The thought tightens in my chest until it aches faintly.
I shut off the water and exit the shower before the thought brings me to tears, dragging the thin hotel towel around me as if I can wrap myself in resolve instead.
They’ll understand one day.
With a clean pair of black, loose cotton shorts and an equally boring black tank from satchel now on, I pad barefoot across the carpet and collapse onto the bed. The mattress sags beneath me, lacking in lumbar support, but for tonight it’s enough.
Tomorrow, I’ll face the questions. Ms. Tomlinson's too-bright smile at what I am, the strings attached to that scholarship, and how to get a blood supply in this world.
Tomorrow is the real first day of my new life.
I pull the covers back, sliding under them to curl up on my side. The hum of city life outside the balcony doors is a lullaby I never thought I’d crave.
Sleep should come easy after a day like this, but the moment I close my eyes, my chest stays tight, like something inside me refuses to unclench and give way to unconsciousness.
I roll onto my back, staring at the ceiling where the shadows bend and stretch from the moonlight breaking through the thin curtains.
Elias’s cool, steady gaze comes to mind, quickly replaced with Callum’s grin. The heat of both of their hands.
Their defeated gazes as they got into that damned car.
I groan and flip onto my side, shoving the pillow beneath my cheek. I shouldn’t care. I don’t evenknowthem. But the image of them tensing at their Uncle appearing, shoulders squared under the weight of expectation, presses hard against me.
It’s not fair.
The unfairness digs under my skin until I’m restless, shifting beneath the blankets like I can throw it off. He’s clearly not a good guy and a part of my heart rebels at the idea of them being stuck with him.
They may have their own issues, but I know nothing good can come from being groomed by a man like that.
I shake the thought away, pressing my fist against my sternum as if I can quiet the ache there. Sleep finally drags me under some time later, heavy and fractured, with the brothers’ faces lingering behind my eyelids.
The subtleclickof the door lock giving way rouses me from sleep, and instantly I focus in on the sound of a gun cocking.
My body doesn’t hesitate. Instinct rises faster than fear, and I pull from inward, reaching for the bond that thrums hot at my sternum. Kael and Lyra spill into existence with a shimmer, the hilts molding perfectly to my grip.
“At last, some time to play,”Kael growls, his voice rumbling like thunder.
“Don’t hesitate, Briar,”Lyra whispers.“Taking their lives will be a mercy to all future magical targets they would have killed.”
For once, my daggers are in agreement. Kill.
I may have had thousands of hours of practice with fighting and combat, but never have I had to take a life.
My mom’s words push to the surface, a haunting reminder.“You’ve never seen war and bloodshed. You’ve never seen the people you love slaughtered or been forced to kill them with your own hand.”
Thankfully these aren’t people I love. They can rot in hell.
The door crashes inward, wood splintering against the wall as people pour into the room with black helmets, padded vests, movements sharp and practiced.
Hunters.
The air thickens with their numbers, heavy boots thudding across the carpet as they surge toward me.
I slide from the bed, bare feet gripping the carpet, every muscle coiled. The first hunter lunges, a baton raised high. I twist, fluid and fast, and drive Kael upward, slipping cleanly into the narrow gap between helmet and vest. A hot spray of blood bursts across my knuckles. The man collapses with hands raised to his neck as if he can shove the blood back inside if he wills it.
Another comes from my left. I pivot low, hair whipping across my face as I sweep his legs from under him. Lyra whistles in delight as I shove her tip through his throat, the steel parting flesh with ease.
The room seems so much smaller as I gracefully move through the space, using the walls to dart away and jump off of for force. Every heartbeat is followed by a strike of my dagger, every breath a kill.
