemed to understand immediately that Kidan was talking about June. “No, she’s still with the dean.”
Kidan sighed in relief, and the tight coil of dread in her stomach loosened. Right after June showed up, Dean Faris had called her to the office, no doubt to have her explain where the hell she’d been and what her intentions were. Kidan wanted to know too, but she couldn’t think about June until she took care of Samson. It would be in her sister’s best interest if some of Kidan’s anger was unleashed before they spoke.
Pushing the thoughts aside, Kidan wrapped her fingers around the doorknob and tried to twist it like before.
Come on, a little strength.
It didn’t move, let alone bend.
She worked her jaw, trying a few more times before giving up. So much for being nice to the house. She would have to try again later. Now there was work to do.
She crossed the hallway and shoved a chair into the middle of the lounge. There was tape in Susenyos’s desk drawer, and Kidan ripped some with her teeth before standing on the chair. She taped the balloons to the ceiling, placing them equidistant from each other.
Etete’s soft movements interrupted her work. “You should wait for Dranaic Susenyos.”
“He may not come back,” Kidan said, continuing her work. She could feel the burn of Etete’s worried stare. And the house glowed with the shimmering blue wave of her own sadness. She ignored it.
All that was left to do was wait for Samson’s return. At the thought, fire licked across Kidan’s feet, the lounge magnifying her newfound rage. Yes, she needed to harness that instead.
“This came for you,” Etete said. There was a black envelope in the cook’s hands.
Kidan stepped down from the chair and took it slowly. Susenyos always loved his letters, and for a moment her heart raced at the thought that it could be from him. She still carried the last letter he’d written her. But this envelope had unfamiliar symbols printed on it—a five-petaled white flower, a fanged panther, a soaring eagle, a lone oryx, and a blue gemstone. They decorated the bottom of a tall, eerie tower. A dull pang spread through her. With a spike of sudden alarm, Kidan realized she was waiting for him. She should be glad his arrogant, demanding presence wasn’t here. In fact, she was glad. Relieved even. Blowing out an irritated breath, she ripped the seal open.
Congratulations on your graduation from Dranacti. We are thrilled you are progressing so well.
Once again, we cordially invite you to the Arcane Tower to begin your courting. Whether you sway to the Abyss, or favor the soaring Eagle, prefer the Panther over the mighty Oryx, or simply marvel at the Blue Stone, the tower opens its doors to you.
Courting begins on the seventh of each month.
We await your response.
Warmly,
The Arcane Societies
Kidan frowned, flipping the letter this way and that, searching for an answer. “What is this?”
“A marriage invitation,” Etete said. “They’re asking you to come find a husband. Uxlay’s long-held tradition.”
A marriage… Her eyes widened. She was only nineteen, marriage was the last thing on her mind.
This had to be some kind of joke.
Etete chuckled, smiling at Kidan the way a grandmother might, warm and patient. Kidan looked away, clearing her throat. She didn’t like to be reminded of the family she’d never had. But that was exactly what this envelope did. The idea of marriage brought her parents unbearably close, their intertwined hands, their promise to love Kidan and June until the day they abandoned them.
Only to be dead before their children’s sixth birthday. It might be irrational, but if their parents had truly loved Kidan and June, something as simple as death shouldn’t have kept them away. It wouldn’t keep Kidan away.
Inhaling deeply, Kidan pushed away the memories of them to a dark corner in her mind before the house could latch on. There was no point in revisiting that part of her life.
“It says ‘once again.’” Kidan frowned. “But it’s the first time I received this letter.”
Etete’s eyes slid to the side, toward the stairs leading to the second level. When she faced Kidan, she wore a secretive smile. “Dranaic Susenyos discarded the first one.”
There were many explanations Kidan had expected. It had gotten lost in the mail. Etete had forgotten to give it to her. Susenyos was the furthest from her mind. “He did?” she asked coolly, trying to mask her surprise. “When?”
“I believe it was the night you defanged him.” This time, Etete’s words were accompanied with a pointed look. Kidan averted her gaze, fighting the urge to apologize.
“I wonder why he didn’t give it to me,” she said instead, tracing the letter with a small smile.
Etete studied her with an amused look. Kidan straightened immediately, clearing her throat.
“Not that I care. Honestly, I’m too young to be thinking about marriage.”
“Don’t look so miserable. Your mother was the same way before meeting Aman.”
That gave Kidan pause. She’d heard actis like herself only married from the Arcane Societies—a group of normal humans from the outside world. But she doubted anyone willing to marry into a vampire-human society was normal. However, her father, Aman, must have come from the Arcane Societies.
Reluctantly, Kidan’s interest was piqued. “You know about these societies?”
“Know about them?” Etete’s chuckle made her weathered face crinkle. “I came from them.”
“Wait, you did?”
“Have you seen anyone drink my blood?” Her gray brow rose. “I’m not acti. I married into this university of yours.”
Kidan shook her head, baffled she hadn’t known this. Last semester, she’d been so focused on finding June she didn’t pay attention to anything else. Couldn’t afford to.
“I was a member of the Eagle Order,” Etete said, her voice hollow, her eyes tracing the symbol of the Eagle below the tower. “And the Eagle always marries into Ajtaf, Makary, or Delarus House. After I divorced, your grandmother found a loophole that allowed me to stay. I would serve as a house cook here and I’ve remained since.”
Kidan’s grandmother was a faraway entity, just like her mother. Dead before Kidan could memorize their love. Thoughts of her family overfilled and spilled from the corner of her mind. It felt like fluid in the brain, a surge of black water thick with loss, with a reflection of Kidan that smiled often because the people she loved most loved her enough to stay in her life.
Focus on the present, she told herself firmly. The ones that are alive.
Looking into the dead was no different from standing still and letting someone punch you repeatedly. Kidan preferred to be on the move, gun in hand. She crumpled the letter.
