“There’s no hope about it, my pretty girl. He’s got this,” I say, solid and sure because I know my brother.
“I can’t believe he burned down Oddity,” she murmurs, eyes wide on the wreckage.
“I can,” I reply flatly. “He doesn’t have many options left, Dolly. This is what a madman’s desperation looks like—for the girl he’s utterly obsessed with.”
That’s when I notice headlights cutting through the dark, sharp beams sweeping across us. I side-eye to see luxury cars crawling onto the carnival grounds.
“Stay behind me, Noir,” I say calmly, already turning to face them.
Soul steps beside me without a word, and I catch movement from the corner of my eye—Oddity crew falling into place behind us like shadows ready to bleed.
I flick my cig to the ground after one last long drag, smoke burning down my throat as I shove my hands deep into my pockets. The car doors click open slowly like they’ve got all the time in the world.
Three Shadows step forward, faces blurred by the high beams burning straight into our eyes. One of them stops, head tilted, taking in the Cirque behind us, nothing but fire and ruin now.
“What the fuck is this?” he asks, gesturing toward the flames with his leather-gloved hand.
“What the fuck does it look like?” Soul bites back, tone dry as ash.
I side-eye him, but it’s already too late.
“It looks like Wrath’s funeral, that’s what it looks like,” the man replies coolly.
Soul moves forward without thinking, a low sound ripping out of him, all instinct.
I throw my arm out, blocking him just before he lunges, my body tense. Soul steps back with a sharp growl, pacing like a caged animal.
“If I remember right, Wrath has no mercy,” another Shadow says, voice slick like oil. “He’s not only killed a member—he’s torched Oddity to the ground. You know what that means.”
He pauses, eyes gleaming like he's already handed down the sentence.
“This leaves us with no choice.”
“And what the fuck about Madame, hm?” Soul snaps, her blood still fresh on his hands. “Does she mean fuck all? She built this place with us.”
“Is she dead?” one of them asks, raising a brow like it's a casual checkmark on a list.
“What the fuck does that matter?” I growl low, and every head turns toward me. “Where’s Valen’s punishment?”
“It could be handled civilly. It hasn’t gone to mercy yet, and it hasn’t been officially discussed. We’re still trying to reach him,” one of them offers, like that excuses a damn thing.
Soul scoffs hard beside me, and I side-eye him again to hold him back.
“That’s a separate issue,” another one cuts in. “The real problem is this,” he gestures to the chaos around us. “Hell lost his mercy last month. Wrath’s lost his. I’m starting to wonder what the fuck is going on here.”
“Does it matter?” I snap. “None of us here are gonna stand by and let you kill Hollow Wrath. HeisOddity. HeisThe Hollows.” I lift a finger, jaw tight, biting through my words. “And you need us.”
They glance at each other, uncomfortable in the silence, before one finally speaks.
“Rules are rules. We can’t go against what we believe in and what’s always worked. If we start going backward, this society will fall into disorder.”
“Fuck it,” Soul bites out. “He can have mine.”
I turn my head to look at him in an instant.
“Give Wrath my fucking mercy. You might be a pack of unloyal, using fucks, but I ain’t.” Soul smashes his fist against his hard, shirtless chest. “I’d happily die for my brothers.”
I feel a sense of pride calling him my brother when he says that. The Shadows glance at one another before exchanging a brief nod.
