Page 89 of Rising

“Finny.” Alexiares’ voice was rough as he called her off. “Get to the point.”

Her eyes rolled, annoyed with his pestering. “See, Alexi just needed some time to himself. Grieving can be a … delicate thing. So he went off to do the one thing that would help him sleep at night.Kill you. Instead, he found a sorry, drunk, despicably weak shell of a general and realized there wasn’t much left to destroy. I mean, where’s the fun in that? Can’t take everything from someone who can’t even care about themselves. His words, not mine.”

She looked me up and down, scoffing as she continued, “Once it was clear someone else was as passionate about your death as he was, the long game made more sense. Though I gotta say, Duluth was never in my playing cards. An opportunity presented itself. You see, our people here are struggling. Winter can be a bit tough on food supply when you don’t have enough air magic to warm the livestockandkeep the greenhouses happy. Even worse without the connections.”

“I can’t fathom why that would be,” I mumbled.

She ignored me. “A favor from Duluth could go far. The resources they have could make my job here a lot easier. Turning you in could solve half of my life’s problems right now. But then I got to thinking, why stop there Finny? I mean, the world is your oyster. Why not think bigger? Wecouldhelp another settlement, form connections, gain access to more resources, use it to our advantage. A trade for a trade. Or we could help ourselves.”

Her steps were slow, methodical as she moved down the line. Sizing up each of my friends before stopping in front of Reina.

“It’s a freaking one-stop-shop, you know? The cream of the crop right here at my fingertips. He didn’t even have to tell me about this one,”—she kicked Reina in the ribs, eliciting a pained groan—”the bitch started to heal herself the moment we switched the cuffs out. Wasn’t even conscious.”

I bit back a scream. She was baiting me.

Seth glared at her, growls emitting from the base of his throat. Her body now towered above his. “Don’t know what this can do, but his stature and attire tell me enough to know he’d be handy in more than one place.” She grabbed his cheeks, winking at him, positioning herself for him to headbutt her in the gut, her knee driving into his nose on instinct.

I yanked at my chains, dust crumbling from the walls under my strength. “I’ll fucking kill you.” My voice was unrecognizable, even to myself, the threat coming out animalistic. A promise.

It was as if she hadn’t heard me at all, stopping in front of Moe who sat there, unmoving and giving her a death glare. I could see each slice my friend was envisioning upon Finley’s body as she crouched down to be face level. “Your sword is very pretty. But something tells me what happens up here is more valuable.”

Her fingers tapped the side of Moe’s head, who snapped her teeth at her in response.

I glared at Alexiares, his smug expression infuriating me more.How could he work with someone, love someone so cruel?The words spilled out of my mouth, hot and bitter like bile rising from my gut.

“I’ll die before I ever subject my family to working with you.” The weight of my words hung heavy in the air as his expression turned pleading. It vanished from his face quickly, making me question if I’d had too many hits to the head.

“Thought you might say that,” she said, tsking at him in sign to get up.

He was clean, skin clear as if days’ worth of dirt and blood hadn’t been caked there in the moments before things had changed. I blinked. He was in uniform now. Black cargos tucked neatly into matching black boots. His black shirt nestled inside the waist of his pants, covered by a matching black cargo jacket with various symbols on the lapel.St. Cloudwas etched into the pocket above his chest. The dog tags sat tilted against his chest. My eyes narrowed. A bullet-proof vest lay beneath his shirt. A soldier.

A knife shimmered in his hand, fire gleaming in the other. His rings were off. His jaw tensed as he dropped to his knees in front of me, eyes searching mine, sweat collecting around the tip of his nose.

With a guttural cry, Seth gritted his teeth, struggling to get to his feet. His wounded knee buckled under pressure. He refused to back down, the furious determination and tugging sent chunks of the wall crumbling under the sheer force of his strength.

His magic had been cut off, but his size and human strength remained. With a primal roar, the chain bounding his left arm sprang free, hurtling through the air and straight towards Finley’s face. His movements were sluggish, body not used to moving after being down here for days. She dodged his attack, ordering Alexiares to start with him instead. Alexiares throat cleared. Four steps were all it took for him to drop in front of Seth, weight grounding onto the loose chain and burn him.

A low whimper rang out, as the smell of burning flesh filled my nostrils, but was quickly stifled as he bit back his lip.

I thrashed against my chains in protest. “No! Stop, please.”

My cries were desperate as Finley leaned against the wall, smiling, only turning her head back to Alexiares, encouraging him to continue. Reina sobbed, her cries of agony as if she felt what her brother did. Moe had retreated back into stunned silence, watching Finley and not Alexiares.

Marking her.

Alexiares flames lit the room again, this time a cry in agony escaped Seth’s mouth, the knife sliding down to his uninjured leg. A red tinged drop of sweat raced down his face, his dark red hair wild as he jerked back at the pain.

Alexiares’ knife plunged deep. “Know what that is, Seth?” he asked. “That’s your sciatic nerve. You feel that? That pinch going up your spine? One quick movement and—” Seth crumbled as the blade pulled away at his flesh, the pain so intense, no sound came out. His body going into shock. Alexiares wiped the knife on his pants, a thin sliver of Seth’s skin discarded as if it were nothing.

He lit the tips of his fingers once more, body shaking, trying to constrain his power, but Finley grabbed his wrist, whispering something into his ear before kissing the top of his head and calling him off.

Alexiares’ face was emotionless, eyes trained on the ground as he stood, moving back towards the door, back to us, and body tense.

“Hmm, you were right, Alexi. Some general—doesn’t take much to see her fold. See, the difference between you and us is we don’t care who has to die to get what we want. You’ll die before you’ll work with us but, how about them?”

I said nothing, which was answer enough. I wouldn’t let my family die from my stubbornness.

“I’ll let you sleep on it for a night. Think it over a bit. Decide how complicated you want this to be, but let me be clear. You either work with us, or they die. Choose wisely,” she said, as if it were a real choice. Alexiares opened the door, and she strode past. He lingered for a moment before exiting without looking back.

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