Page 6 of Darkness and Deceit
“What is that supposed to mean?” My voice cracks. “You don’t even know me.”
“We know enough,” he replies. “You are a Dual. That alone makes you a threat.”
My jaw tightens. “You say you serve the Balance,” I rasp, the words bitter on my tongue. “But all you’ve done is threaten me.”
The redhead doesn’t flinch. “We preserve the Balance,” he says. “Not individuals. Power without boundaries is chaos. And chaos threatens everything.
His voice is calm, even reasonable. But it hits colder than anything else they’ve said. This isn’t about protection. It’s about control.
Movement at the window catches my eye before I can respond. The presence is so abruptly familiar it makes my battered heart lurch.
Kai.
Eyes wild with panic and rage.
He must’ve felt the pain and the memory breach through the bond.
His lips move. My name, I think. Lilith.
He raises a hand, palm flat against the glass, and for half a heartbeat I believe the warded glass will shatter under the force of his will alone.
But before he can do anything, the older Keeper flicks his wrist. A blue sigil blazes across his palm, and Kai is yanked backwards like a marionette on an invisible string and disappears from view.
“No!”
I stagger out of the chair and slam my fists against the glass. “Kai!” My voice, hoarse and broken, ricochets around the room. “He didn’t do anything, you bastards!”
The redhead sighs. “Those kinds of dramatics will only complicate your situation, Ms. Knight.”
I turn on them, hands curled into fists, magic seething. Shadows flood my vision and the candle’s tiny flame stretches up, twisting into a miniature inferno.
“If you’ve hurt him—” My voice cracks, but the threat is real, and they know it.
The redhead waves a hand, and the magic vanishes. My knees nearly buckle.
“He is a Protector,” he says flatly. “Pain is part of the role.”
The younger Keeper flips through his notes calmly, barely glancing up to regard my outburst. “As are you,” he adds. “You will need to learn to withstand far worse if you are to serve the Balance.”
Something inside me twists.
I don’t answer him. I don’t trust what might come out of my mouth. A scream? A sob? A curse?
Instead, I lower myself back into the chair before the shaking in my knees can give me away.
The candle on the desk sputters. Flickers once. Then steadies.
Just like me.
Three
SIMON
I swearI’ve practically worn a groove into the stone floor.
For two hours—maybe more—I’ve been pacing the same six feet of narrow, dimly lit hallway outside the interrogation chamber where they’re holding Lilith. My boots scuff against the same uneven crack with each pass, like even the floor is tired of my restless steps.
Vaughn leans against the wall beside me, burning through cigarettes like it’s the only thing keeping him tethered to reality. The flame flickers against his too-sharp cheekbones and the mess of dark hair falling into his eyes. His usual arrogance is gone. What’s left is something sharp. Stripped down. On edge.