“You should go before Samson returns,” Kidan told Etete, and couldn’t help but add, “Please.”
The woman sighed, and the sound made Kidan’s shoulders drop a little. She hated disappointing her. But Etete cleaned the kitchen, changed her head wrap, and left.
Kidan almost called her back when she realized she was alone in the house. The carpet softened like mud pulling at her ankles as she settled on the cold couch. The fireplace wasn’t lit. Susenyos usually did it, and she hadn’t bothered to learn how. One of her pockets was filled with pushpins, the other carried a gun.
It was surprisingly calm.
Enough for her to loosen a tentative breath.
It was a mistake.
The dark furniture and expensive cushions vanished, and three visions roared to life, each a piercing blade into her chest.
GK’s dead body.
June’s last video.
Susenyos’s absence.
Kidan sank into the couch, deeper and deeper until it seemed like there was nothing beneath her. If no one pulled her out, she would suffocate here.
The observatory was where her pain should be. Not here. She tried to move, but her body was filled with water. The only heavy thing, her mind. It was Susenyos. Ever since he left, the house had become erratic, leaking one emotion into another. Toying with her grip on reality.
Where are you?
Right as her bones began to dissolve, sudden footsteps bounded onto the porch. A shudder of warning tore through the house.
Like a swarm of insects, the visions scattered.
Kidan’s feet found the ground. Solid and ablaze.
She released several quick breaths and bent over. This lounge always nurtured her rage, and it was back, curling like a dragon’s tail around her legs.
She straightened slowly and tightened her shaking grip on the gun.
Samson was here.
Kidan stroked the arm of the couch, calming herself and the house.
The floorboards creaked in distress against Samson’s footfalls, hammering like heavy rain as he bounded into the study that doubled as a lounge. His entire face soured when his black eyes landed on her. Old carpet and an oval glass table stood between them—Susenyos’s favorite treasures about to become collateral damage yet again. The carpet, sourced from Saui thread, would be stained with blood, and the beautiful table he prized for the traces of red sea glass shimmering beneath its surface would shatter.
Kidan almost shook her head. Thinking about Susenyos’s treasures instead of taking an axe to them was new and dangerous, a signal of something she didn’t want to examine closely.
Samson moved forward, his boots dragging mud on the carpet. A muscle tightened in Kidan’s jaw. The Nefrasi vampire could be Susenyos’s brother, even though they weren’t biologically related. They shared the same skin tone—a dark brown that was unnaturally smooth, almost reflective under direct sunlight, and a straight nose. But that was where the similarities ended. Samson’s hair was cut close to the scalp, revealing the long scar that started at his ear and disappeared into his shoulder. As if someone had tried to axe his head and missed.
Unfortunately.
His starless eyes browsed over the poor decorations with disgust. The balloons crowded the candle-filled chandelier, sending long shadows along the ceiling like seven cloaked men gathered around a bonfire.
“What is this?” he barked.
“It’s my friend’s birthday.” Kidan’s voice was perfectly neutral, something she’d learned pissed him off. She delighted in it. “Do you want cake—”
“Take it down,” he ordered. “And get my blood.”
Kidan inhaled deeply, gripping the gun tighter inside her pocket. His blood. The blood coursing through her veins. As if her body was no longer hers. This part of their arrangement humiliated her the most.
He extended his metal hand—yet another difference from Susenyos. His entire left forearm was shielded. Kidan rose with great effort and poured a full glass of her blood. She held still, wanting him to come closer, right under the balloons.
Samson crossed onto the carpet and took the glass. He devoured it like he’d never tasted water before. He wiped his pinked lips, his skin becoming sunstruck. His vile eyes tinged red as he exhaled deeply with sickening satisfaction.
A sharp wave of hatred choked Kidan, and she almost shot him right then and there.
The first time he’d asked for blood, she’d refused.
His liquid eyes had lit up like a starved wolf before his hand was around her throat, crushing her windpipe. His metal glove was so cold the bottom of her feet had chilled. Then he had cut her neck with his claw and poured her blood into a glass as if she were a wine casket before throwing her aside.
He didn’t drink directly from her body. Didn’t allow her anywhere near his debased mind, which she supposed was a small mercy.
So Kidan went to Uxlay’s Rojit blood drive like every graduated student and had her blood drawn, brought it here.
“Your only job, heiress, is to get me the mask artifact and tell me what the house law is,” he said, wiping the red from his mouth.
Her eyes trailed the empty glass. This was the nightmare she’d feared for June once.
No one has drunk my blood.
Her sister’s words. Because June hadn’t killed, and she was no murderer. And actis that had not killed could not be fed on. Just like when they were bullied in childhood, June closed her eyes and huddled in the corner until Kidan handled it.
Kidan spoke without looking at him. “I told you a thousand times. Reading a law takes time. Mastering a house law takes time. Class starts Thursday. Until then you’ll have to be patient.”
Samson bared his fangs at her tone, making her flinch. Without wanting to, she recalled the power in his arms, how he’d slammed her head against the bench of that abandoned hall, and shivered. He’d been prepared to do so much worse, would have done much worse, if Susenyos hadn’t given her that clue that saved her life.
Samson was merciless and his rage was always bubbling beneath the surface.
But so was hers.
Moving under the balloons, Kidan placed both hands in her pockets. “I want you to leave.”
Like a wolf drawn to meat, Samson stalked toward her. “You dare order me?”
“I’m having people over.” She glanced up at the balloons, voice casual. “I don’t want them to see who drinks my blood. It’s a little embarrassing.”
His face contorted, deepening his wrath just like she knew it would. His claws extended, black-tipped monstrous nails. One swipe or slash, and he could slit her throat. A drum settled beneath her heart. Out of habit, Kidan’s hand itched to trace her wrist, source power from her butterfly bracelet. Her blue pill used to help her be invincible, unafraid of death.
