That is not what we do, I want to yell at him, to correct this absurd assertion that the Council’s law stems from fear. We purge the world of Hues because of the threat they pose to the Gray; that’s it, that’s all there is to it. And yes, that’s distasteful, and violent, and I imagine—to their eyes—entirely unfair. But such is the cost of keeping the shadows safe from ruin and I’ll be damned if I let this Hue shame us for prioritizing the greater good over a few biological mistakes. Though as the Gold drops into a languid crouch before me, all that actually escapes my mouth is an absurd assertion of my own.
“I’m not afraid of you.”
“That’s funny—” He leans in closer. Close enough for me to feel the malice radiating off each syllable. “Because you look quite afraid to me.”
She’s all yours, do with her what you will.
There’s only one thing a Gold could want from an Indigo, and it’s the very last thing I’d ever want to give.
“Please—there’s no point in taking my magic, I swear; it won’t work for you—it doesn’t even work for me!” I scramble to catch the Sapphire’s eye, to implore him to call off his power-hungry friend and show some mercy.
For all the good it does me.
What little warmth he’d exhibited before is gone now, and I may as well be speaking a different language given how absolutely he ignores my plea, how he simply stands there, frozen, and drops his eyes to his feet.
Who’s the coward now?My vindictive triumph is a fleeting, feeble thing. Because I can’t force him to watch the crime he’s permitting, and shackled as I am to the pipe, there’s nothing I can do to stop the Gold from wrapping his hands around the exposed skin at my wrists, no amount of struggle that would sway his mind or break his grip.
“This’ll hurt less if you hold still,” he tells me, reaching for his gift.
“No, please, don’t do this—you don’t have to do this,please.”
But he does do it.
And the second his magic hooks its talons into mine, my protest turns into a scream.
It’s in that moment—as the pain consumes me—that I realize my vision was nothing but a vicious lie, a cruel misdirect, a cosmic trick. Because there’s no way I could ever fall in love with anyone who would condone such brutality.
I will never forgive the Sapphire for this.
CHAPTER 13
EZZO
I thought I had the stomach to watch. I thought I wanted to see Chase strip the Indigo of her superiority. I thought I wanted her punished for weaponizing Eve’s words.
The future told me to.She’d said it so simply—so flippantly—that it downright filled me with rage. Because how dare she turn that phrase against me? How dare the future use my most private memory as a bargaining chip to be traded and played? Handing her to Chase felt like justice in that moment, and I wanted to stay while it was carried out as a way to even the scales, pay her back for my execution.
But though I’ve known, for a while now, the true violence of a Gold’s gift, I’ve only ever learned of its effects in the abstract, never been close enough to witness them for myself, hear what that pain sounds like.
It sounds like a mistake.The Indigo’s screams are a tempest, piercing and wrong.
The look on her face is worse.
Her cheeks are wet, her eyes bloodshot, her skin as pallid as a drift of snow, every delicate feature twisted into a pleading mask of anguish.
We were always going to need her magic. I try to rationalize the guilt away. Since the trackers know they’re hunting a palette of three Hues, her ability to see the future could mean the difference between capture and escape. This isn’t about Eve, it’s about survival. Necessity not retribution.
You keep telling yourself that. Just because something’s true doesn’t make it right—or easier to bear.
“Come on—it’s better if you leave him to it.” With a gentle hand, Cemmy leads me into the corridor, pulling the door shut behind us as a means of muffling the sound of pain.
But there is no muffling sound in the Gray; the shadows carry it like a feather on the wind.
“Is that how you stomach it?” I ask. “You just leave him to it?”
“We do what we have to, Ez. That’s always been true.”
Maybe. But it sure grew more violent when Chase entered the fray. And there’s always a reason to ask him to steal us more magic; wealways need another advantage to help outrun our parents’ sins. Today, the Indigo just happens to be paying the price for them.
