"Who said that?" Constantine bellows, face red as he looks up at the crowded stands. "Traitors!" He whirls on Bastian.
"I've done nothing wrong!" Bastian spits. "I gave you everything! My whole life!"
Constantine's grin wavers. The crowd is turning. He feels it.
"What kind of leader uses his guards' thoughts against them?" someone yells.
"A cage!" I shout. "This whole place is a cage built on lies!"
"Silence!" Constantine's face contorts with rage. "SILENCE!"
I take a deep breath and try to focus on my serephony as Constantine looks around wildly. I lift my hands from the sand as if burned. There's so much anguish, so much anger, the ground is practically vibrating with it.
I think of what Kage said about the Bratus. What Jordi said about memory stones. Maybe both are down there. Maybe something worse.
"You were useful to me. That's all any of you ever were!" Constantine snaps at Nicolas. "Would you like to say anything to your former lover?"
Nicolas presses his lips together. Shakes his head.
Bas's shoulders shake with rage. The rage he was allowed while we were forced to swallow ours. I think of how angry he was as a child. How quiet he became after the Dueling Estate.None of it matters now. I may not care for him, but he doesn't deserve this.
No one does.
"Arlo," Constantine barks.
Arlo walks over with his bow and arrow and stands in front of the platform, just feet away from me, feet away from Bas.
I stop breathing when I realize what's about to happen. Still, I shake my head in denial. Arlo lifts his bow and nocks the arrow on the string, pointing it directly at Bas' chest.
"Arlo!" I shriek. “No!”
Margot lets out a guttural scream and crumples. The guards at her sides hold her up before her knees hit the ground. Naima and Cas yell at the same time.
"Arlo is a master archer," Constantine announces. "And he will bend to my will."
The guards haul me to my knees. I can't stop myself from looking up. Mal and Kage are there. Far above. Working on Freida's manacles. Anala and Sara are already free.
I see his face turn towards me. I hear loud thumps on the stage, the sound of everyone's gasp, and look to find two guards on the ground with their amulets nearby. I look at Mal again, knowing he's responsible somehow, and again, send him a burst of gratitude.
More time. Constantine claps his hands. New guards rush forward. They fall too. Again. And again.
"Who is responsible for this?" Constantine roars.
He looks up at the Sages' chains.
Empty.
I look up. No sign of Malachi or Kage either. Relief floods me.
Constantine screams for more guards. More drop. More rush in. A sick, endless game.
He turns back to the crowd, trying to regain control. Shouting something about Arlo's skills. About justice. Myfriends are shaking. Sweating. Bas's pants are stained at the front. My sigil burns at the sight of it. Arlo lifts his bow again. Nocks an arrow. Points. His movements are smooth. Mechanical. Empty.
"Arlo!" I shout, managing to crawl two steps before the guards catch me and plant me on my knees again. The blade knicks me again, spilling more drops of blood onto the sand.
"Remember who you are! He's using you! Lo! Please! Lo! Please remember!" I yell over, and over.
"Lo! This isn't you!" Bas shouts, his voice breaking.
