“You know, watching you figure this out is amusing, the information taking its time to work into place,” Fenix scoffs and turns away.
“You have power. You’re just like me, yet you’re leading the army? Why the double standard?” I shout after him.
“Nearly.” He flicks his chin in an upward motion, a command, and the people closest to me, who had crowded around while I was busy in my own head, back up a few paces. My feet shuffle my position as I check for first, the Usher, and then a possible escape route. But I’d have to go through Fenix or the others, with no clear path or destination.
“Kirrians have power, yes, but others in the world don’t,” Fenix goes on. “You think it’s fair that we have to hide or play peacekeeper for Kings who want to tear the world apart to get their hands on it? That Kirrians are relegated to roles of service to others across the continents because they aren’t stronger or more powerful, as decreed by the Orders and Aslendrix? We are the ones with power. But the Orders have created their own elite society, dictating how we live, what we do, the role we’ll have for the rest of our lives, all because of what power from Aslendrix, the ‘Goddess’ provides, and a big slice of chance: when we are born.”
He’s serious. It’s not about anyone, any kingdom or threat.
“It’s time the Orders and Kirrians stopped pretending that they serve anyone other than themselves.” His voice hardens, crystallising himself as the villain in this story for me. “They say they are keeping the balance, as Aslendrix wishes, but I say thatthey keep the balance only for those with power. To keep their line strong.”
“And you, a Fifth, want to change that?”
“No.We. Wewillchange that, sister.”
twelve
. . .
Ever
“There is no we,” I yell, splaying my fingers wide as I gesture with my arms. I will not just roll over to whatever they say. I will fight. Fight to get out of here and back to the people I care about—the people I love.
“We’ll see.”
“You can’t force me.”
“You mean like you just forced Benedict and Shara to give their power to you?” Blood rushes to my head, turning everything fuzzy around me as my eyes dull with realisation. With Fenix’s words, Micah’s animosity slams into me, and I remember how disgusted he was that I took his power to aid my own. Like I just did to the two strangers.
No, not strangers: Benedict and Shara. I used them, without considering the consequences, only to benefit myself.
Emotion cloys at my throat as I swallow what I’ve done—naively, perhaps. I took something of theirs without their permission. I knew I’d be stronger and needed their magic to combine with mine, and I took it without care.
Just like Micah said I did when Ten was in danger.
“Are you starting to see now?” Fenix’s words grate against every nerve, stoking my emotions.
“I don’t see how what you’ve done is any better than what you proclaim to be fighting against. You have threatened and coerced me to do what you want.”
“Maybe. But that is the price of this war. It’s what our parents started, and I intend to finish it.”
What?
“Stop it. Stop it! You don’t get to throw out information like that in a bid to win me over or control me.” I march towards him as he casually crosses his arms over his chest in a move that only infuriates me.
My lungs burn as I hold my breath, sizing him up and choosing my next move.
The Maker said that my emotions would be my spark and threaten to overtake me and my power. Well, right now I want to burn. And I don’t care if Fenix is the one who gets hurt.
I feign twisting to turn away but bend my arm at the last minute and aim the point of my elbow deep into his gut. It catches him off guard, and I hear the umph as he creases. I don’t stop, and I clench my fist and strike his cheek.
And it feels good. The contact is fleeting, but it wakes me up, jolting me, and I risk it all again to plant my palm on his face.
This time, the energy from my chest bursts free, as if anticipating or finally recognising Fenix’s own magic. There’s still that strange divide, like the two streams of power don’t quite want to mix, but now, out here, I can see the result of our touch.
What our magic can mix to form.
The world has… stopped.
