The deadly calm voice makes me freeze, and the guards release me to stand at perfect attention.
“No sir, no problem, sir!” they bark in unison, their eyes dropping subserviently to the floor.
Dread clenches my stomach as I stand straight, turning towards the open door.
Calm arrogance lines his voice as he steps closer. “Imagine my surprise when I learned who was wreaking havoc in my city,” he says, taking a judgmental sweep of my body. “And here I heard you were dead.”
“Sorry to disappoint,” I retort.
He moves quick as lightning as he clutches the neck of my armor. “Do not take that tone with me,boy.”
His teeth are bared as he sizes me up, and he snatches my eyepatch and rips it off to expose the hollow socket and scarred skin that surrounds it.
I drop my head so my hair falls to shield it, but he grips my chin and lifts my face to his.
Hate shines off his features, bright as the sun and just as hot.
A Cavese like me, but his build is thicker and his horns are much longer, twisting and curving to represent the hundreds of years he’s lived. His solid white eyes are shrewd, and his pearly hair is pulled back in a series of intricate braids that expose the harsh points of his ears.
My gaze drops to his leather-covered chest and all the patches that mark him as important.
A High Commander.
One of the six most powerful leaders in existence. They run the world, make the rules, and enforce their whims.
But this one…
He’s the worst.
The Architect.
The one who planned the invasion of this world and overthrew the humans. Tossed them into cages and killed anyone who dared speak up against his master plan. Cold and calculating on a good day, cruel and maniacal on most.
He can order a man to drown himself without breaking a sweat and can orchestrate an army with his mind. He fancies himself a king among royalty.
“Do you have anything to say for yourself, Xenesis?” he demands.
My eye snaps up to his, showing him every ounce of the hate that lives inside me. I lift my chin and plaster my most perfect smile on my face, coating my tone in syrupy subdued anger.
“So great to see you, Father.”
Bash
“Xeni,no!I’mcoming!”The words tear from my throat as he stares at me across the churning sea of heads. Two guards flank him, dragging him away as blood trickles down his pale skin in a stark crimson trail.
Another pained shout rips from my chest and I lunge forward with every ounce of strength I have, only to be held back by my own flanking guards.
“Dom, you can’t,” Cato begs through clenched teeth. “Stop, man.Stop.”
I fight against his and Jayce’s hold, thrashing in a frantic bid to break free. More heads turn to stare at the spectacle we’re becoming, but my eyes don’t stray from Xeni as he’s shoved toward the waiting vehicle.
He finds me once more across the chaos, that single connection a lifeline in the storm.
“I love you,” he mouths with a heartbreakingly tender smile, as if he’s trying to convince me that it’ll all be okay somehow.
It won’t.
It can’t possibly.
