Page 100 of Magic Claimed
I nodded in acceptance. “Then I will leave you two to talk while I go and try to sleep. Tomorrow…”
It was already tomorrow. And we had so little time.
I could only hope that it would be enough
Those two dayspassed in what seemed to be only a handful of breathless hours. We made calls, called in favors, begged for help, layered plans upon plans, but all of it depended on Blake’s next move. All of it hinged on where he would chooseto apply pressure, and by the time the call came, the waiting had begun to seem unbearable.
But it did finally come—at nine o’clock on Wednesday night. Only twelve hours before the march was set to begin.
And it came not to Faris, not to Callum, but to me.
As if Blake still saw me as the weakest link—the most vulnerable to his particular brand of manipulation. And once, that would have been true.
But no more. I’d seen Blake Masterson for who he truly was—as grotesque a monster as Elayara ever dreamed of being.
The call showed on my phone as an unknown number, but I knew it was him. I paused in the center of the team office, swiped to answer, and put the call on speaker without saying a word.
“Hello, Raine.”
That voice stirred so many memories. Reminded me of everything we’d endured together. Blake, too, had been a victim. Had experienced years of trauma, just as I had. We could so easily have worn each other’s shoes. But he emerged from our prison and chose to become our tormentor. Chose to perpetuate the cycle of power.
Being a monster is a choice.
“Blake.”
“I hope you know, this isn’t how I wanted everything to go.”
No doubt he’d envisioned more progress towards world domination by now. “Whatdidyou want? A parade in your honor? A statue on the Capitol Mall?”
“I didn’t want anyone to get hurt, Raine.” His voice was so gentle, so reasonable as it echoed across the room. “If you andKes had come to me in the beginning, when I invited you to join me, none of this would have happened.”
I wondered… Had there been signs, even back then? That the unassuming, middle-aged man with a kind voice would turn out to be a psychopath?
“I’m not accepting responsibility for your actions, Blake. You can try that on your followers, but it won’t work on me.”
I heard a sigh.
“I doubted you would be able to see the wisdom of the future I envision. That’s why I have an offer for you. To help you understand that I have no desire to hurt you, or anyone else who’s suffered what we’ve suffered.”
Here it was—the moment we’d been waiting for. The only question was…
“I’m willing to make all this go away—the protests, the march, even the proposal to register and monitor your Idrian friends. I’m also prepared to ensure that Tairen-li-Corva is released into your care, effective immediately.”
I drew in a deep breath and held it for a five count, consciously willing my rage to subside. Commanding my voice to stay calm and even. “That’s very generous of you, Blake. And what is it you’re expecting in return for this generosity?”
“I understand that you have a new life now. That Logan and Ari are happy and stable, and I would so hate to take them away from that. So I won’t ask you to join me. You should enjoy whatever life is possible with your chosen mate, for as long as he has left.”
I could cheerfully have eviscerated him with my bare hands for that. And yet, somehow, I still held steady.
“Tell me what you want.”
“You know exactly what I want,” Blake said, his tone soft and velvety smooth. “And it’s a small thing, really. Just one person. One life in exchange for thousands, maybe even millions. If you give me Kes, there will be no need for violence. No reasons for war. Everything goes back to the way it was.”
Just one life. Because to Blake, that really was a vanishingly small thing.
“I thought tomorrow was just a protest,” I said casually. “Just a peaceful march to gain sympathy for your cause.”
“And what a pity,” Blake replied without even a momentary pause, “if a peaceful march were to end in violence. What an absolutetragedy, if humans exercising their constitutional rights were to be senselessly attacked by untrustworthy monsters, with complete disregard for life and collateral damage.”
