I don’t see Carys, Esta, or Koda yet. I scan the crowd for them, at the same time trying to figure out the best place for Roman and me to situate ourselves—preferably with a wall at my back so nobody can sneak up behind me…
A moment later, I catch Koda’s cobalt hair from the corner of my eye as he steps up behind us, as if he, too, just arrived.
When I last saw Koda, his face and chest were a mess, one eye was shut, and he could barely stand. Now, his skin is flawless again and he moves easily.
He stops and takes in the scene like I did.
“We’re supposed to enjoy ourselves,” he says with a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. “Get drunk. Have sex. The elites will throw themselves at you.” He inclines his head at the inscription above the door—which also appears on this side. “What’s your pleasure, Nova?”
I start to shake my head—nobody is going to proposition me—but Koda glares at me. “Yes, even us outcasts. The elites are smart enough to know that anyone could win this thing now. That wolf you fought was obviously intended to rattle you, but I’m told you took it down with a single punch. The elites will want to shore up their status and gain favors with you, too. With each of us.” His smile turns into a snarl. “They’ll make the rounds from one of us to the next. You may as well enjoy it.”
As he takes a step away from me, my hand snakes out to grab his arm.
He freezes and glares down at me.
It’s a reckless move on my part, but my instincts are firing. All I know for sure about Koda is that he was so desperate to stay alive and avoid the trials that he crossed the gates into Earth.
“You didn’t use your power when you fought Reaper,” I say.
Koda’s lips draw back from his teeth. “My power is fucking useless. I’m the runt of the litter. Everyone knows it. My father must have felt it intensely because he turned to another woman to produce his seventh child.”
There was a time when I believed my father was a monster and that his actions were thoughtlessly cruel, but I no longer believe his intentions were that simple.
Still, I don’t release Koda, and for the briefest moment, I focus on the pulse at the base of his neck. “You healed well,” I say, to keep him talking.
His lips twist. “Now that my mother hates Arga, it seems she can tolerate my existence.” The snarl on his lips increases. “For the first time in my life, she decided it was worth sending me a healer.”
His fear of failure isn’t difficult to see, but the memories beneath it are confronting. It’s a fear that has been honed by harsh words, contempt, and sustained violence—especially instigated by Crone, but even when being overlooked by his mother.
In the split second that I find Koda’s fear, his memories rush through my mind in painful splashes… Crone belittling him in front of his brothers. Crone inciting Arga to hurt him. His brothers converging on him repeatedly, using him as a target to practice their powers—pain, sadness, regret—over and over while they made themselves stronger…
I let Koda go, feeling cold inside.
He’s like stone as he stares back at me. “I know what you’re doing,” he says. “But my fear is obvious. I’m accustomed to it being used against me.”
“I don’t want to use it against you,” I say, a truth that surprises me. “I want to understand it.”
Koda takes another look at me, his cobalt-blue eyes narrowing, his head tilting. “You sound like our father.”
His forehead creases as he studies me, but then his jaw tightens. “He once told me that I would find my power when I truly needed it.” Koda’s sudden glare is hard and cold. “Are you a liar like him, Nova?”
My lips part, ready to reply, but Koda swings away from me, stepping into the crowd and making his way to the fountain farthest from Arga. Sure enough, within seconds, elites converge on him, plying him with drinks.
It dawns on me that there are four fountains and four contenders. Judging by the expectant glances from the demons sitting at the curved couches around the remaining two fountains, I’m expected to claim a fountain for myself.
“Oh, fuck that,” I snarl beneath my breath.
I turn to Roman’s low chuckle. There’s no humor in his expression. “You have choices to make here, Nova. What you do next is entirely up to you. Just know that whatever you choose, I’ll watch your back.”
The idea of grinding hips with elites repulses me, but I wonder what my other options might be since Crone made it clear that attendance is compulsory.
As I narrow my eyes at the entire group, and the elites at the remaining fountains start to shift in their seats, I sense another presence arriving beside me.
I turn to Esta, who is dressed in a flowing, strapless evening gown that stops at her ankles. I’m intrigued to see that her feet are bare again. I’m starting to wonder if it has something to do with her power, that she somehow needs the connection with the ground, no matter where she is.
Her hair is pulled back, a golden clip at the side of her head, but her eyes are red, her cheeks puffy. She’s clearly been crying.
I look for her mother, but Tyrus is the only one with her. The hulking demon steps off to the side, taking up position inside the door.