Without it, she was too human, thinking about inconvenient things like survival.
Samson lunged to the ceiling, all power and muscle, and slashed at the balloons.
Three sharp pops exploded, a savage sound that unleashed an emotion she didn’t think she was capable of. An emotion that only said run. Inside her pocket, Kidan traced the four corners of a square, her symbol for fear. Her body had betrayed her. Locked with the unwelcome realization of how much danger she was in. The knowledge that unlike before, Kidan had things to lose now, to live for.
She couldn’t die here. Exploding ash drifted down to their faces. And if she failed, she would die.
Run. Run.
No, draw a triangle. Now.
She did with great effort, leaning into raw anger. A breath of fresh air.
The ash was slow, almost beautiful, and it gave her time to recover her old self. Samson’s expression turned from furious disgust to confusion when the black particles invaded his eyes. Then his nose. Then his mouth.
“What—” He choked and rubbed his eyes with the heel of his fist. He stumbled a step back, trying to clear his throat. “What the hell did you…”
Move, Kidan screamed at herself. Kill him.
It worked. She quickly threw up a handful of the pins, making the ceiling explode all over, destroying the remaining balloons. Turning the air into gray and black, poisoning him. Her own eyes were stinging, watering, but she didn’t have time to cry. Sometimes, she was afraid if she started crying, she’d never stop. Instead, she coughed twice, swallowing most of the impala ash. It traveled down her throat and into her stomach. Maybe it’d protect her from the inside. Turn her poisonous.
She pulled out her gun—not shaking, good, and waited until Samson cracked one bloodied eye open.
“I’ve been waiting for this,” she said, and shot him in the stomach. Her shoulder snapped back and forth but she’d been ready for it. Raw satisfaction thrummed through her veins.
There was no room for fear.
“Heaven in hell!” he shouted, and collapsed backward, trying to shuffle away.
He had been the one she’d been hunting for. Not Susenyos. This was the shadow that had come to the gardens of her old house and ruined her life.
“I will fucking destroy you.” She barely recognized the venom in her voice.
He cursed her in Amharic, harsh and fast and cutting. “Your friend will die!”
GK.
As if conjured from thin air, the house crinkled with his finger bone chain, soft, warm eyes always warning her of death.
Kidan’s bubble of rage threatened to shatter, fingers shaking on the gun. She had the sense of floating outside her body and watching herself with disgust, like GK would.
Murderer, he would say with horror. The hand of death that would destroy anything good and kind. But destruction was never what fueled Kidan. It was protection. Mama Anoet had to die so June could be safe. GK had to become a vampire so he could live. GK would understand this. He would see the good in her again. All she had to do was earn his trust back. Give him back his humanity.
What if he never forgives you? the cruel part of the house whispered, scattering her pulse. What then?
Samson’s eyes flashed in triumph as if he could hear her wild heartbeat.
Focus.
“I’ll find GK,” Kidan breathed, hoped. “After I send you to hell and get you away from June.”
He tried to laugh but groaned. “June chose me.”
The words made Kidan hesitate for a second, made his form fade in and out. Samson lunged before she could orient herself. He kicked out her legs, and her face raced to the floor. Pain rang down her temple. She struggled to get up. Samson’s metal arm sank into her shoulder, making her yell. Kidan twisted and shot him again, near the shoulder, and he roared backward. She straddled him, adrenaline pumping through her, gun to his chest.
“She’s my sister.” Kidan’s vision grew blurry, voice shaking with rage. “You took her from me.”
Nothing would stop her from killing him. She traced the gun to the left side of his chest. Right where his heart would be. Began to squeeze. For a second, Samson’s black eyes betrayed fear. It seemed to flicker in and out without his control, just like hers earlier. As if he too had something to live for, which meant only one thing. He loved someone or someone loved him.
Kidan got even closer, trying to see into the complete blackness of his gaze. Which poor soul was a victim of his attention? Maybe she should torture him, take away whoever he loved like he’d done to her.
Samson’s fearful expression broke too quickly, cutting her off from seeing any more. Kidan frowned when he gave a weak smile. “Perfect timing, wendem.”
Kidan snapped her head up as a tall figure appeared at the entry. She hadn’t heard the door open. For all the immortal stealth he’d lost, her vampire companion still moved without sound. Her mouth remained open. It felt odd to finally see him in this house. Her heart beat wilder and wilder.
He’d come back.
“Little bird,” Susenyos said, taking in her ashen face and loose braids. Something close to a smile lingered in his tone. “I’m almost jealous. You used to hold me at gunpoint.”
Susenyos Sagad stood silently before Kidan, the side of his face lit by the monstrous window. Her breath caught at his sudden appearance.
He flicked a glance at Samson and back toward her, and the house came to life, fueled by their joined minds. Fire wrapped around Kidan like a second skin, comforting instead of searing. Her lips lifted at one corner, raw relief coursing through her.
Light reflected in Susenyos’s dark eyes, and he gave her a small smile in return. He was fearsome without his smile, cloaked in the stolen beauty of an eclipse. But there were rare moments, like these, when he radiated warmth. It made her feel a little proud, knowing she drew out a different side of him.
Without her active hatred toward him… toward herself, Kidan didn’t know what remained between them. But it was a force of its own, a concentrated ball of magnetic energy that threatened to explode whenever they were in close proximity. But other times, it was gentler, a hand extended over a cliff, dragging her away from the abyss like now.
The creature between her legs tried to move, breaking the haze she was in.
Kidan glanced down and dug the bullet in Samson’s shoulder deeper, making him howl.
The twisted agony on his face was fascinating. As if his physical pain could ever amount to what he’d put her through. Kidan was torn between drawing out her torture or killing him instantly.
