“I don’t know.” I crossed my arms, avoiding his stare. “I need to think this through. Let’s go to class.”
As I turned to walk away, his hand gripped mine, anchoring me in place.
“Are we good?” he asked, his eyes searching mine for reassurance.
I took a deep breath. “If you let me use you as a fencing punching bag, maybe.”
A faint smile tugged at his lips. “It’s my pleasure.”
Istalked through the library, my steps echoing on the stairs leading to the rooftop.
At the Tacticians’ demand, I’d spent the past hour fixing our chess app. Though I generously made it a public software for the Tacticians, they lacked the brilliance to improve it—until today. Whoever that was made it useless to use, with one tiny error in the code, but that wasn’t what captured my attention. He or she enhanced my code, boosting the AI’s power.
The intruder also left a message: Will you see me now?
In a different scenario, I might have been impressed and even pissed, but another revelation consumed my thoughts. I threw open the door to my sanctuary, crushed the snow under my feet, and gripped the balcony railing with clenched fists.
Memories of my first night at Pantheon flooded back. Three years ago, I stood in that same spot, a silhouette against the night sky, remembering what the Merciers took from me, the haunting thoughts echoing in the silent darkness. The idea of plummeting into oblivion, mirroring my mother’s fate, had teased the edges of my mind, but then wasting the genius of my brain would have been a shame.
Three years ago, a glimmer of hope called to me.
Revenge.
I closed my eyes, the biting wind and snow slamming against my face. Revenge fueled my resolve to livea bit more—the desireto ascend from the ashes, resurrected and vengeful. Bruno Mercier was the final justice I needed to serve.
I’d planned for Dalia and me to cross paths again, right here, in the place that held the most significance for her. For nine years, all I ever wanted was to loathe her, but I never could entirely, and I hated myself for it. I’d live until I exacted my revenge, taking everything from her just as she had infiltrated my mind, my veins, my very existence since we were kids. That used to be my plan.
To never be powerless again.
To watch them kneel before me.
To break her so she’d always remember me. She would never love me. How could she? I was unlovable. So if I took everything from her, I’d live through her eyes. It was all I ever wanted. If I couldn’t make her love me, I’d force her to remember me.
And then, I’ddie.
I never saw anything past that. It was all blackness. But ever since Dalia showed up, all the blackness had dissipated.
The door flung open behind me, jolting me from my thoughts. My eyes darted over my shoulder, my brows furrowing. A small figure trudged through the white blanket of snow, heading in the opposite direction of me while muttering incomprehensible words.
I recognized this short boy with wavy locks.Michel. My senses sharpened as he approached the edge of the roof, his movements unsteady, his body trembling.What is he doing?!He crossed the railing, and the hair on my skin hissed. He turned to face the void, his hands clutching tightly around the barrier.
Before I could think, the snow beneath my feet crackled with each step. I approached him cautiously, the icy tendrils of the wind whipping strands of hair across my forehead. My heart thundered in my chest. He still didn’t notice my presence, mumbling sentences, tears wrecking his eyes.
“Michel—” I began.
“My name is Miguel, asshole!” he bit out. “Leave me alone! It’s not like you’re going to stop me anyway.”
My jaw contracted. I’d failed with my mother. I couldn’t fail with him too. I couldn’t keep on failing. It was as if the universe was making me pay for it over and over again.
“I won’t,” I said, taking another step forward to him, keeping my cool. “I mean, it’s the ideal place to die, really. It’s poetic. I’d have picked this one myself.”
His face contorted into a grimace directed my way. “I’m not a coward. This way, everyone will remember my name! Everyone will finally know that I exist!Everyone will see me now!”
Will see me now.
The code.
He was the one who enhanced my code. He’d given me a clue—it was a cry for help. My mother had started giving away her things just before she passed. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t noticed the same pattern.
