looks at the others who shake their heads, all the while knowing they didn’t. Dramatic bunch of bitches, all of them. “I didn’t think so, so tell me, fallen, why are you here?”
This is where it either goes really right or really fucking wrong. I need to make them believe I want to be part of this again without them thinking it’s a trick or laying it on too thick. With a sneer, I start, but make sure to drop my eyes just a fraction to seem somewhat respectful. “You asked me once to stay here, to be closer to the council. I’m tired of the sheep, tired of the stupid fucking hunts I’m sent on. I’m tired,” I admit, and let some of my true frustration leak into my voice. “Tired of sitting on the fence, of not being in either world. I—” I rip open my old wounds, my own fears of never being good enough, and hand it to them on a platter, knowing they will use it against me, but she’s worth it. “I want to be part of this world, I want to belong, to have a family and a home again.”
That’s the key to making them believe, to show them I still hate them but they are the lesser of two evils...to make them think they have finally broken me. My hands are clenched into fists from being so close to vengeance, yet giving my fucking enemies everything they want.
One of them laughs, I can’t tell who. “Took him long enough, fucking experiment.”
I grind my teeth, wanting to lash out, but I control the urge...just.
“If you truly feel that way, boy, you are, of course, welcome here, but we need to trust you, depend on you, so we need your obedience. Prove that to us,” Amos declares, sounding sincere, but I can see the glee in his eyes.
I know what he wants, the only thing I never gave him, gave them—my loyalty...my servitude. They want to see me on my knees before them, showing everyone that their power is beyond measure, that they can control everybody, even the fallen who evaded their clutches for years. That I’m finally theirs to do with what they wish.
Sucking in a breath, I force myself to fall to my knees in the same place my mother was slain. I kneel before the people who wielded the sword. I hate them, I knew it before, but this...this rage towards them is morphing into a hatred so strong I can barely contain it.
I want to see them dead and bathe in the ashes of their demise. I want their blood coating my wings and hands knowing I finally got my revenge. I want their screams, I want their weaknesses, but I can’t. Because my mate comes first.
Save her, then together we can kill them, because these smug bastards are as corrupt as they come, that much is clear, and I’m not letting them get away with it anymore.
They killed my father.
Murdered my mother.
Stripped me of my wings.
I survived it all, but what I can’t survive is them taking my mate from me, thinking she’s disposable, that she is theirs to bend to their whims.
They will pay for it.
I will unleash the madness they created in me, becoming their worst fucking enemy. They won’t see it coming, thinking they can control everyone and everything, but for now I bite my tongue and lower my head, staring lasers into the floor as my knees hit the marble with an audible boom.
To them it’s the sound of my defeat, to me it’s the beat of my war drum. This is the beginning of their end. Either they’ll die or I’ll die trying. I can imagine it now, my mate at my side, striding through the fight with blood covering her as she tears them to pieces. The very person they took, locked up and thought to use, bringing them to their knees. They will kneel before us, before her, see her strength and what real power looks like...and real loyalty.
I can feel their glee, their absolute confidence they are too powerful to touch, but that’s the problem with being at the top, there is only one way to go—down.
“I am whatever you wish me to be,” I growl out, true anger in my tone, I can’t fake that.
They leave me like that, letting everyone see, allowing me to stew in my hatred, another game, another test. I pass it, I don’t move, I