She fed her gun into his wound, the act no different than puncturing a too-ripe fruit. A desperate cry tore from him and his blood drenched her fingers, smelling of salt and metal. Susenyos’s intense gaze was distracting, and she could feel it lingering on different parts of her body, trailing down to her parted thighs. A flush crept up her neck.
“Are you going to just stand there?” She flicked a quick glance up.
“I wouldn’t dare interrupt a genius at work.” His voice was a murmur, with something dark lurking in it that she couldn’t identify. “Show me how you end a life, yené Roana.”
Once, those words would have horrified her, but now they only flooded her with delicious energy.
“If you kill me,” Samson snarled through his panting breath, “the blade artifact will be lost.”
Kidan smiled at his attempt to live. “We don’t care.”
The Sage’s artifacts could fade into a black hole and Kidan truly wouldn’t care.
But Susenyos stepped forward. “Three people must know the location of an artifact in case something happens. That’s the Nefrasi way.”
“That was your way,” Samson spat, dark blood in the corner of his mouth. “You kill me here today and you will never find the blade artifact.”
Three artifacts—the Sun, Water, and Death artifacts rumored to free vampires from all restrictions.
Thunder crossed over Susenyos’s features. The paneled walls near him were no longer burning with violent fire, they were rippling, becoming soft as curtains. Traces of concern entered his mind. Those artifacts held power over him. They would always be his utmost priority. Her throat went dry.
“Don’t listen to him,” Kidan said, breathing fast.
“You… would waste… another century… looking for them.” Samson struggled to form words, half weakened, half furious. “And if… Lusidio discovers them before you, what then?”
It was a bunch of babble that didn’t interest Kidan. “Enough of this.”
Yet Susenyos had gone entirely still at the name. Black, twisting tendrils of what could only be terror ensnared his feet, a manifestation of an emotion visible only to them. They extinguished Kidan’s fire and darted toward her like eels. Wrapped around her ankles and burned like fire ants. Panic bloomed inside Kidan’s chest. She waited for Susenyos to speak, to instruct her like before when the house magnified their emotions too much. But he was frozen. Barely seeing her. She’d seen him tortured in the observatory, in the visions of his past, but this was more. Frightening because he wasn’t fighting back.
He always fought back.
“Yos,” Kidan called, hoping to wake him.
He didn’t answer.
Kidan tightened her hold on the gun, calling forth her rage by drawing a triangle on Samson. A cloak of red fire descended from the roof and she welcomed it, letting it fill her lungs. Extinguish the reaching shadow fingers.
Susenyos exhaled and stared at the fading black tendrils in surprise.
Samson’s shoulders struggled to move despite their pinned position.
It was now or never.
“See you in hell,” Kidan said.
She pulled the trigger at the same time as a force collided into her side. Both her arms were knocked off course painfully. The bullet found the leg of a chair and the entire thing exploded on one side. Her gun flew out of her grip and scraped the floor, spinning before going still. She scrambled for it just as a figure flipped her onto her back and pinned her to the floor.
Susenyos… hovered above her, face severe.
“What the hell are you doing?” she shouted, the flames whirling into a tornado around them.
His face was grim, shooting a loathing look to where Samson lay. Still alive.
“He’s right. I need the blade artifact first.”
He was not serious.
Kidan writhed under him, cursing so loud her lungs bled. “We have to kill him now. This is our chance! I swear to God, Yos, I’ll kill you if you let him go. He will kill GK!”
Susenyos stared back with a resigned yet determined look. Her fight slowed as cruel disappointment took root. They’d finally reached an understanding, to work and kill together. He couldn’t abandon her now.
Locked in one of the private wood-and-metal workshop rooms in the School of Art building, Kidan finished her reread of Weapons of the Dark and picked up the tool that would kill vampires.
An impala horn.
Tonight, Samson Sagad would die.
And Kidan would finally use hellfire to snap her sister free from his hold.
The thought of June made her fingers tremble, and a familiar square appeared on top of her desk. Kidan shook her head, adjusted her safety glasses, and focused.
Samson had to die first.
Kidan’s fingers smelled like the ash of cigars, but even the ghost of Mama Anoet couldn’t reach her in this place. For three hours each day, Kidan came to the fourth-floor room that looked out onto Ahnd Cemetery, locked herself inside, and ground a curved impala horn against a whetstone, creating curling peels of animal remains. It was tough work, but the process of deconstructing an object, even one such as this, gave her peace of mind. Sometimes, she imagined using just her bare hands to shatter an object. It almost happened a few days ago, when June appeared on her doorstep with fucking Samson. The metal doorknob had bent under Kidan’s hold. Since then, she kept searching for that wisp of power again, willing things to break at her mere touch. But it seemed only her anger at June could call forth that power.
Cupping a hand on the edge of the desk, Kidan scraped the shavings into her palm with the other and deposited them in a small black cup. Reaching for a blowtorch and a pair of thick gloves, she paused to glance at the empty desk across from her.
A memory came to her, Susenyos bent over the artifacts she’d shattered, a frown between his straight brows as he taught her how to piece broken objects back together.
The last time they’d spoken had been four days ago, the start of winter break, the day June arrived on her doorstep. They were allies now, had agreed to work on mastering the house together. So why did he suddenly leave?
He’d told her to wait until he got back, and nothing else.
Kidan’s hand drifted to her neck, remembering his burning bite in the Bath of Arowa. The solid outline of his body under his drenched shirt, impossibly close to hers. She shook her head, trying to stop the images. But the longer he stayed away, the more she went back to their old conversations and burning touches, slid them under a microscope, and tried to understand where they stood.
He’d said he didn’t blame her for the loss of his immortality in Adane House. But he also hadn’t touched her since.
