Page 103 of Beg the Night

“I’m giving you one last warning, Thena. We can sneak out of here. We can be gone before the morning. They’ll have no way to find us.”

Katherine.

“Are you joking?”

A beat passed.

“I’m not leaving.” Athena said again, her tone full of fury. “These people need me.”

Katherine let out a derisive laugh. “You’re seriously choosing these people over your own family?”

“These peoplearemy family now. Not that you could understand that kind of loyalty. And aren’t you the one who left your family in the first place?” The hushed whispers grew more intense.

“Oh, please. You wouldn’t know family if it was staring you in the face! It’s why you have none left! You killed Mother. You killed Kylar, then Father. That’s when I knew I had to get out of there. You even killed sweet Jasmine. I never could have imagined you’d be capable of that. And in less than thirty-six hours, you’ll have killed me, too.”

“Stop.”

I had to fight the urge to rip the door open and strangle the last breath out of Katherine’s pesky throat. She had no idea what the weight of a gift like Athena’s cost.

Athena had paid the price many, many times. In fact, she paid the price every time she closed her eyes, every time those tortured memories crossed her mind.

I would know.

“Have you told him all of it?”

“Stop it, Katherine.”

“Does he think the two of you are alike?” Katherine laughed, her tone pure malice. “Does he think you’re both death wielders, gifted with a curse and ready to slay the whole Ministry?”

“I said that’senough!”

Neither sister spoke again, but there was a rustling of fabric and the sound of footsteps moving closer. “You’re a monster, Thena. You are worse than a death wielder. Worse thananytier three. You know that, don’t you? People like you have no redemption. Not after what you did.”

“Then why do you care? If I’m such a lost cause and you really think we’ll fail, then why not let me do it? Why not let me get caught? Why are you even here?”

“I’m trying to convince you to work for the greater good. Help the Ministry. At least then you’ll be killing for the right reasons.”

“What would you have done?” Athena asked, her voice wavering in a way that made my chest ache. “If you were me, what would you have done?”

I pictured the way Katherine scowled at her sister. No respect. No love. “If I were you, I would have killed myself a long time ago. The world would be a better place without you. And once the Ministry has you again, they’ll see it.”

I could barely hear the sound of her retreating footsteps over my own pounding heart. The door was opening before I knew what I was doing. Athena stood in the hallway, shoulders slumped, feet bare, her eyes glazed over.

When the door clicked shut behind me, I gently grasped her arm. “Hey,” I whispered. “What are you doing out here?” I wouldn’t stir up more pain by telling her I’d heard that entire, gut-wrenching conversation.

Athena opened her mouth, then snapped it shut without replying, her focus fixed on the floor in front of her. She was lost somewhere I couldn’t follow her, somewhere deep in the caves of her mind.

It killed me to see the pain, to know that I couldn’t follow her. I hated that Katherine had pushed her there with nothing but lies and hatred.

“Athena.” I ran a finger down the side of her face, trying to make her snap out of the trance. “Athena, come back to me.”

“I don’t want to be a monster.” Her voice had never sounded so weak. “I never wanted to be this person.”

“You’re not a monster. You know you’re not.”

She finally looked up, her eyes brimming with tears. “I killed my family.” The words were barely audible. “I wanted them dead. That’s why they are dead.”

A single tear crested her lashes and tracked down her face.

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