Page 8 of Eight of Swords, Part Two

Riley takes a deep breath.

‘The Death Knot is a binding between people who are on the verge of death but forge something to save each other, becoming locked together in the process. The earliest recorded Knot was nine hundred years ago. The short version of this story,’ he says, inclining his head, ‘is that it bound three siblings who, through trial and error, eventually refined a version of the Knot that they could control. They learned how to weaponise it to become stronger, more powerful, how to essentially cheat death.’

Kade resists the natural urge to shut down at information so wholly removed from himself and his situation. He tries to stay open and trust that what Riley is telling him is important.

‘How?’

‘By creating a Knot between parent and child and then invading the weaker consciousness to possess the body they were bound to.’

Kade’s mind short-circuits. ‘What?’

‘The Death Knot can be weaponised if planned years in advance. It can be cultivated, even.’

‘Cultivated?’

‘An ideal host body,’ Riley says, lip curling with disgust, ‘is one adjusted to imprisonment but not broken down. It took a long time for them to realise that if the child was too broken down, then the benefits of the Knot were hugely diminished. A host who lived fully before the transfer endured longer and was more powerful once possessed. The richer the life, the more resilient the vessel, but like I said, it took a lot of fine-tuning to nail it.’

‘Who are they?’

‘Alistair Penhalyx, Mikhail Sorrenko and Ariadne Alderwyck, although when it started, centuries ago, they were Sael, Olek and Elva. Siblings.’

Your name is Julian Sael Penhalyx.

‘They kept the names in the middle.’

‘Passing them down through the lines.’

‘So Penhalyx was trying to possess…’ Kade considers his phrasing to navigate the pain of the curse. ‘His son?’

‘They’d let the children have twenty-one years of what they considered to be a fulfilled life, and then they’d trigger the Death Knot to possess them.’

‘They were having kids just to possess them?’

‘Yeah, and not just them. They shared the process a while back.’

It sickens Kade.

‘How do you know this?’

‘Julian found out when he read the journals. He learned everything.’

‘What journals?’

‘They were sent to Vasily Sorrenko after his father died. They contained the history of the siblings. Julian learnt what his father was planning.’

Riley falls abruptly silent and pinches the bridge of his nose, his hand trembling.

Alarmed, Kade puts a hand on his knee. ‘You good?’

‘Yeah. Sorry, it hurts to say his name.’

‘You don’t have to.’

‘Julian kn-knew that he and Mimi had to get out of there sooner rather than later,’ Riley tells him determinedly. Kade feels a flare of that same internal pain, but this time it’s bearable, like an explosion behind glass.

‘Riley, if it hurts, don’t say it.’

‘Julian hired Iron Star to stage a kidnapping and fake their deaths,’ Riley goes on, sweat beading on his brow, ‘but it went w-wrong.’