Page 42 of Architecti
Do I get to come out of Finis with my soul and newfound powers?Have the angels finally smiled on me?
I inhale slow and steady, trying to run the possibilities.The problems.But my mind is thick and heady with weariness from the soul severing.
“Tick tock, Mercedes.”
I push my brain, plead with it to work.Think of something, anything to reassure me this isn’t a giant clusterfuck.
“I need a decision.”
My eyes narrow.“Whose soul is it?”There are very few people left that I give a shit about, but I should probably know this at least.I doubt it will change my answer.
It smiles, a feral thing, all teeth and windows and endless gaping holes.I shudder and look away.
“Ignatius’s daughter.”
My eyes widen.“Ignatius has a daughter?”
“He does.”
Oh, my gods, Ignatius has a daughter.And that’s who I have to reap to free my soul?The angels really have smiled down on me.This will be the easiest reaping I’ve ever done.I don’t even have to think about the answer.Not only will I free myself, I’ll get to witness Ignatius’s pain at the loss of his daughter.
“Deal,” I say.One brief moment of panic follows when I wonder if his daughter is still just a child.But what problem could Finis have with a child?She could be an ancient woman.I don’t even know how old Ignatius is.
A surge of the most intense electric power courses through my body.A pounding headache blooms between my ears.I glance at my fingers, swearing static pops and cracks between my knuckles.A constant flowing pulse pours into me, filling my body from the toes up.The gaping void in my soul replenishes, only for it to drain like a sieve, leaving me both overflowing with power and utterly empty.
Moths materialise.
Faster.Faster.
The room fills with the low hum of thousands of fluttering wings.My heart clenches, that simmering panic of whenever the moths are near.But I chose these moths.I closed off future possibilities by choice.I want this.
Breathe in.Breathe out.I force myself to slow down.Let their velvet wings caress my arms, my cheeks, my neck as they twirl through the air.
When my heart rate slows, I let myself move, staggering right into Professor Malifax.I bend forward and cling to my knees.
“Congratulations, Finis accepted you,” he says and helps me stumble towards the door.He frowns at the swarm of unexpected moths but decides not to ask.I guess strange things happen here too often to worry about them.
“Use its power wisely,” he says and tugs my top open.His eyes scan my sternum.I want to pull his fingers off.I feel exposed.
His lips curl.“We haven’t had many of these today.Congratulations, House Inferos.”
I yank my shredded shirt back and slip into the gloom.I can feel the weight of my scythe knocking against my hip—somehow back at my side again.
Despite the darkness, I find my way through a door and out into Finis Academy’s campus.
Finally.
Now the real game begins.I spot Lex and Bastien and head over to them when a sickly sweet voice chimes through my focus.
“Midnight?”
My heart nearly rips out of my chest in one giant thud.My fingers curl at my sides.Those half-moon divots cutting deeper into my palms.
A livid fury boils in my body.I had no idea she was here.The bitch doesn’t deserve to be.If screwing my life over wasn’t good enough, she had to take my dream too?
“Congratulations,” she says as I turn to face my ex.
“Aurelia.”
