deep breath. In the distance, I hear my father’s cry.
“Oh, yes! To the victor go the spoils!”
I stay myself.
“Come now,” he snaps. “What are you waiting for?”
I look down at my false sister. She looks up at me. I hear the echo of her words: Killing a soldier gives you a taste for the dark. But killing your sister . . . Now, that’ll send you right over the edge. Neither of us shifts. Our father’s impatience crackles through the glade. Rain starts to spill from the sky.
“What’s it to be, Goldie?” he shouts. “Light or dark? Death or life? Fragility or power? Your sister or me. It’s time to make your choice.”
Showdown
I hesitate. I remember that spark of regret in Bea’s eye, before the kill. I want her to suffer, I want her to die, I want to be the one who—but does she deserve it? It’s my father who demands my rage. It’s he who turned and tainted us all. I stay my hand.
“Come on! Chop, chop!” His voice is a whip that cracks across my knuckles. “Make up your fucking mind!”
The rock is wrenched from my grip. It lifts into the air, hovers for a second, then falls. I see shock in Bea’s eyes as it drops, fear too and relief. Then her face is gone.
I whip round to see my father, golden eyes flashing, grinning like a naughty schoolboy caught with his hand in the biscuit tin.
“Oops.”
“What did you do?” I scream. “You wanted me to kill her—why did you do that?”
He shrugs, as if he’d done nothing more than swat a fly. “She’d served her purpose. I had no more use for her.”
I step away from Bea’s body. “Her purpose?”
My father sighs. “It’s you I want, Goldie. It’s you I’ve wanted all along. From the beginning, from the moment you were born—the darkness in you . . . By the Devil but it’s magnificent.” He plucks the petal of a rose, rubbing it between finger and thumb. “Bea had darkness, certainly, but her motivation was off—she only wanted to please me.” He shrugs. “Daddy issues. But you . . .”
My father looks at me as if I’m the only girl in the world—either on Earth or in Everwhere. Only Leo has ever looked at me this way. It’s intoxicating. It’s all I’ve ever wanted, to be loved like this.
My father steps towards me. I look up at him, lifting my palm to his face. He covers my hand with his own and he holds me. My small hand rests in his and I gaze into his golden eyes, so soft, so safe.
“Imagine what we could do, you and me.” His voice is a whisper, his smile kind, his eyes full of love. “Imagine, an eternity together . . .”
I nod. My father leans down to kiss my cheek. I close my eyes.
No—this is not love.
I shake Leo off. I don’t want to hear him now. My father wraps his arms around me. I sigh into his chest. My first love. Without him, I wouldn’t even be . . .
“Daughters like you come along once in a century,” he whispers. “I’ve been waiting all your life for you to join me. You have such power, such potential”—he holds me tighter—“I got giddy thinking of all the destruction we could inflict together, the devastation, the despair . . .” He tips his head down to kiss my lips. “So, would you like to do the honours, or shall I?”
I pull back to look up at him. “Do what?”
A flash of annoyance creases his face. “Why, kill your sisters, of course.”
The shock of his words pins me. I can’t let go, can’t step away. The air is dense, pressing down, trapping my breath, fogging my thoughts.
“I’m happy to do it.” He gives a slight shrug. “But I thought you might like them to be your first—”
I shake my head.
“Come now, don’t be so quick to dismiss me.” His smile spreads slowly, as if anticipating the massacre. “You might even enjoy it. And afterwards”—desire fills his golden eyes—“We can . . . celebrate.”
“No,” I say, finding my voice. I pull away, step back. “I won’t.”
“Oh, Goldie.” His voice is soft with disappointment, sorrow. “Don’t you want an eternity together?”
Slowly, I shake my head.
“You’re so strong.” He sighs. “Why do you have to be so weak?”
I stare at him, meeting the disgust in his golden eyes.
Leaves settle on my shoulders as I step towards my sisters. Splinters of lightning cleave