Page 114 of The City Of Fractured Memory

“We?” he hisses.

She laughs. “Yes, we. Enough postering. Xavier, darling, bring out our guest, will you?”

Xavier? No…

The man himself stalks from the shadows, roughly pulling along a young woman with silver hair and pointed ears. He pulls Stryx up to the dais next to Vesper, his face unreadable as he forces her into the light.

“Stryx!” I scream, my feet rooted to the spot in panic. She stares at me wide-eyed, tears glistening as Xavier holds her up by her hair.

“Remember darling,” Vesper says to Stryx, stroking her hair with a sneer. “One wrong move and I kill your pretty little detective down there.”

Vesper chuckles darkly when Stryx whimpers in response and I narrow my eyes at them, fury spreading like poison through my veins.

“You betrayed me, betrayed all of us,” I snarl, my hands curling into fists, my nails biting into my skin until I can feel the sharp sting of blood. Xavier has the audacity to look at me like I’m the one in the wrong here, pain ghosting across his face as our eyes lock.

Multiple times over the last two weeks, I’ve found myself second guessing him, and yet I gave him the benefit of the doubt every time. When Vesper died, his reaction seemed so real. Did he know her death was fake? If he did, then where did he…oh Gods.

“You killed Raph?” I gasp. “That’s why you disappeared?”

“Yes. The bastard nearly ruined the entire plan with his paranoid ramblings,” Xavier growls. “He had to be dealt with.”

“And yet here I am, anyway,” I retort.

“Of course you are. You were always meant to end up here. Though I’d always hoped you would come willingly.”

“Why?” I beg. “Why are you doing this?”

He sighs in frustration, tilting his head as he surveys me. “I’m doing this for you, Octavia. For all other mortals like you, too. Why can’t you grasp this?”

I gape at his admission, too stunned for words.

“Repeatedly I’ve been trying to convince you that the world would be better if our magic didn’t have such dire consequences,” he continues. “Think how much easier your life would be if you could use magic to fix your pain without having to sacrifice your soul for it? Think how amazing you would be if you could use magic freely to assist your work? You say you’re willing to sacrifice your happiness for the sake of justice, but this is the most horrendous injustice the mortals have ever been dealt. How can you stand there and say this is fair, when Echofae can use their unlimited magic, unchecked and unchallenged?”

My knees weaken. How could he possibly use me as an excuse for this? Though his words do confirm that he clearly does not understand the true extent of my heritage if he still thinks I can only practice mortal magic. But to call this an injustice? It’s ludicrous.

“Mortals are owed nothing, Xavier,” I hiss. “If the legend of the Fracturing is indeed true, then it is the fault of the mortals for being dealt this hand in the first place. And what have we done since? Oppressed the Echofae and enslaved them in retaliation, like it was their fault. We are owed nothing.”

“She’s right,” Riven growls beside me, his fists clenched. “This is a preposterous notion. How did you even end up in this position to make such a claim?”

“It’s not exactly been easy,” Vesper simpers. “Our parents were ambitious, brother, but they were foolish. They did not try to hide themselves, and it didn’t take long for our family name to gather its own horrific reputation. It’s hard to achieve one’s goals when your name is so tarnished. So just as you took our family name to blend in, Xavier and I took a different one and went out into the world to make a name for ourselves on our own merits. He worked his way up the ranks at the Division without our family to cloud him and became a man to be trusted. Now with the Chief gone, he controls the city, and everyone is thankful for it. Who do you think started the rumours about Starling being corrupt?”

I snarl at them, lost for words.

“We knew of the prophecy, of course,” she continues, oblivious to our torment. “It was our father’s legacy. He never paid much attention to me, treated me like I was just a silly little girl that would never amount to anything, but I was always the smart one of the three of us. I promised him as a child I would see his plans through, determined to make him see I was the one most worthy of his love, his legacy. Then, imagine my luck when one day a curious young girl with white hair asked Xavier to play, one that matched the prophecy exactly. You stepped right into our path, Octavia, and I knew then what we had to do. I told Xavier to get close to you, make you trust us. He even got you into the Division with him. He played the chivalrous knight most women want men to be…but no. You’re not like any other woman, are you?” she mocks. “You didn’t want to be rescued, though you so clearly needed it. So he pandered to your ridiculous demands, let you think you had the upper hand and played your intelligence against you.”

I bristle, gritting my teeth as I take a step forward, but Riven’s hand grips my arm in warning, holding me at bay.

“You vastly underestimated her,” Riven seethes, making Vesper laugh.

“Maybe I did, dear brother. But you made the same mistake of me. You were getting too close to the truth, so we ensured she was invited onto this case, so she could be swayed into thinking you were the mastermind behind it all and the three of us could take you down together. I staged the murders using the tranquillising spell, ensuring you were the one who took them home, the last to see them alive. I even waited for you to reveal the curse first, so she would think Xavier had no choice but to tell her, so when he told her of your cruelty she would believe it without questioning.” She turns her gaze to me, her smile falling. “But when it became obvious you wouldn’t turn to our cause, Xavier only went and got cold feet. He gave you false information to steer you off the path, leading you to the brothel, deliberately humiliating himself so you wouldn’t question him.”

She throws a narrowed glance at her brother and my head snaps to him, but he deliberately avoids my gaze.

“Even after everything you saw, all the evidence pointing to Riven being the villain, you still doubted it,” Xavier mutters. “You still chose him over me.”

“I didn’t choose anyone, Xavier. The only thing I choose is the truth!”

“The truth?” he repeats, his eyebrows rising. “You are the one that refuses to see it—not me. You might be happy staying in this miserable existence, but we know that mortals deserve to get their true power back, and we will do it, with or without you.”