I wake to silence, to a palace bed that might as well be a tomb. My fingers reach for a hand no longer there, both blessing and curse. Perhaps he escaped. Perhaps Shade knew better than to rescue me when I was already so far gone, held captive by Maven's attention as Harbor Bay burned around us.
A trap. Another web of the boy-king, one of awful clicking and a murdered innocent reduced to bait. It makes me reel.
"You're awake." That voice . . . "Good. I worried I pushed you too far."
Flamemakers rest on the bedside table, and my fingers curl around them. Maven flinches as I fling them at his face. They bounce off his nose, rolling onto the ground. Figures. Nothing I touch has ever bruised him. Nothing but my words.
He tsks. "Did Lady Blonos teach you nothing?"
"You murdered her."
"And?" Maven rises from his seat, inspecting my arm. "I still passed Protocol."
"Did you cheat on the final exam?"
No reaction, only leaning over my shoulder to feel my back. I tense, preparing to shock him, but no spark comes. The bracelets register for the first time, glistening with a sheen I've seen once before. Silent stone.
"No scars." Maven removes his hand with a nod. "Shame. They suit you."
My voice is hoarse from screaming. "What do you want?"
He pauses. "I don't know."
"Where are my friends? Cal? Shade?" I swallow. "Are they already dead?"
"They escaped, no thanks to you." Maven runs a hand through his hair. "I've been waiting at your side, should he attempt a jump. Wouldn't want a repeat of last time."
"You know what happens to those who try to cage me?" A feeble threat. I have never managed to avenge myself, not yet.
He chuckles. "No worse than what happens to my enemies."
"You've earned them."
A long silence passes. Maven stares me in the eye. "Be mine. Or die. Your choice."
"I choose death."
"Do you?" He leans closer, whispering, "What if it was by my hand?"
My eyes widen.
"I could do it. I could burn you, inch by inch, bid the ash flake off as you refused to be mine. I wouldn't enjoy it. I would curse you, holding back tears with each stretch of blackened skin. But I would do it."
"Because you're insane."
"I am." He doesn't blink. "Placate me, Mare. You're the only one who can."
My hands shake. What once was resolve has softened to curiosity, a morbid need to know what would make him stop. What his mercy looks like, in the face of such cruelty. It's a desire that manifests in my hands around his throat, smashing him against the wall with ragged ease. He's light. Too light. I caught him by surprise.
He will not make that mistake again.
His fingers squeeze against my trachea, a lethal caress. Heat dances through my spine, raking claws across my vision as he spreads it to my skull. I'm not burning. Not yet.
"You have one chance to let go." The words are tender, yet sharp as a blade. "Take it, my love."
And take it I do, releasing him the same time as he does my throat. My head clears, tingling with relief and something I don't care to name. We're both standing. Both locked in this room, staring each other down as if we could break bones with our eyes. Maven clears his throat. "Thank you."
