His voice boomed unnaturally through the chamber while the six hooded supes around him pivoted toward me in perfect synchronization.
“Have you come to witness the miracle of life?”
Every word shook with manic excitement. His grin stretched too wide while his eyes gleamed feverishly beneath the cave lights.
“While my master wants you dead…” He dramatically pressed one hand against his chest. “I decided genius deserves appreciation.”
His arm swept outward grandly. “From one inventor to another…” He stepped aside, and my heart stopped.
Olivia lay strapped to a stone slab behind him, wrists tugging uselessly against thick restraints at her sides while her chest rose sharply with panicked breaths.
The second her eyes found me, she jerked harder against the bindings. I automatically took one step forward, and the human lazily lifted one finger.
One of the hooded supes beside him waved a hand through the air, and the illusion before us shattered.
Two massive gatling guns sat hidden near the chamber entrance pointed directly at us. Every barrel shimmered with distorted fae magic. The same hungry sheen of colors rippled against the metal like it was waving at me.
“I wouldn’t move if I were you.” The human smiled wider while lovingly resting a hand against one of the weapons. “These beauties are just dying to fire.”
I spread my arms toward the hooded figures surrounding him.
“And when those guns go off?” I tilted my head toward the fae-infused gatling weapons. “What happens when I dodge those and the bullets hit all your loyal little followers instead?”
Several of the hooded supes shifted uneasily at that. One actually glanced nervously toward the guns, but the human barely reacted. He simply shrugged.
The movement was casual. Dismissive. Like we were discussing spoiled groceries instead of lives.
“They understand sacrifice.” His smile became almost fond while he looked over the gathered figures. “Especially for the greater good.”
“Whose greater good?” I said, moving my hands behind my back, catching Rack’s attention. My fingers twitched subtly toward the guns.Move them when I go.
Rack’s eyes flicked downward once, then back to me. A tiny nod. Thank fuck he understood me without words.
“Everyone’s greater good!” the human exclaimed suddenly, his voice climbing higher with excitement. He spread his arms dramatically toward the cavern.
“Supes want to rule; humans want to rule.” His lip curled. “Everyone at each other's throats for power.” His grin sharpened unnaturally.
“But real power?” He tapped his temple. “Creation.”
He began pacing around Olivia’s stone slab while speaking faster and faster, hands wildly slicing through the air.
“Powerovercreation. Now, that is true power. Absolute power.”
As he moved, I caught a tiny metallic glint near Olivia’s wrist. A knife. My pulse kicked hard.
Her restraints were definitely enchanted against brute force. Standard mage work for supes. But apparently nobody considered simple mechanical solutions likecutting your way free.Good girl.
I forced my face blank again and kept him talking. “And you have power over creation?”
“No, no, no.” He vigorously shook his head while laughing breathlessly. “Not me.” His expression changed, becoming almost reverent now.
“My master.” He pressed a hand against his chest. “The hand of god.” His eyes practically gleamed with worship. “The keeper of the book.”Now, that caught my attention.
The air in the chamber somehow felt colder while he spoke, whispering like he was telling us the biggest secret in the world. “He’s going to reset this world.”
His voice softened almost dreamily. “No gangs. No hierarchy. No powerful feeding on the weak.” He looked upward like he was seeing paradise itself. “Everyone equal… beneath him.”
Then he laughed, but it was too loud, too bright. The kind of laughter that belonged in padded rooms.
