Episode 6: The Edge of Control

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Episode 6: The Edge Of Control

BEX

The days blurred into a rhythm.

Every morning, we woke to the deep hum of the bell. We trained until our muscles screamed and our magic was exhausted. We ate like starving animals and collapsed in our beds long after sunset.

Somewhere between one sunrise and the next, the ache stopped feeling like punishment and started feeling like a badge of honor. Like proof I was still alive. Like I still had a purpose, even if I didn’t fully understand what it was.

Lavender’s salve helped me hold my grip on the crystal pillars so I could climb better, but after a week, I didn’t need it anymore. I got faster. More agile.

I learned the pattern of the platforms, and even when Slate switched it up on us, I’d learned how to trust my instincts instead of my fears. I fell less and less, running back to the start when I did, eager to figure it out.

I also learned how to use my magic to phase through the platforms, cutting corners and sometimes even zipping ahead, as if I’d jumped forward in time. I didn’t disappear, exactly. I thinned, the way shadow does when light sharpens. It was a type of magic I’d used when I lived at Peakwood, but here, the more I connected with the deep wellspring of power inside my core, the more powerful the magic itself became.

The mark still flared sometimes, but less cruelly now. He still pushed us harder each day, but as long as we gave it everything we had, that was enough for him.

Which made me think he wasn’t entirely closed off and unfair.

One day during the second week of training, I tried something new with my phasing and reached the top of the climbing course first. The team was right on my heels, but still. I did it.

I cried as if I’d just won an Olympic gold medal.

Slate didn’t praise me. He never did. But his gaze held mine for a moment as he gave a slight nod, approving in the smallest possible way. It hit harder than any compliment I’d had in my life.

Calli whooped as she joined me on the platform, pulling me into a hug. “Bex the champion! About time.”

I laughed, leaning against the nearest pillar to catch my breath. “I guess I got lucky.”

“Or maybe you’re just too damn stubborn to fail,” she shot back.

Hours later, I took a water break and looked around, wondering how in the world we’d managed to improve so much in just a couple of weeks.

Down on the arena floor, Brim and Orion were locked in a sparring match, the sharp clang of magic against stone echoing off the walls. Elara sat cross-legged nearby, threads of blood from her thigh hardening into playful marionettes.

We were a strange group, to say the least, but these weird people were growing on me.

And yet there was so much we still didn’t know about each other.

In just a few weeks, we’d be in the hardest fight of our lives so far, and we needed to be able to trust each other. From what Slate had shared with us so far, the official games were always random. No one knew what the challenge would be before you walked into the arena.

Sometimes, it was a capture the flag type of game. Sometimes, it was a timed race challenge. Other times it was Gladiator-style combat or a group challenge to slay a terrible monster in record time.

We would have to be flexible, smart, and able to work together to create a plan in an instant.

How could we do that if we didn’t even know the first thing about each other beyond our abilities in this training ring?

If we were going to win as a team, we needed to really understand each other.

But how? When we were always training, eating, or sleeping? I spent the rest of the morning thinking about how I could create an opportunity for us to get to know each other better.

After drills, Slate had us practice control again. He’d expanded the challenge from that first day, requiring us to chain at least three distinct threads of power from our hands to the first crystal, then arcing out from there to two more crystals.

I’d had yet to hit all three and hold it, but I had an idea.

“Before I begin, I have a proposition for you.”

Slate lifted a single eyebrow, his chin tilting ever so slightly upward.

“We’ve all been working really hard here in training, but there’s more to winning as a team than just magical power and strength.”

His eyes narrowed, but he didn’t bark at me to begin, so I drew in a deep breath and took a chance he did actually have a beating heart inside that muscular chest.

“In order to work as a true team, we need to get to know each other. To be invested in whether the person next to us lives or dies. Not just because we were assigned to this team, or because we want to win, but because we actually care about each other,” I said. “You talk about trust, but there’s no real trust unless you know what someone has been through or what they care about. What they’re fighting for.”

Brim grumbled, but I ignored him.

“What’s your proposition?” Slate asked.

He hadn’t reprimanded me for bringing it up, which was a huge win already.

