“The violation of this decree is not only illegal, it also presents a clear and ongoing threat to our kind. It allows for offspring that endanger the Gray by draining it of its magic, thereby jeopardizing the shadows and our way of life.”
This time, I swear I see the Hue snigger, though that doesn’t make a lick of sense given that he’s about to die.
“You will all do well to remember what you witnessed here today,” Denata continues, turning his attention to the sea of acolytes hanging off his every syllable. “For it is a needless tragedy and an unnecessary burden on the members of this tribunal, who have no choice but to call for the Sapphire’s immediate execution. Does the condemned wish to address the court before his sentence is carried out?”
Alongside the shock of the Hue’s color comes a shock at the speed of it all—how in the space of a minute, he went from accused, to condemned, to being offered his last rite. And while I absolutelyunderstand the need for this law, I can’t help but find the lack of ceremony unsettling. This half didn’t choose to be born any more than the rest of us choose our parents, and even a justified killing feels as though it should warrant a little more pomp and judicial pride. I mean, hells, I’ve had reprimands from Professor Lyons that lasted longer than this trial.
Say something. I find myself urging the Sapphire to speak on his own behalf. To beg, or scream, or grumble, to rail against what he must believe to be gravely unjust.
But he doesn’t.
He merely sets his jaw and lifts his head in defiance, as though he’s long since made peace with this outcome. As though some part of him yearns for it.
“Very well. This court will now administer the punishment. Please fetch the executioner,” the councilman says, sending for the Green who will end the Hue’s life. That’s when the Sapphire finally grants himself a moment of unadulterated spite, allowing his eyes to rake across the gallery and condemn the rest of us. That’s when, for the briefest of seconds, they bore straight into mine.
No.
His gaze is a bolt of lightning to a meadow of dry brush.
For while his face may be bruised beyond recognition, there is absolutely no mistaking that burnished shade of brown.
No, no, no, no.
It can’t be him.
It can’t be the boy from my vision.
Even the future wouldn’t be so cruel as to imply that I’m destined to fall in love with a half.
It’s not him because it can’t be. I try to reason away the horror. Brown eyes are hardly uncommon, after all, and the rest of him is too beat up to identify with any kind of certainty. But most of all, it can’t be him because he’ll be dead in a matter of minutes. Already, his executioner is circling him like a shark, keenly awaiting the councilman’s command to unleash her magic. A command which suddenly can’t come soon enough.
“Gods, just do it already,” I mutter, gripping the balustrade so hard the wood groans beneath my fingers.
“Easy, Ray.” Akari places her hand over mine, though I can tell by the set of her jaw that she’s also feeling a little untethered. Neither of us has ever witnessed an execution, and no amount of schooling can prepare you for watching someone die.
Not even when it’s necessary.
It’s unnerving, isn’t it? How much they look like us?
It’s even more unnerving how resigned this Hue is to meeting the black.
How he seems to be rooting for it.
Then why doesn’t he just shatter?I lean forward for a closer look at him, trying to decipher the serenity in his smile. All he’d have to do is drop the In-Between and then the shadows would grant him his wish, rush in and smash him like a fragile vase. He could end his life on his own terms, right here, right now. But for whatever reason, the Sapphire remains still and silent and alive, and as the Green raises her hand in preparation, I’m ashamed to admit that I’m the one who falters in anticipation of his demise. Thanks to last night’s vision, I’ve already seen more death than I care to count; I don’t need to watch a flash of magic stop this Hue’s heart. I just need it to happen.
Come on, come on, come on. His death will prove, definitively, that my premonition was a lie, just another nonsense answer to a question I shouldn’t have been asking.
So when he drags in a breath, I hold mine.
And when the spell builds to its crescendo, I close my eyes, as if out of respect.
Maybe that’s why I miss the exact moment chaos erupts, when a different spell altogether incapacitates the trackers and sends his executioner flying back.
What in the—?
“Ray, get down!” Akari jerks me to the floor as a dense and heavy fog descends across the crowd, mingling with the shadows to turn air to smoke and day to night. The haze is everywhere. It’s everything I see, everything I feel, everything I touch. A perfect blinding.
Too perfect.