In her darkest moments, Kidan thought he’d left her behind. Susenyos was running from something. A danger he wouldn’t tell her about. It had worried her parents enough for them to set a punishing law on him, preventing him from leaving Uxlay. But fear of the Adane House law couldn’t keep Susenyos in place forever.
He was human now.
In all the rooms of Adane House. He had nothing left to lose.
Kidan’s hand shook slightly as the whirring blue flame of the torch sparked like a small spear, illuminating her face.
Wait for me before you do anything, he’d said.
Patience wasn’t really Kidan’s strong suit.
She brought the fire to the bottom of the cup, watching as the shavings writhed in an effort to escape the heat before becoming ash.
Sweat beaded on her forehead as she worked. Going through the motions—shave, burn, collect ash—and letting her thoughts fade. She needed a large amount of impala horn ash. At least a full bag’s worth.
And today, it was ready.
Next came the tricky part.
Kidan stretched the opening of a black balloon apart and funneled the impala ash inside. Once she tied the balloon, she held it up with a smile. She now had seven balloons filled with impala horn ash.
After wiping her desk down with disinfectant, Kidan exited the room with her hand around the balloon strings.
Uxlay’s campus was a ghost town. Most students were vacationing in Africa, visiting distant relatives. Slen and Yusef were here, though, waiting on Kidan’s call.
She checked her watch again. As previously rogue vampires, Samson, Arin, and Warde had to attend three hours of compulsory induction every day. Kidan could weep before Professor Andreyas for giving her such freedom.
South of the Arat Towers, Adane House appeared like a depreciating, exhausted creature. She didn’t feel the itch to burn it down like her childhood home. It certainly harbored more evil than Mama Anoet’s little house and racked her with nightmarish visions. Yet there were some days, rare days, when the sun concealed the old wooden panels and made it look timeless. This house had stood in Uxlay for generations, passed down through her ancestors as the only tangible thing she knew, and it only felt right that it would outlive her.
Besides, Kidan hoped if she was civil to the house, it would let her master it.
Etete opened the front door with a smile. She looked as though she’d been baking, flour stains on her dark elbows, her Afro hair a short crown around her. At once, the tension in Kidan’s shoulders eased. The heady scent of fresh bread welcomed her in.
Kidan swallowed roughly, her stomach tightening. She gazed at the narrow staircase leading upstairs. “Is she here?”
Etete seemed to understand immediately that Kidan was talking about June. “No, she’s still with the dean.”
Kidan sighed in relief, and the tight coil of dread in her stomach loosened. Right after June showed up, Dean Faris had called her to the office, no doubt to have her explain where the hell she’d been and what her intentions were. Kidan wanted to know too, but she couldn’t think about June until she took care of Samson. It would be in her sister’s best interest if some of Kidan’s anger was unleashed before they spoke.
Pushing the thoughts aside, Kidan wrapped her fingers around the doorknob and tried to twist it like before.
Come on, a little strength.
It didn’t move, let alone bend.
She worked her jaw, trying a few more times before giving up. So much for being nice to the house. She would have to try again later. Now there was work to do.
She crossed the hallway and shoved a chair into the middle of the lounge. There was tape in Susenyos’s desk drawer, and Kidan ripped some with her teeth before standing on the chair. She taped the balloons to the ceiling, placing them equidistant from each other.
Etete’s soft movements interrupted her work. “You should wait for Dranaic Susenyos.”
“He may not come back,” Kidan said, continuing her work. She could feel the burn of Etete’s worried stare. And the house glowed with the shimmering blue wave of her own sadness. She ignored it.
All that was left to do was wait for Samson’s return. At the thought, fire licked across Kidan’s feet, the lounge magnifying her newfound rage. Yes, she needed to harness that instead.
“This came for you,” Etete said. There was a black envelope in the cook’s hands.
Kidan stepped down from the chair and took it slowly. Susenyos always loved his letters, and for a moment her heart raced at the thought that it could be from him. She still carried the last letter he’d written her. But this envelope had unfamiliar symbols printed on it—a five-petaled white flower, a fanged panther, a soaring eagle, a lone oryx, and a blue gemstone. They decorated the bottom of a tall, eerie tower. A dull pang spread through her. With a spike of sudden alarm, Kidan realized she was waiting for him. She should be glad his arrogant, demanding presence wasn’t here. In fact, she was glad. Relieved even. Blowing out an irritated breath, she ripped the seal open.
Congratulations on your graduation from Dranacti. We are thrilled you are progressing so well.
Once again, we cordially invite you to the Arcane Tower to begin your courting. Whether you sway to the Abyss, or favor the soaring Eagle, prefer the Panther over the mighty Oryx, or simply marvel at the Blue Stone, the tower opens its doors to you.
Courting begins on the seventh of each month.
We await your response.
Warmly,
The Arcane Societies
Kidan frowned, flipping the letter this way and that, searching for an answer. “What is this?”
“A marriage invitation,” Etete said. “They’re asking you to come find a husband. Uxlay’s long-held tradition.”
A marriage… Her eyes widened. She was only nineteen, marriage was the last thing on her mind.
This had to be some kind of joke.
Etete chuckled, smiling at Kidan the way a grandmother might, warm and patient. Kidan looked away, clearing her throat. She didn’t like to be reminded of the family she’d never had. But that was exactly what this envelope did. The idea of marriage brought her parents unbearably close, their intertwined hands, their promise to love Kidan and June until the day they abandoned them.
Only to be dead before their children’s sixth birthday. It might be irrational, but if their parents had truly loved Kidan and June, something as simple as death shouldn’t have kept them away. It wouldn’t keep Kidan away.
Inhaling deeply, Kidan pushed away the memories of them to a dark corner in her mind before the house could latch on. There was no point in revisiting that part of her life.
“It says ‘once again.’” Kidan frowned. “But it’s the first time I received this letter.”
