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It was so familiar, yet so strange. She was acting as if this were a normal mission that went awry!
"The relic," I rasped. "You gave him the Karemi Relic. And he used it to murder all of those people." I yanked my arms from her grasp and stepped backward. "How could you do that? You promised you'd destroy it!"
She winced. "Oh, that. I feared that might be an issue, and it was why I tried so hard to keep you away from it, sending you on the boat and all. It's your one weakness, you know."
Was this really the same woman who'd saved me in Gleyma and helped me find purpose?
"If only you were more mature about this side of the business," she continued. "You're so impressive in all the other ways, but you can't handle getting your hands a little dirty sometimes. It's so childish really."
Sighing, she clucked her tongue and gestured to the ship. "You may not see it yet, but this is all necessary for our mission to rid the world of corruption. Nasty business, yes, but I'd exhausted the other options. And getting those body mages under control was necessary for the next phase. Trust me."
My brow furrowed.
"Necessary? TRUST YOU?" I snapped. "You massacred innocent people, and now you stand there in your stupid hat with that ridiculous smile, acting as if it were nothing!" My voice rose into a yell as my fists tightened at my sides. "How could you think I'd EVER trust you again? I mean — how many times have you done this sort of thing? How many souls are lost because of the relics I gave you? You told me we were —" my voice cracked. "You told me we were saving people!"
My chest heaved, and she stood there, face pinched and hands clenched, watching me.
Finally, she let out a long sigh and turned away. "I don't know what you want me to say, Kaiya. We are saving people." The warmth from before had been replaced with an unfamiliar coolness to her voice. "And damnit — this was not at all how I planned for this conversation to go! Frankly, I'm beginning to wonder if not doing the collared route with you was a mistake."
Sighing, she turned back to face me. "When I found you in Gleyma with your life destroyed by twisted relics and those who would wield them, I saw someone who understood the world like I understood it. 'Finally!' I thought."
She frowned, truly looking sad. "'Finally, I might not have to do this alone.' So, I took you in and put you to work. Not on the unpleasant stuff, but on important work! I knew it would only take a few years of seeing how broken this world truly is before you'd understand the other work was necessary work as well."
She looked at me, brows knit. "But fate had other plans, and you stumbled into Korym's mission before you were ready. How unfortunate." She tsked. "Gods. How I wish you'd just stuck to the plan and retrieved that damn relic."
My throat burned and my skin crawled as her words sank in. This was not the woman who saved me two years ago.
She was kind and patient. She'd understood me in a way no one else ever had …
But that woman had never existed.
I fought the urge to vomit.
"Fuck you, Frexin," I ground out, wishing I could grab her and throw her off this damn ship. "And fuck your mission! I will never —" I jabbed my finger toward her. "— EVER help you again."
Frexin's gray eyes widened, and her gloved hands flew to her mouth as she turned away. Her shoulders began to shake, and for a moment, I relished the feel of hurting her the way she'd hurt me.
A strange sound came from the shaking woman and I stared — aghast.
She was fucking laughing!
"Oh, dear, that's rich!" she said between wheezes as she turned back to face me. "You think you're done? That throwing a tantrum will get you off the hook? No, my dear. That is not how this relationship works." The smile fell from her face, replaced by a cold, lifeless expression I'd never seen before. "I am NOT your friend or lover or even your boss. I am The Empire. I am your Master. And you're just a bird that never realized it was in a cage."
Heat burned in my chest as I stared at the monster I'd once called friend and mentor.
How could I have been so wrong?
Still chuckling, she shook her head and turned back to the front of the ship. "Thank you for that laugh, though, dear. Now, you'd best prepare yourself for the final leg of your mission. We arrive at the Heartless Basin shortly. I expect you to be on your best behavior."
My brows rose, and I let out a disbelieving scoff. "Did you not hear me? I'm NOT helping you," I spat. "Lock me up. Torture me. Fucking kill me. But I'll never help you again!"
She clucked her tongue, then turned to face me, holding out a hand toward a stone statue that stood on the deck near the mechs.
What? And why put a statue on an airship of all things?
"Oh, how rude of me!!" she said, smiling widely. "I hear congratulations are in order! You have a bond mate now? I'll admit that I'll miss Investigator Fordyth's good work hunting Forsaken … but you know how it is. You can't stuff the gremlyn back in the hole." She motioned to the strange stone statue once more, lips curled in a malicious smile. "Aren't you going to say hello, dear?"
My heart dropped, and I stared at the statue, confused, as the moonlight hit the statue's face. It was Tye, his face frozen in a familiar enraged snarl.
