I sigh in relief, finally at peace. It lasts exactly two seconds because Seiji is still“singing”at the top of his lungs. How the fuck is he still going?
I didn’t know someone could sound this bad until I heard Seiji sing. Thank fates he’s not a siren or he’d starve to death. No one’s getting lured by what sounds like a cow giving birth.
Sometimes I think the Sisters of Fate have made me their entertainment. Why else would I be surrounded by so many lunatics?
Thankfully, Khatri links me, and I excuse myself from the torture and teleport straight outside the dungeon.
He notices I’m no longer dying from a pouncing headache and presses his lips together to hide a smile. He’s my Warriorhead, but he’s absolutely on my mate’s side in our prank war.
“Jackson helped?”
“Not for free. He wanted my vote on the new refuge proposal.”
“You’re not the only one. At this point, he has more than enough votes.”
I stop walking and turn toward him with narrowed eyes. “What does he have on you?”
“Nothing…”
“Yeah, that’s not suspicious at all.” I roll my eyes and stride past the guards.
“Anxo isn’t coming?”
Khatri clears his throat. “He’ll join us after. Conquer doesn’t like being reminded he’s related to our prisoners.”
I sigh. I’ve talked to Anxo about it, but he still refuses to be part of the interrogation.
After finding out what his parents did, he stripped them of their power and position, threw them in a cell, and never looked back. They’ve been here ever since.
Nevaeh got her revenge when she killed Visha, but Anxo didn’t get his closure. He forgave his parents for ruining his childhood, but not for being the reason behind Nevaeh’s worst nightmares.
I’ve told him a little torture will free his soul from the unnecessary guilt, but he’s not ready for that. I’m not sure I’d hold the same morals if the tables were turned, but his clear-headedness is one of the reasons I’m glad he’s Nevaeh, mate.
I understand he’s trying to protect his peace, but I know from experience that his mind will keep replaying what hurts until the anger starts eating him from within. He refuses to touch Luke or Kiara, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want them to suffer.
At least Nevaeh comes down here often. She treats them exactly how she was treated in the dungeon they sent her to. She was in that hellhole for a decade because of them. She’s earned the right to decide what justice looks like.
My job is to keep them alive long enough to feel how my little girl felt.
Theywillpay in blood.
Even before I knew they were involved in Nevaeh’s disappearance, I never fully trusted them. It should’ve been easy to lean into the brotherhood, but something in the back of my mind never let me drop my guard.
That’s why I pushed so hard for Anxo to take the throne at sixteen. He’d run away from Conquer to escape his parents, and it took a lot of convincing to bring him back. The elders were hesitant to put a teenager on the throne when his father was still alive and well, but it had to be done.
I couldn’t touch Luke and Kiara while they were still in power, no matter what they did to Anxo. That kid deserved better. I wasn’t going to stand by and watch him suffer.
The Horsemen are bound by our Divines. It’s not just about loyalty and brotherhood; it’s a failsafe that stops us from turning on each other. Our magic is tied so tightly that if one of us falls, the rest follow. We are nothing without each other. So when Luke betrayed us, and Henry—Harvey’s father, the Horseman of War—died, all four kingdoms fell apart.
That’s how the Tetrad kingdom was born. All of us were struggling and needed to lean on each other to survive.
If not for Anxo and Akihiko—Seiji’s father, Horseman of Famine—holding everything together, searching day and night for Harvey and Nevaeh, we would’ve fallen for good.
Their dedication saved us.
Khatri unlocks the cell, and I see the former Horseman of Conquer sitting slumped in a chair in the center of the damp, dark room.
Every scar on my daughter’s skin flashes in my mind. I squeeze my eyes shut and focus on the task.