Etete’s eyes slid to the side, toward the stairs leading to the second level. When she faced Kidan, she wore a secretive smile. “Dranaic Susenyos discarded the first one.”
There were many explanations Kidan had expected. It had gotten lost in the mail. Etete had forgotten to give it to her. Susenyos was the furthest from her mind. “He did?” she asked coolly, trying to mask her surprise. “When?”
“I believe it was the night you defanged him.” This time, Etete’s words were accompanied with a pointed look. Kidan averted her gaze, fighting the urge to apologize.
“I wonder why he didn’t give it to me,” she said instead, tracing the letter with a small smile.
Etete studied her with an amused look. Kidan straightened immediately, clearing her throat.
“Not that I care. Honestly, I’m too young to be thinking about marriage.”
“Don’t look so miserable. Your mother was the same way before meeting Aman.”
That gave Kidan pause. She’d heard actis like herself only married from the Arcane Societies—a group of normal humans from the outside world. But she doubted anyone willing to marry into a vampire-human society was normal. However, her father, Aman, must have come from the Arcane Societies.
Reluctantly, Kidan’s interest was piqued. “You know about these societies?”
“Know about them?” Etete’s chuckle made her weathered face crinkle. “I came from them.”
“Wait, you did?”
“Have you seen anyone drink my blood?” Her gray brow rose. “I’m not acti. I married into this university of yours.”
Kidan shook her head, baffled she hadn’t known this. Last semester, she’d been so focused on finding June she didn’t pay attention to anything else. Couldn’t afford to.
“I was a member of the Eagle Order,” Etete said, her voice hollow, her eyes tracing the symbol of the Eagle below the tower. “And the Eagle always marries into Ajtaf, Makary, or Delarus House. After I divorced, your grandmother found a loophole that allowed me to stay. I would serve as a house cook here and I’ve remained since.”
Kidan’s grandmother was a faraway entity, just like her mother. Dead before Kidan could memorize their love. Thoughts of her family overfilled and spilled from the corner of her mind. It felt like fluid in the brain, a surge of black water thick with loss, with a reflection of Kidan that smiled often because the people she loved most loved her enough to stay in her life.
Focus on the present, she told herself firmly. The ones that are alive.
Looking into the dead was no different from standing still and letting someone punch you repeatedly. Kidan preferred to be on the move, gun in hand. She crumpled the letter.
“You should go before Samson returns,” Kidan told Etete, and couldn’t help but add, “Please.”
The woman sighed, and the sound made Kidan’s shoulders drop a little. She hated disappointing her. But Etete cleaned the kitchen, changed her head wrap, and left.
Kidan almost called her back when she realized she was alone in the house. The carpet softened like mud pulling at her ankles as she settled on the cold couch. The fireplace wasn’t lit. Susenyos usually did it, and she hadn’t bothered to learn how. One of her pockets was filled with pushpins, the other carried a gun.
It was surprisingly calm.
Enough for her to loosen a tentative breath.
It was a mistake.
The dark furniture and expensive cushions vanished, and three visions roared to life, each a piercing blade into her chest.
GK’s dead body.
June’s last video.
Susenyos’s absence.
Kidan sank into the couch, deeper and deeper until it seemed like there was nothing beneath her. If no one pulled her out, she would suffocate here.
The observatory was where her pain should be. Not here. She tried to move, but her body was filled with water. The only heavy thing, her mind. It was Susenyos. Ever since he left, the house had become erratic, leaking one emotion into another. Toying with her grip on reality.
Where are you?
Right as her bones began to dissolve, sudden footsteps bounded onto the porch. A shudder of warning tore through the house.
Like a swarm of insects, the visions scattered.
Kidan’s feet found the ground. Solid and ablaze.
She released several quick breaths and bent over. This lounge always nurtured her rage, and it was back, curling like a dragon’s tail around her legs.
She straightened slowly and tightened her shaking grip on the gun.
Samson was here.
Kidan stroked the arm of the couch, calming herself and the house.
The floorboards creaked in distress against Samson’s footfalls, hammering like heavy rain as he bounded into the study that doubled as a lounge. His entire face soured when his black eyes landed on her. Old carpet and an oval glass table stood between them—Susenyos’s favorite treasures about to become collateral damage yet again. The carpet, sourced from Saui thread, would be stained with blood, and the beautiful table he prized for the traces of red sea glass shimmering beneath its surface would shatter.
Kidan almost shook her head. Thinking about Susenyos’s treasures instead of taking an axe to them was new and dangerous, a signal of something she didn’t want to examine closely.
Samson moved forward, his boots dragging mud on the carpet. A muscle tightened in Kidan’s jaw. The Nefrasi vampire could be Susenyos’s brother, even though they weren’t biologically related. They shared the same skin tone—a dark brown that was unnaturally smooth, almost reflective under direct sunlight, and a straight nose. But that was where the similarities ended. Samson’s hair was cut close to the scalp, revealing the long scar that started at his ear and disappeared into his shoulder. As if someone had tried to axe his head and missed.
Unfortunately.
His starless eyes browsed over the poor decorations with disgust. The balloons crowded the candle-filled chandelier, sending long shadows along the ceiling like seven cloaked men gathered around a bonfire.
“What is this?” he barked.
“It’s my friend’s birthday.” Kidan’s voice was perfectly neutral, something she’d learned pissed him off. She delighted in it. “Do you want cake—”
“Take it down,” he ordered. “And get my blood.”
Kidan inhaled deeply, gripping the gun tighter inside her pocket. His blood. The blood coursing through her veins. As if her body was no longer hers. This part of their arrangement humiliated her the most.
He extended his metal hand—yet another difference from Susenyos. His entire left forearm was shielded. Kidan rose with great effort and poured a full glass of her blood. She held still, wanting him to come closer, right under the balloons.
