righteous. This is just. This is God’s work.
No matter the cost.
“Spare her. Turn back from this path. Do not convince her to do whatever it is you’re planning.” He sighed tiredly. He knew it was pointless to try to convince an Ancient. But he had to try. “I do not want to do this. But make no mistake, I will. Your time on this Earth is done. It is time for us all to die. Accept it. Save her the agony.”
Silence was all that answered him.
And he knew silence was all that he’d ever receive.
With a slump of his shoulders, he turned and left the tower. He hoped he would not have to return.
But his hopes rarely ever came to pass.
Cora woke up to the sound of music softly playing. It was classical. She stretched, yawned, and shoved her head back into the pillow with a quiet grunt. She felt rested. Honestly rested. That felt like it hadn’t happened in forever.
Gee. I guess that’s what you get when you either have your boyfriend’s shadow or some eldritch demi-god mucking around in your head instead of letting you sleep. She wasn’t sure if they were better or worse than being kept awake by the nearly constant pain they had replaced.
When she finally felt like moving, she sat up, slid the little pocket door open, and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. Simon was sitting at the kitchenette table, humming quietly and sketching something on a piece of paper in front of him. He had his sunglasses in his free hand and was twirling them by one of the hinges.
Something about him always made her pause. She leaned her head against the jamb of the door and watched him. His curly dark hair fell around his face in wild strands. He was all sharp angles and stark contrast. His black silk shirt stood out against his pale skin and the crimson vest he was wearing. His coat was thrown over the back of the chair.
He was beautiful.
Evil.
But beautiful.
It was her fault that she was so attracted to him. It was her fault that she had fallen in love with him. It definitely called her morals into question. I’m refusing to kill a man, but I’m dating a murderer. She rolled her eyes. She was a hypocrite. She wanted to eat her steak and not know what happened to the cow.
She stood and walked toward him. He glanced up at her briefly. “Good morning, cupcake.”
“Is it morning? What the hell time is it, anyway?” She looked out at the nothingness that was the sky.
“Seven a.m. You slept for about eighteen hours by my count.”
“Holy shit.” She chuckled and sat down in the chair across from him. “Guess I was tired.”
“I guess so.” He smirked and looked back down at the drawing he was working on. It looked like a landscape. “Did you sleep well? I hope your ghosts let you sleep.”
“My ghosts?”
He pointed idly at the wall with his glasses. She looked over and saw his shadow looming there, grinning at her. The shadow waved.
She smiled back at him. “Oh. Yeah. They did. Both him and the Faire. Thank you, sweetheart. I needed the rest.” She laughed as Simon’s shadow’s eyes turned into hearts. Pointed, evil, swirly hearts. But hearts, nonetheless.
“Stop encouraging him.” But Simon was still smirking as he went back to drawing. “I expect you’re hungry.”
Her stomach rumbled on cue, and she smiled as she sat back in the chair. “I am.”
“I think we should attend breakfast at the cafeteria.”
“Why? I mean…you hate everyone. And last time, you murdered them all.”
He didn’t look up from his artwork. “It’s nothing new. I’m sure they’ll all hold a grudge for a while and glare at me a bit more than usual, but I’m accustomed to it. And as to why? I think I have been keeping you too insular. I think it’s time you feel like you belong here. You should make…friends.”
The way he said the word with such loathing, like it was painful to say, made her snicker. “You’re just saying that because you want me to kill Ringmaster. You want me to feel attached to everyone.”
He glanced up at her with an eyebrow raised. “Is it that obvious?”
“Mmhm.”
“Damn.” He looked back down at his sketch. “Thwarted again. Tell me something. When Mr. Harrow—when Harrow Faire—gave you the option to leave this place in exchange for killing us all, you couldn’t do it. You were willing to throw away