Rudra moves frighteningly fast. One moment, he’s standing a few feet away from Ari—the next, he flings the steaming mug of tea at Ari’s face.
Ari’s hand flies up—his fingers twist in midair and he transmutes the scalding water into a burst of ice crystals.
Rudra slams him hard against the fridge and presses an arm against his throat. “Do you remember who you used to be?” the man murmurs close to his face, his lips curled into a snarl. “Worthless little gutter rat, sneaking along behind your uncle? The first time I met you, you didn’t even have the balls to tell me your name. You could barely look me in the eye. And what did I do, Ari? Go on. Tell me what I did.”
Ari winces as the man presses harder against his throat. “You took me from my family,” he whispers.
“What?” Rudra says.
Ari bares his teeth. “You took me from my family,” he snaps.
There is a moment of silence. Rudra smiles. The smell of whiskey on the man’s breath is overpowering. The man puts his hand against the fridge, then slowly transmutes an arch of metal thorns from it. He wraps it around Ari’s neck, letting the thorns extend until they scratch against Ari’s throat. Ari winces at the feeling of the needles pricking his skin and tries in vain to steady his spiraling thoughts. His anxiety is building into a panic now. His arms and hands tingle.
“No,” Rudra whispers. “I saved your goddamned life. You think anyone would have given you the time of day, had I not found you? I picked you out of the trash and handed you a kingdom of gold. I taught you how to use that soul of yours, honed you into a blade. I turned your imperfection into perfection. Because of me, you learned how to smile, how to hold yourhead high, how to make everyone look your way, call you Shakespeare.” He draws close. “I gave you your worth. You should be kissing my feet.”
The thorns are pushing into the skin of Ari’s neck. He can feel the needles breaking through, drawing forth pinpricks of red. A wave of dizziness washes over him and he blinks, lightheaded.
“I’m not the one you’re angry with,” he says.
Rudra starts laughing in a low voice. His eyes glitter, black and gleaming. “You should be afraid, little boy,” he murmurs. He leans closer. “Do you know who the latest casualty is, in this war between us and Grand Central?”
Suddenly Ari feels the bottom of his stomach falling out, feels the wave of grief before Rudra even says the name. In a way, he realizes, he already knew. He knew it, the instant he noticed her absence in the quad.
“Cleopatra,” Rudra says. “Our philosopher. Your classmate.”
The world tilts. Ari suddenly forgets his argument with Rudra—he forgets everything. The man can’t be telling the truth.
“No,” he whispers.
“Dominique is dead, Ari.”
Her reassuring nod to him on his first day in the library. The countless hours they had worked together, her helping him through their work, him asking her questions. Her quick smile, her easy manner. She was supposed to be the one that succeeded beyond any of them. A philosopher, creating new billionaires within Lumines.
She can’t be gone.
Ari’s head swims. His limbs turn weak. He feels like he’s drowning.
“That’s impossible,” he says faintly.
“Is it?”
“She’s a philosopher.”
“She’s as human as us.”
“Stop.”
His anxiety is spilling over now, it is too far gone and there is nothing Ari can do to save himself. His heart is racing so fast that he thinks it might burst. He breaks out in a cold sweat.
Rudra suddenly realizes what’s happening. “Well, well,” he says, smiling. “The great Shakespeare, losing his shit.”
Ari’s legs start to buckle. He tries to get a grip on his spiraling panic attack—but he can’t breathe, he gasps for air, he’s going to throw up, he’s going to faint.
“Stop,” he whispers weakly. “Please.”
“Stop what?” Rudra mocks him, patting his cheek. “I’m not the one who did it.”
Sam.Sam had done it. Ari has no proof at all, but he can feel it in his bones. Grand Central’s ghost is the only one they would send for such a sensitive hit. Reed had wanted to push Diamond over the edge, and he’d succeeded—in retaliation for Hanover, Sam has been sent to end Dominique’s life. Grand Central has decided to step over the line.
