Page 83 of The Madness Within

“Cassian, you called me,” I said, my voice a rasp of iron dragged over bone. “Make it worth my time.”

The creature grinned. Too many teeth. Too much pleasure behind the eyes. “Don’t call me by his name.”

“Fine.” I sneered. “What do you want, Saze?”

It spread its hands like a showman, casual and arrogant. “To finish what we started. To rip the world wide open.”

I didn’t respond. Not yet. Because I knew what this was really about.Her. The girl with blood laced in prophecy. The one I tried to kill years ago when I ended her mother.

“I should’ve snapped her spine when I had the chance,” I muttered. “Didn’t know what she was. Thought she was just another brat until I started uncovering the truth her mother tried to keep hidden.”

“She’s not,” the thing hissed, eyes glowing faintly. “She’s Watcher blood. The last. The key.”

“I know.” The silence between us thickened, alive with old power. “So what’s the plan?” I asked, though part of me already knew. I didn’t like it.

“We don’t take her,” it said, circling the table like a beast stalking its next move. “We let herleavehim.”

I laughed, bitter and sharp. “You think she’ll just walk away from Vale? That blood drunk bastard has her wrapped in silk and secrets. He owns her.”

“She’s confused,” it said. “Choking on the illusion of choice. We don’tstealher, Kreed. Wefreeher. Make her believe she’s escaping a prison, when all she’s doing is walking into ours.”

I said nothing.

“She’s starting to question him,” it continued. “His house. His control. His lies. All we need to do is give her a reason to run. One nudge in the right direction, and she’ll come straight to us. Willingly.”

My jaw tightened. “And then?”

It grinned again, teeth gleaming. “Then she opens the Gate. Her blood, her lineage, her scream, it's the price. And once it swings wide…”

“The lost ones come back,” I finished for him, voice low. Cold.

He nodded. “And the world begins to rot.”

I leaned forward, knuckles pressing into the table. “And what happensaftershe opens it? You think I’ll let her live? She’s a weapon. One that should’ve never been born.”

“You’ll get your kill,” it said. “But not until we get what we need.”

I stared at him, at the creature that took over Cassian’s skin when I killed him. He was useful. For now. But I knew what he really was.

And he had no fucking idea whatIwas becoming.

“You get her out of that house,” I growled. “You make her think she’s free. I’ll be waiting.”

He nodded, that grin never fading. “Soon. She’ll come to us, thinking she’s escaping a monster.”

I smiled darkly. “And run straight into something worse.”

Chapter Thirty-Five

??Dead Air, Live Wires

Ember

The books were starting to bleed into my dreams.

Symbols etched in ash and blood, whispered warnings about Watchers, Seekers, the Gate, it was all too much.

I pushed the dusty books away and stood, my hands trembling from the weight of what I’d just read.

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