He rose to his feet.“You think someone is out to kill my nephew?”
“I think someone wants the line of Zaricor to end.”
“And you think that’s me?You forget I am no longer in the line of succession.”
“And therein lies the loophole.If Valeris is crowned king, and he dies, who stands to claim the throne?”
Something flashed across Athello’s face.A realization.“I’m not the one you’re looking for.”
My eyes narrowed.If he wasn’t behind the ploy for the throne, then who was?
A sharp disk flew at me from underneath his cloak.I bent backward, the razor edge passing within an inch of my face.
“You’re going to have to dig deeper if you want to find out the true mastermind behind this,” he continued.“Because it isn’t me.”
He came at me, daggers drawn, striking as I maneuvered in and out of his attack, thrusting my knife forward but always missing him by a hairsbreadth.We were in a dance again, each one anticipating the other’s moves, but his skill outranked mine.I fought to stay one step ahead, just out of his reach, but this was his space, and he held the upper hand.He forced me back, and I stepped onto a loose board and tipped backward.His fingers curled around the edge of my mask, yanking it from my face as gravity pulled me down.My back smacked against the floor, and I gasped.
My mask hung in his hands like a prize he didn’t think was worth the fight.He stared in shock, my white-blond hair furled out around me on the floorboards.Whoever he had suspected to be behind the mask—it had not been me.
“You’re a Dark Walker.”His face clouded.“You’re here to kill my nephew.”
I shook my head, my voice laced with bitterness.“I didn’t come here for him.”
My wrist shot forward, the slim knife within my cuff ejecting and embedding itself into Athello’s gut.He cried out at the pain, clutching at his side as he stumbled into the desk.I lurched to my feet, knocking him to his knees before pressing the tip of my dagger to his neck.If he moved, if he breathed any harder than he was now, it would slice open his throat.My gaze drifted to the ring on his hand.
“You’ll have to kill me to get this ring,” he snarled.
I lifted my chin, willing myself to swipe the dagger across his throat.To end this.
I had to.
I refused to lose my only family.
Resolve curled within me, the headmistress’s words echoing in my head.Her guidance.Instruction.Everything I had learned in the last five years funneling into my next move.Into the choice I had to make.The life I had to take to protect my family.One turn of the wrist and it would be over.
But I hesitated.
Hesitated to wield the knife, to do what I had come here to do.I had to kill him.If I didn’t, I would lose the spell, lose myself.I would lose my chance to get a shot at King Zaricor, but the memory of my mother turning to attack the fray of approaching enemy soldiers filled my mind.The fear that had clutched at my heart, the sorrow that had overpowered me.Evil or no, I was about to enact that same cruel fate on Valeris.His uncle was all he had, and I was about to strip him of that.Maybe there wasn’t a loophole.Maybe his uncle was telling the truth.My hands shook.I couldn’t take his life.I had sworn I would only ever take the king’s life.I hadn’t come here to compromise what I had vowed five years ago.
The Enchantress’s threat loomed over me.You’re a Dark Walker.Your skills would be wasted on cleaning.How many more would die if I became indentured to her?
Desmond’s face flashed before me, panic rising in my chest, Valeris’s confession in his room just hours ago filling my ears.My grip tightened on the knife.
What are your plans after the finale?
Valeris’s question came back to me, the memory of the kiss fresh on my lips.
Why are you here?Because it doesn’t feel like you’re focused on the king.Do you even want to assassinate him?
Desmond’s questions paralyzed me.I had lost my focus on the king.He needed to be assassinated, but I hadn’t been prepared for the sacrifices it would require.Tears pricked my eyes, torment ripping through me as Athello waited for me to kill him.I pressed the dagger father into his skin.
No.
There had to be another way.
If not, I would make one.
I jerked away, staggering back, not registering the confusion on Athello’s face as I fled, disappearing out the door and down the hall.This wasn’t what I had come here for.I’d joined the Dark Walkers, trained to become a weapon, but I had never once wanted to hurt innocent people.To be the cause of someone’s pain.To be like the soldiers who burned our kingdom that night.I wanted to help people.I wanted the world to be a better place, and I didn’t want the innocent to die by my hand.