“If I can pass this test and light all three crystals and hold my magic steady for at least ten seconds, you give us the rest of the day off to get to know each other. A real meal we don’t have to scarf down in fifteen minutes before we go to bed. Or a trip into the city?”

I said the last part as a question, unsure if we would ever be allowed outside the training area and our rooms.

“The Amethyst Games are in two weeks,” Brim said. “What we need is longer hours, not a pajama party.”

“I agree,” Slate said, nearly breaking my heart. “But I also agree with Bex. So, I have a counterproposition.”

I pressed my lips together, trying not to smile too big like a goofball. “I’m listening.”

“Hold all three crystals steady for thirty seconds and you get the rest of the day off,” he said. “But you all agree to show up an hour earlier and stay an hour later for the next two days. If you lose, you still show up early and stay late for the entire week.”

“There goes my beauty sleep,” Calli mumbled, but when I met her gaze, she winked. I could tell she was as excited about the idea of a fun night off as I was.

“Any objections?” I asked.

Brim opened his mouth, but I raised my index finger in his general direction.

“Anyone but Brim? Majority rules.”

Elara’s eyes shone with mischief, and Orion gave a simple nod. That meant we were on, so now I just needed to figure out how the heck to light up all three crystals for thirty seconds without either fizzling out or blowing something up in the process.

“Maybe just one practice shot?”

Slate narrowed his eyes, his expression tilted toward anger. Which I expected, but a girl’s got to try, right?

I took several deep breaths, closing my eyes as I searched for the well of power deep inside me. It had never felt as strong as it had the day Slate first unlocked it, but I could hardly ask him to step a little closer and whisper in my ear. I’d have to learn how to access that power on my own.

Immediately.

At first, nothing happened. No power. No connection.

But the second I imagined Slate moving closer, something warmed inside me. Could I use my imagination to conjure up those same feelings?

I seriously hoped no one ‌in the group had the secret power of reading minds as I began to imagine how I would feel if Slate moved up behind me, placing his hands on my arms, directing my power. How would it feel to have his breath against my face?

Instantly, my heart began to race, and a cord of power seemed to plug itself into my core. My entire body lit up from within, a steady stream of electricity buzzing through me.

The first spark came easily now, thinner than the others’ but steady. I carefully pushed the thread out to the first crystal, holding it steady for a second before feeding more power through and directing it to the second crystal.

“You’re doing it,” Callii said, her excitement carrying across the ring.

“Hush, you’ll distract her,” Elara said.

I shut them out and focused only on Slate, replaying the focus he had on the course at night when he thought no one was watching.

With another exhale, I fed a little more power through the stones, connecting to the third target.

“Start timing her,” Calli said, practically bouncing up and down beside me.

I struggled to hold my focus. How was I going to make it thirty seconds?

I calmed my heart as best I could, steadying my breathing and focusing only on my connection to the thread of power streaming through the stones.

“Fifteen,” Slate said.

Halfway.

At this point, there was too much power revving up inside me. I could feel it threatening to break over me like a wave, shifting my balance.

Holding it back but not letting it die took more self-control than I realized I had. I’d never forced myself to focus so completely. In that moment, there was nothing but me and the power, and for the first time ever, I saw it as a part of me rather than something foreign and separate.

“Twenty-Five.”

Excitement pulsed through me as I neared the finish line, and the light surged. I was on the edge of control, so close to losing my command of the stream. I focused more, my entire being focused on that one stream of light.

“Twenty-Eight.”

Hold it, Bex. You can do this.

“Twenty-Nine.”

Tears ran down my face like a stream, and shadows began to swirl around my fingertips.

Don’t lose it now. Focus.

“Thirty seconds,” Slate announced. His voice carried over the hum of the crystals. “You’ve earned your afternoon off.”

I blinked, barely processing his words before Calli screamed, “She did it! You beautiful, reckless goddess!”

At her announcement, I lost control and magic surged through me, shooting off like a stream of lightning bolts as it threw me several feet backward onto my butt.

