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“No? That’s fair. How could you miss the man you tried to kill?”
He steps into the light, and I gasp, writhing to get away. His face, once the most beautiful in existence, is scarred, pieces of skin peeled away, revealing muscle and bone.
Another man, one whose identity settles over me as soon as I see his face, steps up beside him. Hadrian hums happily at the man.
“Have you met my Secondo?” Hadrian asks. “Some of you know him as the Admiral, but I know him as my lover.”
Thorn thrashes against the wall, but Hadrian simply chuckles.
“Oh, their devotion to you must stroke your ego, Cillian. You were always a proud man. Too proud to obey.”
“Fuuuckkk youuu,” Damiano grits out.
“You shut up!” Hadrian screeches, raising his hand to Damiano and causing some sort of pain as my lover flinches and groans. “You should have stayed away, Lorenzo. Now you have to die too.”
You’re the only one dying tonight, Hadrian.
I send the thought, knowing my voice won’t work. It clearly reaches him as he turns to face me, eyes narrowed. He steps closer, his scent of rotting honeysuckle turning my stomach.
“You’re still so beautiful. Not like I am after what you did to me.” He reaches out to touch me and Damiano goes wild, but he’s unable to break free of whatever Hadrian is doing to us. “Maybe I should fuck you and make your beloved watch, just like the old days. Taint your scent so it makes him sick. Every time he tried to touch you he would feel me. I might enjoy that more than your death.”
Allow me to speak. Or are you too afraid of my truth?
Hadrian tilts his head before revealing yellowed and decaying teeth. “I’m not afraid of you.”
I think you are.
Hadrian seethes with anger, flicking his wrist and releasing my throat. I slump with relief as the pressure leaves my neck. Hadrian lifts my chin with his spindly fingers, forcing my gaze to meet his. His eyes are the same, still hypnotic and beautiful, and I know from experience not to stare too long.
“What happened to you, Maker? You don’t look well.”
He sneers at me, his fist tightening around my shirt. “You know what happened to me. You did this.”
“But why haven’t you healed? Are you…sick?”
His scent reacts to my accusation, souring even more. My eyes flicker to the Admiral, passively standing by as if waiting to be needed. He has no scent at all, which is highly unusual.
Focusing with all my might and praying to Hades it works, I send my thoughts to my brothers and Damiano.
“Stop it,” Hadrian spits. “Stop blocking me.”
“Why should I, Maker? You spent centuries blocking me.”
“I spent centuries in the bottom of the ocean because of you and your traitorous ways. You will die for your dishonor.”
“My dishonor? Do you not recall what led to your demise? You are well acquainted with dishonor.”
“I created all this,” he seethes. “I created the rules, the lifestyle, the very reason you exist. You think you’re better than me now? I am your maker, Cillian, and now I will be your destroyer.”
I brace for whatever he’s about to throw at me, but I’m startled by Vivienne wrapping her arm around the Admiral’s neck and plunging a syringe into it. He screams loud enough to shake the walls, drawing Hadrian’s shock as he rushes to his new lover’s side.
Vivienne backs off quickly, and I realize Hadrian and his army cannot see her. Her cloaking spell really works.
The Admiral gasps, clutching his throat, but then he sinks to his knees, gazing up at Hadrian with nothing but pure hatred in his eyes.
“You,” the Admiral says.
Hadrian scrambles for his pockets, searching frantically for something. “No,” he mumbles. “How did you…What happened?”
