Page 156 of Powerless

Lenny gives me a curt nod. “Understood.”

We talk for at least another hour, discussing the details. And then Lenny and I are standing to leave, stretching our stiff bodies before waving our goodbyes and heading back up the stairs.

When we step outside, the cool breeze bombards me, and I find myself shivering once again. Lenny slings an arm around my shoulder and tucks me close, ruffling my hair with his other hand in the process. I’m laughing, pushing his palm away as I attempt to smooth down the crazed silver strands now tumbling over my shoulders.

“The ball is tomorrow,” Lenny says, almost sounding solemn.

“The ball is tomorrow,” I echo, my voice barely more than a whisper.

“And then it’s the final Trial.” He’s staring up at the stars looking down on us.

I exhale a shaky laugh, seemingly unable to come up with my own words since I say, “And then it’s the final Trial.”

Lenny looks at me, eyes full of laughter. “What are you, a parrot or a Paedyn?”

I snort and let my head fall back to look up at the starry sky. My answer is quiet, thoughtful. “I don’t know what I am.”

I feel a squeeze on my shoulder and turn to see Lenny smiling down at me. “You’re Paedyn Gray. Silver Savior, silver-tongued, and quick to shove her silver dagger into people.”

ChapterForty-Eight

Kai

Screams.Terrible, tortured screams bounce around my skull, echo in my mind.

Her.

It’sher.

I’m running through the halls of the castle, sweating, searching, screaming for her.

The only response is a cry for help, a beg for mercy.

I throw open her door, bursting into the room and scanning the darkness.

Something silver glints in the moonlight streaming through her open window.

There.

Her hair. It must be that beautiful, silver hair of hers.

But what my eyes land on is not beautiful.

No, it isbroken.

She is covered in blood, sitting in a pool of it. Tears are streaming down her face, now contorted in agony.

Pain beyond belief.

Suffering beyond saving.

I catch sight of that silver glint again, but it’s not her hair shimmering like I once thought.

Dagger.

It’s herdagger.

Its sharp point is pressed against her chest, drawing blood that runs down her body and mirrors the tears running down her face.

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