The others erupted into laughter and applause. Even Brim cracked a reluctant grin, though he covered it quickly with a scowl. My arms dropped to my sides, trembling from the effort, the aftershock of magic sparking through my veins like lightning searching for a place to strike.

Slate’s gaze found mine. “You cracked the test crystals,” he said, continuing his habit of never offering praise. “Next time, know your limits and hold the control all the way through.”

His words were reprimanding, but for the first time since I’d been thrown into this nightmare world, Slate looked at me like I wasn’t a mistake. Like I belonged on his team for me, not because of some pendant he refused to talk about again.

“Dismissed,” he said, stepping back. “Stay in the Condemned areas. No adventuring into the city. I’ll have the mess hall move you to the top dining plan for the night. I’ll see you an hour before dawn tomorrow.”

“You’re welcome to join us, you know,” I said, daring to extend an invitation, even though he’d totally ruin the vibe.

Out of everyone here, he was the biggest mystery to me. The one I most wanted to solve.

Slate only looked at me with narrowed eyes and turned to walk away.

Calli nudged me with her boot. “You’re getting good at that control thing.”

“Maybe,” I said. “But it still feels like walking on the edge of a knife.”

“Don’t you know?”

“What?”

She smirked. “That’s where all the fun is.”

She threw an arm around my shoulders as we walked.

“You know what this means, right? All you can eat.”

Brim suddenly perked up, joining us as we made our way up the stairs and away from the training ring.

Elara stretched lazily. “If the kitchen serves wine, I’m in. Red wine is my favorite.”

“I’m fairly certain wine is not allowed,” Orion said automatically, adjusting his cuffs.

Elara smirked. “You sure about that, rule boy? Because I have a feeling our lovely champion here just earned us a few liberties.”

As we walked, the air in the Shard felt a little less suffocating. Even the false light glittering through the dome seemed softer. Warmer on my face.

We walked into the mess hall like we owned the place, laughing with our arms around each other. Brim stood to the side like our bodyguard, but he seemed a bit lighter on his feet now that the promise of unlimited food loomed before us.

The scents pulled us forward as we crossed from our normal side of the hall to the fancy side. The side usually reserved for warriors and Wardens. Luckily, the other teams we were scheduled to compete against in the Amethyst Games weren’t here yet to watch us indulge, or they may have threatened to kill us here on the spot.

At the buffet line, tables overflowed with roasted meats glazed in amber honey, bowls of grains studded with pomegranate and herbs, and bread so soft it steamed when you tore it apart.

Crystalline platters shimmered with fruits I didn’t recognize. Pitchers of sparkling nectar caught light like liquid gold. For the first time since entering the Shard, eating didn’t feel like survival. It felt like joy.

Calli dropped into her chair and groaned. “If heaven exists, it smells like this.”

Elara laughed, sitting down with an overloaded plate of nothing but rare steak. “Bex, you are now my favorite person in the Shard, even if you are still a bit weak.”

“Hey,” I protested through a mouthful of fruit. “I’m getting better every day.”

Warmth spread through me. Even Brim, silent and brooding at the far end of the table, didn’t look like he wanted to murder anyone tonight. His plate was already clean, though.

He ate like someone who didn’t know where his next meal was coming from.

“Slate said all you can eat,” I reminded him.

He seemed to question it, and then finally stood to refill his plate.

Calli leaned her chin on her hand. “All right, team-building time. Tell us where you’re from, how you ended up in the Shard, and one additional piece of information no one knows about you.”

Elara cackled. “This is a more dangerous game, I think.”

Brim groaned as he sat down, two plates completely piled high with food. “I don’t like this game.”

“Then you can go first,” she said sweetly.

He gave her a blank look. “I’ll play along, but only for you.”

My eyes widened, and I leaned forward. Was there a softness in his voice when he spoke to Calli that wasn’t there with anyone else?

“I grew up in the mountains of Colorado. I am here because I sought revenge against the Order. And lost. Also, my mother was a shadow demon.”

Calli frowned. “No. Doesn’t count,” she said. “We all already knew your mom was a demon. What about your father?”

The faintest flicker of mischief crossed Brim’s face. “He was not a shadow demon.”

