“Jesus…” Irene’s face fell. She stared at Wren as if seeing her for the first time. “You reallyhavelost it.”
“Wren.” Emilio spoke her name slowly, tentatively, hands raised in appeasement. “We’re here to help you.”
The Soulless One’s voice roared inside her.
DO NOT LISTEN TO THEM.
Wren tore her gaze away from the group with a growl, zeroing in on Silas once again.
“Do you even know what he did?!”Her voice cracked, a dissonant roar threaded through her words.“He played God with our souls! He’s amurderer!”
Finally, Silas’s composure fell away. His own face contorted in rage. In fury.
“I gave you all what you wanted! Deep down! Youallwanted this!”
Something in Wren snapped. A force lurching inside her. Thatvoice. It clawed its way to the surface—the faintest fraction of a second—but still, when Wren spoke next, it was her voice that came through. Not the Soulless One.
Justher.
“YOU KILLED MY SISTER!”
As the words left her lips, the entire room sprang to life, a swirling vortex of wind bursting into the air. Papers scattered. Books toppled to the floor. Windows burst open, glass shattering. The portrait of Silas that hung behind his desk collapsed to the floor with a deep and resounding thud. Grief rose inside Wren like a phoenix, and when she turned back to look at the others in the doorway, she saw the terror etched upon their faces…the horror.
Good.
Fear me.
“He killed all of you,”she spat out.“You weren’t chosen for Blackwood. Heforcedyou into Blackwood. Your death was orchestrated by his hands, and then he stripped you of the choice you were always meant to have. He deserves to be punished. He deserves to feel our retribution!”
“You’re right,” Olivier whispered, voice cracking. “If what you’re saying is true, then hedoesdeserve to be punished. But not at the expense of the afterlife. Not by destroying hundreds of innocent students.”
“How canyou, of all people, believe that?”Wren seethed. When Olivier furrowed his brows in confusion, Wren stepped forward.“I sense your time is dwindling, Olivier. Mere hours before you’re torn from this plane of existence and thrust intothe Ether for the rest of your pathetic eternity. And it’s because ofhim. He did that to you.”
“I know.” Olivier’s lip trembled, but he held her gaze. “But I’d rather perish than become like him.”
Wren chuckled.
“Then you’reweak.”
Masika stepped forward. “You’rethe weak one.”
Wren blinked. She snapped her head toward Masika.
“Excuse me?”
“You thinkthismakes you strong?” Masika scoffed, gesturing to the destruction scattered across the room. “Power? Your shadows? More chaos and death and hate?” Her voice trembled, but her conviction held, amber eyes blazing.
“You want to know what true weakness is?” Masika asked. “It’s turning your back on the people you care about. It’sgreed. It’s being blinded by vengeance and retribution.” Her eyes raked Wren’s face, and something softened. She shook her head in pity. “And the Wren Loughty I know is stronger than all of that. Which is how I know thatthis”—she gestured to Wren with a defeated wave—“isn’t her.”
Wren’s mouth twitched. She narrowed her gaze.
“You don’t know me,”she growled.“Not anymore.”One of her shadows slithered away from Silas, slowly trailing toward the group standing by the doorway.“I’m only going to warn you once more. Leave. Or I won’t hesitate to strike you down.”As the shadow approached Masika, Irene stepped forward, placing herself protectively in front of the other girl.
“Go on,” Irene chuckled, a smile spread over her lips. Silver shards of light crackled in her palms. “I’ve always wanted to leave a mark on that pretty face of yours—just give me a reason.”
“Enough!”August’s voice sliced through the room. When his eyes met Wren’s, a piece of her resolve splintered.Those gray eyes.Even devoured by the Soulless One’s shadows, they stirred something inside her.
She should eliminate him. He was a distraction. A disease.