Samson crossed onto the carpet and took the glass. He devoured it like he’d never tasted water before. He wiped his pinked lips, his skin becoming sunstruck. His vile eyes tinged red as he exhaled deeply with sickening satisfaction.
A sharp wave of hatred choked Kidan, and she almost shot him right then and there.
The first time he’d asked for blood, she’d refused.
His liquid eyes had lit up like a starved wolf before his hand was around her throat, crushing her windpipe. His metal glove was so cold the bottom of her feet had chilled. Then he had cut her neck with his claw and poured her blood into a glass as if she were a wine casket before throwing her aside.
He didn’t drink directly from her body. Didn’t allow her anywhere near his debased mind, which she supposed was a small mercy.
So Kidan went to Uxlay’s Rojit blood drive like every graduated student and had her blood drawn, brought it here.
“Your only job, heiress, is to get me the mask artifact and tell me what the house law is,” he said, wiping the red from his mouth.
Her eyes trailed the empty glass. This was the nightmare she’d feared for June once.
No one has drunk my blood.
Her sister’s words. Because June hadn’t killed, and she was no murderer. And actis that had not killed could not be fed on. Just like when they were bullied in childhood, June closed her eyes and huddled in the corner until Kidan handled it.
Kidan spoke without looking at him. “I told you a thousand times. Reading a law takes time. Mastering a house law takes time. Class starts Thursday. Until then you’ll have to be patient.”
Samson bared his fangs at her tone, making her flinch. Without wanting to, she recalled the power in his arms, how he’d slammed her head against the bench of that abandoned hall, and shivered. He’d been prepared to do so much worse, would have done much worse, if Susenyos hadn’t given her that clue that saved her life.
Samson was merciless and his rage was always bubbling beneath the surface.
But so was hers.
Moving under the balloons, Kidan placed both hands in her pockets. “I want you to leave.”
Like a wolf drawn to meat, Samson stalked toward her. “You dare order me?”
“I’m having people over.” She glanced up at the balloons, voice casual. “I don’t want them to see who drinks my blood. It’s a little embarrassing.”
His face contorted, deepening his wrath just like she knew it would. His claws extended, black-tipped monstrous nails. One swipe or slash, and he could slit her throat. A drum settled beneath her heart. Out of habit, Kidan’s hand itched to trace her wrist, source power from her butterfly bracelet. Her blue pill used to help her be invincible, unafraid of death.
Without it, she was too human, thinking about inconvenient things like survival.
Samson lunged to the ceiling, all power and muscle, and slashed at the balloons.
Three sharp pops exploded, a savage sound that unleashed an emotion she didn’t think she was capable of. An emotion that only said run. Inside her pocket, Kidan traced the four corners of a square, her symbol for fear. Her body had betrayed her. Locked with the unwelcome realization of how much danger she was in. The knowledge that unlike before, Kidan had things to lose now, to live for.
She couldn’t die here. Exploding ash drifted down to their faces. And if she failed, she would die.
Run. Run.
No, draw a triangle. Now.
She did with great effort, leaning into raw anger. A breath of fresh air.
The ash was slow, almost beautiful, and it gave her time to recover her old self. Samson’s expression turned from furious disgust to confusion when the black particles invaded his eyes. Then his nose. Then his mouth.
“What—” He choked and rubbed his eyes with the heel of his fist. He stumbled a step back, trying to clear his throat. “What the hell did you…”
Move, Kidan screamed at herself. Kill him.
It worked. She quickly threw up a handful of the pins, making the ceiling explode all over, destroying the remaining balloons. Turning the air into gray and black, poisoning him. Her own eyes were stinging, watering, but she didn’t have time to cry. Sometimes, she was afraid if she started crying, she’d never stop. Instead, she coughed twice, swallowing most of the impala ash. It traveled down her throat and into her stomach. Maybe it’d protect her from the inside. Turn her poisonous.
She pulled out her gun—not shaking, good, and waited until Samson cracked one bloodied eye open.
“I’ve been waiting for this,” she said, and shot him in the stomach. Her shoulder snapped back and forth but she’d been ready for it. Raw satisfaction thrummed through her veins.
There was no room for fear.
“Heaven in hell!” he shouted, and collapsed backward, trying to shuffle away.
He had been the one she’d been hunting for. Not Susenyos. This was the shadow that had come to the gardens of her old house and ruined her life.
“I will fucking destroy you.” She barely recognized the venom in her voice.
He cursed her in Amharic, harsh and fast and cutting. “Your friend will die!”
GK.
As if conjured from thin air, the house crinkled with his finger bone chain, soft, warm eyes always warning her of death.
Kidan’s bubble of rage threatened to shatter, fingers shaking on the gun. She had the sense of floating outside her body and watching herself with disgust, like GK would.
Murderer, he would say with horror. The hand of death that would destroy anything good and kind. But destruction was never what fueled Kidan. It was protection. Mama Anoet had to die so June could be safe. GK had to become a vampire so he could live. GK would understand this. He would see the good in her again. All she had to do was earn his trust back. Give him back his humanity.
What if he never forgives you? the cruel part of the house whispered, scattering her pulse. What then?
Samson’s eyes flashed in triumph as if he could hear her wild heartbeat.
Focus.
“I’ll find GK,” Kidan breathed, hoped. “After I send you to hell and get you away from June.”
He tried to laugh but groaned. “June chose me.”
The words made Kidan hesitate for a second, made his form fade in and out. Samson lunged before she could orient herself. He kicked out her legs, and her face raced to the floor. Pain rang down her temple. She struggled to get up. Samson’s metal arm sank into her shoulder, making her yell. Kidan twisted and shot him again, near the shoulder, and he roared backward. She straddled him, adrenaline pumping through her, gun to his chest.
“She’s my sister.” Kidan’s vision grew blurry, voice shaking with rage. “You took her from me.”