The table went quiet, all of us waiting for him to tell us more.

“Is that why your skin turns to stone?” Orion asked softly. “Because of your father?”

Brim’s gaze cut to him. His expression was sharp, but not hostile. “Yes.”

That was all he offered, and no one pushed further. No matter how hard we wanted to.

Calli cleared her throat, filling the silence. “Okay, my turn.”

She stood, commanding all the attention.

“I grew up like most crow shifter witches. In a secret village in the trees near a town called Peachville, Georgia. The village is inhabited entirely by women and girls, so in order to continue the family line, the Mother Crow sends us out into the world at eighteen to find a mate,” she said. “We’re supposed to come back within a year, but I didn’t want to.”

I held my breath, trying to imagine an entire coven of witches living in the trees.

“They came looking for me, of course, and in the process of trying to escape, I accidentally got the attention of an Amethyst Prima who gave me to the Priestess as a gift. She sent me here two years ago, and I’ve been trying to win the Games ever since to get out of here.”

“What will you do if you win?” Brim asked. “Will you go back to the crow village?”

“Go back? Please. I’ve spent two years fighting for my freedom. The only thing I’m flying back to is a beach where there are no morning bells and they serve dessert first.”

The laughter eased the tension, and even Brim’s mouth twitched.

“What about you, Orion? Where are you from?”

Orion, who’d been polishing a crystal dagger, set it on the wooden table and straightened.

“I am Veilborn. Half in the world. Half in the space between it and forgetting. For a thousand years, I served as an adviser to the King of the Veil, whose job is to determine what should be kept and what should be let go.”

Sorrow filled his eyes, but his voice remained steady.

“I fell in love with a mortal man. A forbidden love for someone of my kind. He anchored me too deeply to life, and I lost my balance. When we were discovered, the King unmade him and traded me to the Amethyst Priestess in exchange for a rare crystal told to hold the power of death itself.”

He drew a slow breath.

“I am the last witness to a man who technically never existed. If I stop remembering him, he disappears twice, so I want to live, if only so he may still live through me.”

No one said a word. We just sat with it, the way you sit with a name you’re not allowed to say.

Elara broke the silence. “So this is where you learned patience and restraint. In the Veil.”

He met her gaze without flinching. “That’s where I learned that a thousand years of service does not earn you mercy.”

An unspoken understanding passed between them, as if they both knew the same flavor of pain.

Elara swirled the last of her drink. The deep garnet‌ matched her eyes perfectly. It could have been blood in that cup.

“I’m Sanguira,” she said finally, and the word itself felt heavy, Sacred. “My people were born from the first blood oath ever sworn. Half human, half the magic that binds life itself.”

None of us moved or spoke. Even Brim went still.

She traced the rim of her cup with one crimson-stained fingertip. “The Priestesses like to use us when they want a powerful spell that never fades. A single drop of Sanguira blood used in a ceremony can seal a binding stronger than steel. An entire sacrifice can alter the world forever.”

Her eyes widened, as if she were remembering something horrible.

“They tortured my mother until she died, and I refused to bleed for them again. I tried to escape with my little brother, but they sacrificed him before I could save him. In anger, I killed a dozen of their guards. They sent me here as punishment.”

The silence that followed was reverent. The hum of the Shard filled it, like the world itself was holding its breath.

She lifted her gaze, meeting mine.

“Something no one here knows?” Her voice softened. “My blood can heal just as well as I can hurt, but to me, destruction is much more fun.”

Calli’s eyes widened and she nudged my arm. “Um, your turn, Bex.”

I hesitated, feeling like my story was nothing compared to theirs.

“I don’t know where I come from,” I said. “I never knew my father, and my mother and sister died when I was little. The Order took me in. They taught me how to use my stealth magic so I could steal from them.”

Brim mumbled something between bites, and I turned to him.

“What do you know about that? How do you know me?”

He looked up, meeting my gaze but shaking his head, refusing to talk. Someday, I was going to make him tell me the truth.

“That explains a lot,” Elara said quietly. “Your training with the Order.”

“How do you mean?” 

