Her eyes flicked to mine and back, very quickly, but not quick enough.
“My brother is going to do his best to help you, but I have my doubts he’ll do what needs to be done, and I have my doubts that you’re brave enough to allow that anger to become something usable, so we’ll see how this future of yours turns out.” I glancedto the pup and then to the mouse. “Who knows, maybe I will finally have someone worthy enough to take under my wing.”
I found her eyes again, watching her watch the city street. The ice in her veins, the way her hair would forever stand on end now, the way every shadow would now be a threat, I could see it. The old girl was dead, and it would do her best to accept that.
My lips twitched into a curl. “It will never stop hurting,” I told her icily. “It’s up to you how you deal with that.” I straightened and lifted my chin. “We have so many Initiates being turned, my sharpened little rose, so many people in need of correcting. Perhaps you can help bring Revelation to this sick and decaying world.”
“Azrael?”
My hand tightened around my cane as I turned, finding the bright green cartoon deer eyes of my brother’s Claim.
She frowned, looking from the awake rose to me. “What are you doing?” she asked, walking around me towards the head of the bed.
The rose shifted, trying to keep her eyes on the city street.
“Humming tunes of the end of times,” I replied easily. “Goodnight, rose. I hope you remember what I said.”
The little mouse looked up, accusation and a slight bit of fear in her eyes. “She’s not going to remember this, they have her on pain medication and sleep aids.”
There was enough of a chance that she would, that it was worth the time I spent on it. “Goodnight, little mouse,” I said with a smile, and headed for the door.
14
Bonus Chapter
Azrael
November 9th, 2022
“Alascer,” the mountains whispered venomously. “It was fucking Alascer.”
Oh, look at that, the game was afoot, as they said. I smiled, as I sat back on my bike outside on a busy street in downtown Denver. Should I pat myself on the back for being the one that helped her find her voice again or was it just a coincidence? “Was it?” I asked.
Neither, I decided. She was a smart girl, that sharpened rose. She was blooming slowly, but surely, those petals of hers growing their own thorns. Pretty soon, she would grow and flourish and become something even worse than her precious Claim, I was sure.
Now, every game had rules, none as much as mine. The mountains were treading far too close to the board I was still setting up. It wasn’t time for anyone to get involved, so I had to play this carefully.
“Did you know?” he half-snarled.
His voice was low, which told me that his precious sharpened rose didn’t know he was making this phone call. I wondered who she thought he was calling. Or maybe she wasn’t wondering at all. She was smart enough to know the rules. The mountains didn’t have to tell her anything if he so chose.
“So, she finally spoke to you, congratulations.”
“Azrael,” he bit.
I leaned back on my bike, taking in the people who were walking up and down the city street, unaware of who sat in their presence. “Stay out of it,” I told him. “Focus on healing the rose before she slashes something with her thorns that will kill her. She survived, now it’s time for you to force her through the healing process, no matter the monster it turns her into.”
“You’re the only monster here, Azrael. This a secret you won’t be able to keep.”
My smile sharpened. “Wake up, dear brother, you have a monster sitting at your table, and she looks just like me.” I hung up and turned to the café just across the street. I could see him sitting at the table, waiting for me. Waiting for the meeting I called. A lord through and through, I supposed.
He checked his watch, clearly irritated that I was so late. How could I be late, he would ask, I had a watch I checked a thousand times a day.
I started my bike back up, revving it once before I sped off down the street, earning a few angry horns as I did. He didn’t deserve a second of my time, my only goal was to waste his.
So, they knew about Alascer. The timetable was speeding up, which could prove to make things a little difficult. They weren’t as smart as me though, no matter how vicious the rose was. It would take her a long time to learn all of my little tricks. I still had hold of all the cards.
15
