I press the sharp blade to his throat.
“This doesn’t have to end like this,” he says, pleading. “Drop the blade, princess. We can find a way out of this. I love you.”
There’s no other way. We both know it. It’s either him or me.
One of us has to die.
To be the sacrifice.
How many women before me have done it? Sacrificed everything they hold dear, everything that brought them meaning and joy, just so someone else they loved could climb higher up the mountain, could reach the very top of it while they stayed at the bottom, or worse—tumbled to their deaths?
How many women have gotten on their knees, on all fours, and bent their backs so their lovers could use them as a stepping stool to a greater future? How many have had to stay hidden in the shadows of powerful men, shriveling, until nothing but their own shadow was all that was left of them?
How many more will there be after me?
I won’t do it. I won’t sacrifice. He’s not worth it. Not after everything he’s done.
A tear escapes and rolls down my cheek, onto Daegel’s face. I can see the moment hope flickers alive in his eyes as they widen a fraction.
I can’t do it.
I can’t do it.
I can’t do it.
No,a dark voice roars at the back of my mind.You can do it. And you will.
He’s responsible for Roman’s death.
He wanted to control me.
He’s the one who turned the blind eye on those poor kids being drugged and sold to slavery.
He’s the one willing to be the puppet of monsters so he could sit on the throne of power.
I grip the blade tighter.
“I love you.” The words are thick in my throat. Daegel’s lips part. “But you’re not good for me, or Ekios.”
Hiss sssoul,the trickster god hisses.
Have it.
There is no fear in his eyes as I press the blade harder and slide it across his throat.
Daegel’s eyes widen, and he chokes.
I don’t look away.
With an aching heart, I take in every second of this moment. The blood pouring out of his throat and down his torso. The fire in his eyes dimming with each heartbeat, until there is not a single trace left.
Just an empty dark void.
I let go of his hair and his body falls forward with a heavydunk. Through the pulse slamming in my ears, I can barely hear the crowd cheering, chanting my name.
Slowly, I look up.
My mind and heart are empty.
