Edith’s smirk faltered. A faint crinkle of fear.
“I’m glad,” she muttered through a tight-lipped smile. “Though I never doubted you would see reason. Either way, I have a gift foryou.”
Edith snapped her fingers and two guards entered the tent. But they weren’t alone.
“Let go of me!” Quinn cried, kicking her legs uselessly as one guard tossed her in Edith’s direction. The High General gripped Quinn by the neck, holding her in place with a shadow blade pointed at her throat.
The other guard had a firm grip on Arthur’s wrist, and he kicked Arthur squarely on the back, sending him to his knees. A security cuff had been placed over his wrist. His magic nullified. He couldn’t defend himself.
“Ah.”Wren stared down at him, head cocked.“I see. It’s our traitors.”
At this accusation, Arthur’s head snapped up. He stared at Wren, pleading.
“It was my idea.” The words tumbled out of him quickly. “Quinn had nothing to do with it.”
“No!” Quinn choked out. She tried to move, but Edith pressed the blade harder, and she froze, sucking in a sharp breath as Edith drew blood. “That—that isn’t true.”
“I’m the one who knew how to dismantle the security cuff.” Arthur slowly pushed himself onto his feet. “I was the one who was going to do it. Not Quinn.Me.”
“Artie.”Quinn groaned as she fought against Edith’s grip. “Don’t do this.” But Arthur seemed determined. He kept his gaze anchored on Wren.
“Quinn hadnothingto do with it.”
Wren hummed and approached him. She could offer them mercy, but…
No, the Soulless One growled.No more mercy. No more forgiveness.
“A price must be paid for your betrayal.”Wren traced a finger against Arthur’s cheek, and one of her shadows slowly slithered around him.“For yourinsubordination.”Arthur shivered as the word echoed between them.“But what a waste…to simply destroy you. Don’t you agree?”
Quinn seemed to understand the true meaning behind Wren’s words. She let out a feral scream, clawing at Edith, but the High General’s grip remained unchanged.“No!”Quinn cried, voice hoarse. “Wren! Please! Stop this!”
Tears welled behind Arthur’s eyes. When he spoke, his voice was soft. “Do what you need to do…just…don’t hurt Quinn.”
Bravery, Wren thought with a chuckle.How incredibly foolish.
“Then…let’s make you a bit more compliant, shall we?”
Her hands cupped his face. She saw the fear etched in his eyes. The agony.
More, the Soulless One murmured inside her.Give me more.
A broken scream tore from Arthur’s throat as the shadows poured in through his mouth, his ears, his eyes, his nose. All at once, they consumed him. Eating away at him. Somewhere in Wren’s periphery, Quinn screamed. But her pathetic cries of grief meant nothing to Wren. If anything, they fueled her.
Wren watched, enraptured, as Arthur’s face gave way to the shadows bursting inside him. As hebecamethe shadows. A vessel for the Soulless One’s control. A creature forged from hatred.
Until Arthur Alexander Ellington was no more.
In his place stood Wren’s creation.
The Aberration let out a resounding shriek and Quinn howled, a guttural cry that seemed to blend with the creature’s roar.Feel something, a part of Wren, somewhere deep inside her, begged.Feel.
But all Wren felt was the power their suffering provided. The hunger formore.
Edith snapped her fingers and a pair of guards picked Quinn up by her elbows, dragging her from the tent as she continued to cry out. Meanwhile, Wren approached the Aberration that was once Arthur with slow, methodical steps. She cocked her head, examining her work with glistening pride.
“Find him.”The Aberration blinked in understanding.“Destroy him.”
The shadow creature curled into itself, its mass of shadows ebbing and flowing until it became a vortex of darkness. From one blink to the next, it vanished. Wren knew where it had gone…whoit was looking for.
