CHAPTER 40
“You think you have power?” Nix’s voice sounded even lower than before, like it emerged from a buried depth inside her that had never seen sunshine. Her copper eyebrows lifted.
The stage felt like it shook beneath her feet, but Nix stood, firm and unshakable.
“Nix, you really should calm yourself,” Kellan said plainly, still not appearing threatened in the least.
“Nix, something is…” Bael started and trailed off when another large shaking came from the floor below them.
“You think you can do whatever you want to us?” Nix asked Kellan. The basilisk shifter stepped right next to Kellan, so Nix averted her gaze and stared down at Sarasa. Lifeless. Cold.
Used.
“We are not props,” Nix growled under her breath. “We are not pets.” Nix slammed both of her hands onto the cart, right above where Sarasa’s head laid. “We are not objects. We are not WEAK.”
The stage shook so hard, a crack formed in the center and…rippedinto a long line, cleaving through the stage.
Darkness, shadows with life, poured from the large crack and filled the bottom of the stage like black smoke.
Nix announced loudly, “We will not be EXPLOITED.”
“Nix,” Bael yelled out, but Nix could hardly hear him over the ringing in her ears. “Fucking Hell.”
So much rumbling. So much…rising.
Chards of glass from the ceiling fell as a crack came from above them as well. Two mirroring cracks. One letting in light and one letting in dark.
Nix did not know what was happening, but she felt the two tears—one from below and one from above—in her chest as she shrieked, and flames jumped from her. The flames encased Sarasa’s body, covering every inch of her but not burning her.
Looking down, Nix saw black vein-like lines running from Nix’s fingers and up her arms. The black ran like ink snakes dripping further over her skin and slithering into shapes and lines.
The flames coating Nix’s skin glowed a dark red color she had never seen before.
“Good gods.” Thierry’s voice rang out from the spot at the bottom of the stage where Nix instructed her mates to wait for her.
Nix narrowed her eyes on the flames covering Sarasa as she spoke to Kellan. “You think you can poison my body, so it does whatyouwant?”
Nix felt a shattering happen deep in her chest, and power exploded from her. Flames rose ten feet in the air above her head.
Bael fell to his knees, bowing and looking away as bright, hot, white flames ignited around Nix’s hairline like a crown.
“You think you can use her corpse?” Nix shrieked at Kellan as she squeezed Sarasa’s shoulders. “She should be alive right now! She should be alive!”
More glass fell from the crack in the ceiling. The stage’s jagged split grew, shaking the ground so hard that even the cart shuddered. The black vein-like lines began slithering from Nix’s hands onto where she touched Sarasa’s shoulders.
“She should be alive!”
The black lines appeared over Sarasa’s face, and her body convulsed. Once. Twice.
“Stop her!”
“A phoenix!”
“She will bring death to us all!”
“Nix, you’re going to—” Bael started.
Sarasa’s back shot up from the cart, and she gasped for breath. Everyone froze, stunned at what had just happened. Had Nix just…brought her back to life?