Nothing would stop her from killing him. She traced the gun to the left side of his chest. Right where his heart would be. Began to squeeze. For a second, Samson’s black eyes betrayed fear. It seemed to flicker in and out without his control, just like hers earlier. As if he too had something to live for, which meant only one thing. He loved someone or someone loved him.
Kidan got even closer, trying to see into the complete blackness of his gaze. Which poor soul was a victim of his attention? Maybe she should torture him, take away whoever he loved like he’d done to her.
Samson’s fearful expression broke too quickly, cutting her off from seeing any more. Kidan frowned when he gave a weak smile. “Perfect timing, wendem.”
Kidan snapped her head up as a tall figure appeared at the entry. She hadn’t heard the door open. For all the immortal stealth he’d lost, her vampire companion still moved without sound. Her mouth remained open. It felt odd to finally see him in this house. Her heart beat wilder and wilder.
He’d come back.
“Little bird,” Susenyos said, taking in her ashen face and loose braids. Something close to a smile lingered in his tone. “I’m almost jealous. You used to hold me at gunpoint.”
Susenyos Sagad stood silently before Kidan, the side of his face lit by the monstrous window. Her breath caught at his sudden appearance.
He flicked a glance at Samson and back toward her, and the house came to life, fueled by their joined minds. Fire wrapped around Kidan like a second skin, comforting instead of searing. Her lips lifted at one corner, raw relief coursing through her.
Light reflected in Susenyos’s dark eyes, and he gave her a small smile in return. He was fearsome without his smile, cloaked in the stolen beauty of an eclipse. But there were rare moments, like these, when he radiated warmth. It made her feel a little proud, knowing she drew out a different side of him.
Without her active hatred toward him… toward herself, Kidan didn’t know what remained between them. But it was a force of its own, a concentrated ball of magnetic energy that threatened to explode whenever they were in close proximity. But other times, it was gentler, a hand extended over a cliff, dragging her away from the abyss like now.
The creature between her legs tried to move, breaking the haze she was in.
Kidan glanced down and dug the bullet in Samson’s shoulder deeper, making him howl.
The twisted agony on his face was fascinating. As if his physical pain could ever amount to what he’d put her through. Kidan was torn between drawing out her torture or killing him instantly.
She fed her gun into his wound, the act no different than puncturing a too-ripe fruit. A desperate cry tore from him and his blood drenched her fingers, smelling of salt and metal. Susenyos’s intense gaze was distracting, and she could feel it lingering on different parts of her body, trailing down to her parted thighs. A flush crept up her neck.
“Are you going to just stand there?” She flicked a quick glance up.
“I wouldn’t dare interrupt a genius at work.” His voice was a murmur, with something dark lurking in it that she couldn’t identify. “Show me how you end a life, yené Roana.”
Once, those words would have horrified her, but now they only flooded her with delicious energy.
“If you kill me,” Samson snarled through his panting breath, “the blade artifact will be lost.”
Kidan smiled at his attempt to live. “We don’t care.”
The Sage’s artifacts could fade into a black hole and Kidan truly wouldn’t care.
But Susenyos stepped forward. “Three people must know the location of an artifact in case something happens. That’s the Nefrasi way.”
“That was your way,” Samson spat, dark blood in the corner of his mouth. “You kill me here today and you will never find the blade artifact.”
Three artifacts—the Sun, Water, and Death artifacts rumored to free vampires from all restrictions.
Thunder crossed over Susenyos’s features. The paneled walls near him were no longer burning with violent fire, they were rippling, becoming soft as curtains. Traces of concern entered his mind. Those artifacts held power over him. They would always be his utmost priority. Her throat went dry.
“Don’t listen to him,” Kidan said, breathing fast.
“You… would waste… another century… looking for them.” Samson struggled to form words, half weakened, half furious. “And if… Lusidio discovers them before you, what then?”
It was a bunch of babble that didn’t interest Kidan. “Enough of this.”
Yet Susenyos had gone entirely still at the name. Black, twisting tendrils of what could only be terror ensnared his feet, a manifestation of an emotion visible only to them. They extinguished Kidan’s fire and darted toward her like eels. Wrapped around her ankles and burned like fire ants. Panic bloomed inside Kidan’s chest. She waited for Susenyos to speak, to instruct her like before when the house magnified their emotions too much. But he was frozen. Barely seeing her. She’d seen him tortured in the observatory, in the visions of his past, but this was more. Frightening because he wasn’t fighting back.
He always fought back.
“Yos,” Kidan called, hoping to wake him.
He didn’t answer.
Kidan tightened her hold on the gun, calling forth her rage by drawing a triangle on Samson. A cloak of red fire descended from the roof and she welcomed it, letting it fill her lungs. Extinguish the reaching shadow fingers.
Susenyos exhaled and stared at the fading black tendrils in surprise.
Samson’s shoulders struggled to move despite their pinned position.
It was now or never.
“See you in hell,” Kidan said.
She pulled the trigger at the same time as a force collided into her side. Both her arms were knocked off course painfully. The bullet found the leg of a chair and the entire thing exploded on one side. Her gun flew out of her grip and scraped the floor, spinning before going still. She scrambled for it just as a figure flipped her onto her back and pinned her to the floor.
Susenyos… hovered above her, face severe.
“What the hell are you doing?” she shouted, the flames whirling into a tornado around them.
His face was grim, shooting a loathing look to where Samson lay. Still alive.
“He’s right. I need the blade artifact first.”
He was not serious.
Kidan writhed under him, cursing so loud her lungs bled. “We have to kill him now. This is our chance! I swear to God, Yos, I’ll kill you if you let him go. He will kill GK!”
Susenyos stared back with a resigned yet determined look. Her fight slowed as cruel disappointment took root. They’d finally reached an understanding, to work and kill together. He couldn’t abandon her now.
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