“Then do it.”
Before I could move, he clamped his hand over mine, dragging the knife up to his own throat. His gaze never wavered.
“Was she your friend? The one I killed?” His tone was almost lazy, but the cruelty beneath it scraped raw. “Is that why you’re baring your teeth?”
My breath hitched. We’d barely known each other for a few days. So why was my chest burning? The realization cut cold—he wasn’t taunting, he was testing. Testing to see if hatred had wormed into me, if I was tainted. All of us had been spread out, even if the moment had been brief, it was enough for a demon to strike a bargain.
“I’m not a demon,” I spat, hating how desperate the words sounded.
His smile slipped, voice dropping to something colder, truer.
“Exactlywhat a demon would say.”
A sound behind us, footsteps rustling the leaves on the ground. My heart lurched as our three squadmates pushed through the brush. Their eyes became wide at the sight of me holding a knife to the Lieutenant’s throat, his blood on my blade, his hand clamped over mine as though restraining me.
“What the hell?!” Mey shouted, reaching for her weapon.
I stumbled back, panic flooding me. “No! It’s not—”
The Lieutenant let go just in time, staggering a half-step away, his hand pressed to the shallow cut on his arm. He grimaced as if in pain, and raised his voice loud enough for them to hear.
“She snapped.” His words dripped with cold, manufactured regret. “I confronted her about what happened to Carolyn, and she turned on me.”
“That’s a lie!” I snarled, but the knife still gleamed red in my hand, his blood staining it. His expression was perfect, disappointment carved across a mask of control, the kind a commanding officer wore when burdened with ugly truths.
Nate and Mey exchanged uneasy looks, while Ashley looked blank as a paper.
“Shekilled her?”
The Lieutenant’s gaze flicked to mine, sharp, victorious, just for me. He turned to them with weary finality.
“Look at her eyes, she’s tainted, I tried to stop her.”
My stomach dropped. The weight of his trap snapped shut around me, every angle rigged. My voice broke, desperate.
“That’s not—! He killed Carolyn! He—”
“Enough,” his bark cut through mine, authoritative and merciless. “Stand down, recruit, before I’m forced to put you down too.”
The knife trembled in my hand. For a moment, all I could see was his smirk, that glint of triumph for my eyes only, hidden from the rest.
He had framed me perfectly. The worst part? A part of me wanted to drive the blade home anyway, consequences be damned.
The squad was ordered to take me back to Blackreach and put me in a cell.
Our Lieutenant stayed behind and made sure that the demons were kept off the southern tower. Mey and Nate kept their distance, as if I was diseased or something. Ashley remained like her usual self. I wasn’t sure what was going on inside of their heads right now. I only knew that they believed I killed a fellow squadmate.
Had they missed her being a mage by any chance? That she had ice slowly melting around her body on the ground? The silence was awful, and we had to continue all the way home, walking all night simply to avoid sleeping—obviously, because none of them dared to let me take a watch. Was I a demon in their eyes or were they simply masking themselves and following orders?
I had to keep going, let them take this moment of hesitation before telling them the truth. If I pushed too hard now, it would only make me look even more suspicious.
When we finally arrived, starved and tired, Mey took the lead to inform the first camp soldier we met. He waved a group of guards over, who escorted me away from my squadmates. I glanced back at my own group, and felt something building inside of me as I met their confusedeyes. There was no disgust, they just simply didn’t know what to think of the situation. I couldn’t blame them for it.
The soldiers guided me into the main building, following the long hallway past the dining room and debriefing room, before taking a turn and reaching a staircase that spiraled down. The interior shifted quickly. If I had thought the dining halls to be damp, this was even worse. Cobblestone walls, a dim light cast by torches that were barely able to hold on and the air reeking of despair. Cold, like the temperature had dropped several degrees down the stairs alone, and a sudden silence.
They opened a gate of metal bars, and lazily waved for me to go inside. There was no point in making it difficult. The lock clicked behind me as they prepared to leave.
“Hey… Don’t I at least get some water and something to eat?” I tried, sending them a faint smile along with the words.