“They never want to tell you the truth about your own power. They aim to keep you weak and use you like a tool for their purposes,” she said. “But if you knew your true power, you would overcome them. And they simply cannot allow it.”

That drew a faint laugh out of me, but inside, something twisted. Because she wasn’t wrong. The Order had taught me a very special set of skills and nothing more. Told me every day that I was weak. Convinced me I was nothing and no one.

“How did you end up here, then?” Calli asked.

“I found out they were planning to initiate me into the Order, so I ran,” I said. “The day I arrived here was the day I turned eighteen.”

“Happy Birthday from hell,” Calli said, half laughing.

I didn’t tell them about Maggie, the pendant, or the way the soul stone exploded into pieces. That would be a story for another day.

When the meal ended, no one wanted to go back to our rooms yet. It was still hours before we’d normally be asleep, and Elara had managed to snag a bottle of wine from the mess hall.

We drifted into the open courtyard, sitting on the steps beneath the false stars. The air shimmered with the hum of magic, but for once it felt peaceful.

Calli shifted into her crow form and perched on a pillar, feathers catching the violet light. Elara stretched out beside Orion, her head tipped back to watch the sky. Brim leaned against the far wall, silent as stone, eyes half-lidded but watching as Calli shifted and flew around.

I let my magic dance between my fingertips, tracing patterns of light across the ground. It felt different now. Still a bit foreign, but more part of me than it had felt before.

Orion’s voice drifted across the quiet. “You’ve come a long way.”

“I still have no idea what I’m capable of, and that’s terrifying.”

“But also exciting,” he said. “If we end up with more time to talk, I can teach you things you never dreamed of. There is more locked inside you than you realize. I can feel it.”

The words settled over me, and I tried to see if I could feel it too. Was there more to me than I had ever known?

A shadow passed over the courtyard. Slate paused, looking down at us from the walkway above. He didn’t say a word, but apparently he was satisfied enough with what he saw, because he quickly disappeared into the corridor beyond.

“What do you know about him?” I asked Calli when she turned back into her human, pink-haired self. “How long has he been in the Shard?”

“No one knows for sure. Some say he was the first one placed here. Others say he just appeared in the arena one day between solstices, disoriented and ready to fight. As if he was created by the Shard itself rather than sent here through a mirror.”

Her words sent chills up my spine.

If that last one was true, it was no wonder he’d been shaken up to see me land there alone, long after the rest of the Condemned appeared.

“I heard he has won the Shadow Games six separate times,” Orion said. “But has never gained his freedom. No one knows why.”

“That isn’t possible,” Calli said. “No one’s won that many times and stayed to talk about it. I’ll take you all to the Hall of Champions when they let us out of the training camp. You’ll see. There are a dozen winners, and they were all set free.”

“That’s not what they tell me,” Elara said, laughing.

“What who tells you?” Calli snapped back, but Elara just took a long drink from the bottle and turned her face back toward the sky.

“All that matters is that Slate’s team usually wins the Amethyst Games,” Brim said. “We must win. We must work harder.”

“Not tonight, though,” Calli said. “Tonight, let’s not think about the games at all.”

We spent two more hours in the courtyard, sharing stories of our lives. Laughing over jokes. Doing party tricks with our magic.

It was peaceful, but of course, the peace didn’t last.

By morning, we were back to work. Slate drove us harder than ever. The obstacle pillars moved faster now, the glass bridges twisting in midair like serpents so that we had to time our jumps just right or fall.

“Again,” he called, voice flat, as Brim hit the ground with a thud that shook the lower ring.

I’d lost track of how many times I’d fallen. My palms burned, and no matter how many bandages I wrapped around them, they still screamed in pain. Calli’s shoulder was bleeding. Elara’s hair clung to her face with sweat. Even Orion looked strained.

The only one who didn’t look tired was Slate.

He moved among us with mechanical precision, his silver eyes catching every flaw. No matter how fast I climbed, how steady I held the thread of light between the stones, he was there, pushing harder.

When I lost the thread, the mark beneath my collarbone seared to life, dragging me to my knees.

“Control it,” he said quietly, standing close enough that I could feel the warmth of his skin radiating against mine. “You’re letting it rule you.”

