I love seeing Selene fight because I know she can hold her ground, but I need to cool this down. “Where am I going?” I ask.
“We’re going to the Vitalis,” Sofia replies, then she floats another mage light over me, helping me see my next step.
“Why did you tell him?” Sable hisses.
“So you’d all shut up. Tell him the rest, or I will,” Sofia responds. Why do I sense her eyes on my back?
“You’re no fun,” Sable grunts. She can’t stand someone else stealing her thunder, so she spills everything like a rainstorm.“The Vitalis is the book of runes, the book Everett was after. I found all the little details Everett thought he hid from me.”
“If you found them, it’s only because he wanted you to.” Selene sours Sable’s glory. “Did you pause to ponder the reason, or did you simply embrace your customary ignorant role?”
“Hedidn’twant me to find them!” Sable rebuttals. “Everett killed so many, Selene, all for the runes. The brother you thought was selfless was, in fact, the most selfish man alive. He wanted the runes so he could rule.”
“And your noble hearts want them to what?” Selene counters.
Stale air dances over my forehead; we’re getting deeper into the heart of the fallen mountain. So deep, this tunnel survived the impact. Reaching up, I touch my heart. Everett’s magic will leave me soon. I never mourned his sacrifice; I had a piece of him inside of me, still living. Soon I won’t.
When will it happen? As soon as I see the Vitalis, or after I touch it? When do I prepare to bid farewell?
“I never cared about ruling, Selene.” Sable savors this moment like one sucks a spoonful of sweets. “I cared about endings.”
“So your dream is to find the runes and set the world on fire, to sit on a throne of embers and ashes.”
“Every throne is built on ash, Selene! You’re still blind. I don’t want a throne. I want everything and nothing at all. I want suffering, misery and demise. It’s my purpose, like my magic.”
“You’re mad. You always have been.” Selene’s words are held together with pity. Selene paints a picture in which she hates her twin. But deep inside her is a seed her magic keeps alive, a small flower of hope that her twin can change. I wish I could tell Selene that the flower she is protecting is a weed that will spread and harm her. There is no saving Sable. No one wants a shell with holes.
“What is madness, but another way of thinking? Why is your way right and mine wrong?”
“Because massacre isn’t right, Sable. We’re not beasts. We have minds, subconsciousnesses that think and feel.”
Sable lowers her voice, as though she’s sharing a secret. The words that emerge are a steadfast force, an avalanche grabbing my ankles. “My subconscious was stolen long ago.”
“It was never stolen. You just locked it away.”
“That’s how I survived.”
“You could have turned to me, your twin.”
“A twin is not a gift, Selene. It is a mirror that points out all your flaws, as father often reminded me. You don't break something beautiful; people would notice. You grab something ugly, this way no one realizes what you have done, because the person was already overlooked, Selene.”
Selene snorts, “Finally, we can agree. I saw every stain within you and made sure it did not mar me.”
“Don’t listen to her,” Hector chides, his feet moving to Sable’s side. I can’t help but look over my shoulder. His words are soft, but his eyes are stone.
Oh, Sable, you have no idea what’s coming.He’s going to flay you alive, and I’m going to watch. I just need to slip these cuffs off, kill Sofia and Hector, get the Vitalis, and save my mate.
“Sofia has been more of a sister than you ever were,” Sable adds.
“Poor Sofia,” Selene acknowledges. “If Sable considers you a sister, be prepared for a knife in your back.”
I smirk when I hear Sofia’s steps falter.The truth can be so utterly bitter.
A smack sounds. I turn, spotting Selene’s face angled from Sable’s hit. I lift a foot, ready to kill Sable. I see red, but in that haze, I spot Hector’s brow arched in my direction. I’ve gainedno ground since killing Galen, forced to watch my mate being attacked.
Selene doesn’t bother touching her cheek, blinking the attack off like it was nothing. “I thought you had a better hand, Sable. Pride has weakened you.” Selene’s smirk is a stable flame piercing through the dim light.
Sable stops, standing like a pillar blocking Selene from me. “Do you know how you sharpen a knife, sister? You glide it over softer stone. I turned my weaknesses into strengths. Used them to sharpen all my dull edges, every aspect of me that resembled you, I removed.”
