hurt more than the first one, huh?”
“Yeah. But you’re not alone in this, remember?” Soul said.
I brought my scythe down with all the rage I could muster—most of it aimed at Spirit for all the senseless murders he’d committed. And for what? To piss Death off? What a selfish trash bag that guy had been.
The pillar broke in half, and every symbol Spirit had drawn with the nymph’s blood shone red for a moment before it all vanished, and the stones fell on the ground, white and barren. The Beta element had been broken.
“Woo-hoo!” Phantom exclaimed. “Two down, three to go! Kelara, you are definitely our star, darling!”
I wanted to smile. I wanted to experience relief, too. But the pain that burned through me was so powerful, I couldn’t even stand anymore. Dropping to my knees, I bent forward, letting go of my scythe. Soul was close again, but I could barely hear him.
Morning sobbed. “Oh, I can feel him now,” she said. “I can feel my brother. He’s in so much pain… so much of it…”
“Yeah, tell me about it,” I groaned, curling into a fetal position while Soul tried to comfort me with his touch. His fingers felt cold. Hot ice spread through my stomach, working its way up my throat.
“You can feel him, too?” Morning asked me.
I cried out in agony. “And then some!”
“He’s trying to reach out,” Morning said.
“Well, he picked a funny way of doing it,” Soul grumbled, resting one hand on my shoulder.
Whatever happened next, I knew he was right. I wasn’t alone in this. Despite the pain, despite the troubling memories and the horrible truth that had led to our presence on Cruor in the first place, I found a sliver of comfort in the fact that we’d taken two Beta elements down. There were three left, and I had no intention of stopping now.
The more I hurt, the more determined I became to undo as many of the wrongs Spirit had committed as possible. The more I hurt, the more thankful I was that Soul and the others were with me. No one had claimed this would be an easy journey. But damn, no one had estimated how agonizing this would be, either.
Nethissis
Veliko told his Darklings to stand back as they waited for the Whip to enter. Considering where we were, it didn’t take long to put two and two together and figure out who the Whip really was. Chills ran through me as I considered the implications and the risks she posed to Esme and her crew.
“Don’t do anything unless I order it,” Veliko warned his six men. “I’m not sure how effective the Whip is in her position. We might have to topple the hierarchy in order to achieve our goals.”
One of the black guards sucked in a breath, his eyes bulging. “Wait, you want to go against the Whip?! We didn’t sign up for this, Scholar!”
“It’s too late now. You’re here with me, and if you disobey my orders, I promise you there will be hell to pay,” Veliko replied. “Do you want the Darklings to succeed and save our entire species, or do you want us to languish under incompetent leadership?”
The Darklings thought about this for a moment, exchanging nervous glances. In the end, they agreed to stay, though they obviously didn’t relish the prospect of taking on the Whip. Veliko had quite the pair on him, I had to give him that.
“Good. Then we’re all on the same page, so follow my lead and do as I tell you. Greatness awaits,” he continued, turning around as the door opened.
Petra Visentis walked in. She kept her chin up and her lips pressed into a thin line, not hiding her displeasure at seeing Veliko. The air became thick, her presence adding an almost palpable degree of pressure.
“What are you doing in my house?” she asked, her tone clipped.
“Well, Zoltan is out, and I’m the new—” Veliko replied, but Petra cut him off.
“The new Scholar? Are you delusional? You have not received my permission to claim that title.”
“I’m the best equipped to take Zoltan’s place,” he insisted.
Petra chuckled, closing the door behind her. “After the mess you and Zoltan made, it’s hilarious that you have such audacity.”
“That whole thing was Zoltan’s fault, not mine! I advised him, I begged him to do things differently. But he didn’t listen, and now he’s been captured and will be put to death because of it!”
“The fact that you were unable to change his