“I am controlling it,” I hissed back, trying to breathe. “You’re the one who keeps—”

But he wasn’t listening anymore.

He turned sharply and bowed, along with every Sentinel in the area.

A woman descended the staircase with the unhurried grace of someone who’d never once stumbled in her life. She wore a fitted suit of deep violet, cut close like armor, bands of black crystal tracing the seams. A slender gold crown set with amethysts rested light on her head.

She had thick black hair that flowed down her back in loose curls, and even though she looked more suited to a throne than an arena, she commanded the attention of everyone here in an instant.

Slate straightened immediately. “Regent.”

Her arrival silenced everything. Even the air seemed to thin. She moved like a blade through water. Tall, impossibly composed.

Her gaze swept over us, lingering on each bruise and bandage. “They look half-dead.”

“They’re still standing,” Slate said evenly.

“For now.” Her smile was a slow, cruel thing. “I’d heard you picked a weak team this year. I see the rumors were generous.”

My fists clenched, nails biting into my palms.

“They’ll be ready,” Slate said, voice clipped.

She arched a brow. “Will they? Because I see nothing here but pretty faces and wasted effort.”

Her eyes cut toward me like a blade.

“This one especially. What is she? Your charity case?”

Heat rushed up my neck. Before I could stop myself, I said, “I hold my own.”

The Regent’s lips curved. “I see my Warden has not taught you how to properly address your Regent.” She turned her back on me and addressed Slate instead. “Teach her.”

Slate’s jaw flexed, and he looked at me, hesitating a beat too long.

Anger flashed through the Regent’s pale violet eyes.

“I will not ask you twice,” she said, her voice low and threatening.

The silence that followed was knife-sharp. Slate’s expression didn’t change, but when he finally spoke, his voice was harder than stone.

“Kneel,” he said.

For a heartbeat, I thought I’d misheard.

“What?”

His eyes met mine, his old walls put firmly back in place.

“You will show the Regent your obedience,” he said, louder now.

The mark flared hot beneath my skin, threatening to ignite. Rage clawed at my throat. He could have defended me. Could have told her I was more than some charity case. But was that true? He still hadn’t explained who Sabine was or why she might have sent me here.

But my hesitation was not rewarded.

Instead, the mark burned through me like wildfire, and I sank to one knee, screaming in agony. The Regent smiled like a cat who’d cornered its prey.

“I want her broken properly,” she commanded.

When she turned away, Slate and the others bowed, but I barely saw it through the red haze in my vision.

The moment she was gone, I rose to my feet without waiting for his order. Every muscle trembled, not from fear this time, but from fury.

When the Regent finally swept out, the silence she left behind was suffocating. I could not say a word through the rest of our training, and that night, I couldn’t sleep.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the Regent’s perfect, smiling face as she called me fragile. Told him to break me.

Maybe she was right. Maybe I wasn’t cut out for this world.

But Slate knew I was capable of more and he said nothing. He didn’t make a single move to defend me after all the hard work I’d put in.

That was what I couldn’t let go of.

When I finally rose from bed, the terrace was wrapped in silence. My body moved before my mind caught up. Down the corridor, past the empty training ring, through the glass archway that I’d watched Slate disappear into every night after he ran the course on his own.

Steam clouded the air, curling around the doorway ahead.

I hesitated only a moment before pushing my way inside.

Steam rolled across the crystal floor, thick as fog, and I drew a hot breath as I saw him there. Slate sat waist-deep in the water, head tipped back, dark hair slicked to his neck. Scars traced pale lines across his shoulders like constellations.

A wound on his arm was bleeding, and his entire torso was marked with deep bruises. My eyes landed on the discarded clothing on the side of the bath.

His expression was unreadable as his eyes opened to find me standing there.

“I knew you’d come looking for me,” he said, his lips curling into a light smile as his eyes took me in.

I stepped back, the heat prickling against my skin. “I didn’t…” I took a nervous breath, the anger I’d walked in with deflating rapidly. “I didn’t know this was such a private area.”

Part of me wanted to apologize and turn around. Find him another time.

