Page 74 of House of Darkness
He blinked at me in surprise.She deserves to know.
The rage radiating off Estrella was thick and palpable, silencing the room. Tentatively, I reached out and placed my hand on hers.You know that’s not how I see it?—
Hush, she snapped back, her tone sharp enough to make me flinch. She yanked her hand away.
“And what about the other girls? His abuse goes against the law. Roman made it illegal to abuse acolytes when he first came to power.” Estrella kept her eyes pinned on Sorin.
Sorin didn’t dare look at me as he responded. I resisted the urge to smack him. “It wasn’t a particularly popular law even then, and it won’t gain the same support now. This avenue will ensure the Houses back us in Codran’s execution.”
Silence settled over us like a heavy blanket. Everyone watched Estrella as if she were a cornered animal ready to snap. She gulped back her emotions. “I guess if that’s the angle we have, we need to use it.”
Sorin gave her a short nod—one of respect. My brother wasn’t cruel, though his bluntness often crossed a line. He sympathized with her more than she knew.
“We need to hunt them down and perform a public and brutal execution. Catina and Sorin, you two start the search. Enso, you need to begin working on battle strategy. Learn everything you can about past insurgencies and Mihal. We need to determine the extent of his involvement. Razvan, you need to start reaching out to our allies,” I instructed.
“I’m not leaving the girls,” Catina snapped. “No way in hell.”
We stared each other down. I could order her to comply, but I knew that would only spark an argument. Besides, I understood her reasoning; it mirrored my own reluctance to leave. “Fine. Razvan, yougo with Sorin. I’ll have Isabella work on announcements for release once you find them and analyze our allies. Catina, if you’re staying here, at least look at our weak points for Enso.”
The generals understood the dismissal and stood. Sorin and Razvan prepared to leave.Keep in touch regularly. If you get close, I can meet you,I told Razvan.
He nodded, leaning down to give Estrella a squeeze.Take care of her.
Of course.
The room fell silent once everyone was gone. I looked at Estrella. Her arms were crossed and her eyes narrowed.Iliya is alive?
Yes. Are you upset that I plan to execute her?
No. I want to kill her myself.
Chapter 38
ESTRELLA
Something snapped inside me, clear as a bone breaking. Property theft—that's all it was. That’s all I was. No one cared how Codran had defiled me. No one cared about the other girls. We were merely toys to be broken.
After the meeting, I returned to my bedroom and sat at my tea table for hours. Now, I stood before the mirror, seething at the reflection staring back at me—the bruises and cuts wrapping around my body. Damaged goods, that’s all I was. An acolyte doll too weak to protect herself or anyone else.
I screamed and hurled my fist into the mirror. The glass exploded, shards embedding themselves in my knuckles and spilling blood. I barely felt the pain. At least I couldn’t see her anymore, though she would likely haunt me for the rest of my life. In every mirror, it would be her looking back at me—somewhere between a person and a plaything, and how could a toy do anything?
A hand brushed my shoulder, and I spun around to see Roman’s face, taut with concern.
“Don’t touch me,” I snapped, yanking away from him.
Roman looked as if I had slapped him, tugging at my heartstrings. None of this was his fault. He had done right by me, saving me andthose girls. I gulped, trying to release some of the anger built up inside me before I hurt him more.
“Why?” he asked, holding his hand out to me.
Reluctantly, I placed my hand in his. Roman began expertly removing each shard from my knuckles with his sharp nails. It should have hurt, but I felt nothing.
With my free hand, I pointed at the spot where the mirror had once stood. “She needed to go. She was too weak.”
He tugged a piece of glass from my pinky. “You’re wrong. She’s the strongest girl I know.”
I watched in vague interest as he disappeared into the washroom, then returned with a towel. He wrapped it around my hand to stifle the bleeding, though his eyes glittered at the scent.
“I’m not strong.”