But part of me knew I may never have him alone like this again.

I crossed my arms. “You knew I’d come?”

“You wear your temper like a chain around your throat.” He stepped forward, water sliding down the planes of his chest. The faintest hint of amusement touched his mouth. “Still, I didn’t think you’d storm into the men’s baths to prove a point.”

I tried not to look and failed spectacularly. “I wouldn’t have to if you’d defended me.”

“Defended you?” He waded closer. “You think the Regent’s orders are up for negotiation?”

“She humiliated me,” I snapped. “And you let her.”

His eyes caught mine. “I saved you. If I’d defied her, she would’ve had you bleeding on that floor. Or worse.”

“Then maybe I should’ve bled,” I said, my voice shaking as he stepped out of the pool, wrapping a towel around his waist. “At least that would’ve been honest. You treated me like I was nothing.”

The air between us thickened. He stopped just shy of touching me, his voice low. “You have no idea how dangerous this world really is, Bex. You think I enjoyed making you kneel?”

I swallowed, unable to think with him this close to me.

“How would I know? You’re so closed off, it’s impossible to know what you’re thinking,” I said. “Sometimes you act like you hate me or you want to punish me, and then you save me or give me a look that…I don’t understand why you won’t just tell me what’s going on. Why was I sent here? Are you trying to protect me? Or kill me?”

His jaw flexed, and he looked around, as if making sure we were alone.

“You’re reckless.”

“And you’re a coward.”

His hand shot up, fingers wrapping around my wrist before I could turn away. The mark beneath my skin flared hot. My pulse quickened.

“Careful,” he said, voice gone rough. “You’re treading very close to the edge.”

“Maybe I like the edge.”

His breath caught, shallow and sharp. For one heartbeat, neither of us moved.

I don’t know why I did it, but I couldn’t control myself. I lifted my free hand to his chest, placing my palm on a mark written across his heart.

In an instant, the world detonated.

Light radiated from where our bodies met. Symbols blazed across his skin like fire, racing over the lines of old scars, winding up his throat and down his arms in spirals of gold. He staggered, eyes wide, and the sound he made was half-pain, half-shock.

“Bex—”

His voice broke on my name. The runes burned brighter, pulsing in time with my heartbeat.

He looked just like my dream. The one I’d had of him when I first came to the Shard. His body covered, not in scars, but in ancient runes flowing with light like lava.I tore my hand away, stumbling backward. The light dimmed, leaving only the faint glow of symbols still alive beneath his skin.
He froze, chest heaving, eyes wide and wild. The runes still pulsed faintly, their light painting his throat, his jaw, the sharp cut of his cheekbones.

“What did you do to me?” he rasped. “Who are you?”

The words hit like a stone in my stomach. “I… I don’t know.”

For a moment, neither of us moved. The steam hung between us as sweat dripped down my face. His gaze dropped to my mouth, then to the hand that had burned him, then back to my eyes. Every nerve in my body screamed.

He stepped forward, slowly, like a man fighting himself. His fingers twitched at his side as if he wanted to reach for me and couldn’t decide which part of him would win if he did. The mark under my skin throbbed in time with his runes, the air between us humming with magic.

When he finally spoke, his voice was hoarse, raw. “Go. Before I do something I can’t undo.”

I wanted to stay. To ask what the hell this meant. To demand answers. To close the inches between us and find out if the heat on his skin would burn or heal.

But the look in his eyes told me this was a command, not a request.

So I ran. All the way back to my room, the mark on my skin pulsing long into the night.

SLATE

When she left, the light went with her.

The runes beneath my skin had faded, but I could see the tracings of them, like an afterimage burned into my veins. I stared down at my hands, trembling with power like nothing I’d ever felt before.

Her magic had unlocked something. Healed my wounds in an instant.

I’d asked her who she was, but the question underneath that rocked me to my core.

What am I?

I closed my eyes, the echo of her touch still burning against my skin. I had no idea what she’d done or why she’d been sent here. All I knew was that when she touched me, the void I’d lived with for a hundred years had answered.

She’ll destroy everything, I thought.

And maybe that’s exactly what I wanted her to do.