“It wasyou?” Masika asked, voice trembling. “You destroyed the piece of your soul in the tomb?”
“It was a foolish plan,” Mateo said, seething. “The plan of a naïve, heartbroken boy who thought he could still save himself…and his friend. I took the final piece of my pure soul and destroyed it, leaving behind the last token I had of the girl who had betrayed me. And I buried it. I let it rot in that tomb forever.”The drawing, Masika thought.The one that August showed us. The one signed by the mysteriousV. That must have been the girl who had broken Mateo’s heart…the one who had chosen Silas.
Mateo continued. “But I soon discovered that without my Headmaster’s ring, without mytruepower, I wouldn’t stand a chance against Silas. I needed to find a way to get the ring back.” He prowled closer, head cocked. “So…I ripped my humanity out. I welcomed in the shadows and unleashed an untapped source of magic thought to have been impossible to conquer. As my body succumbed to the shadows, I was plagued with visions…a girl with auburn hair who held the ability to open the locked box, take my ring back, and set me free.”
Masika’s eyes flitted to the ring nestled in Irene’s hand.
“But”—Mateo chuckled, a smirk lifting onto his lips—“as luck would have it…that girl wouldn’t enter the afterlife for a very,verylong time. I had to wait. Be patient. In the meantime, I’d heard of a group of banished students and Housemasters who had fled deeper into purgatory. Those who had refused to follow Silas as the new Headmaster of Blackwood. And I figured…what better way to pass the time than to form an army?”
Irene let out a shuddering breath.
“How could you?” she snapped, drawing Mateo’s attention. “Itrustedyou. I thought…I thought you cared. Saw potential in me. You tricked me. You—” Irene’s voice cracked, and for the first time since Masika had known her, tears welled behind her eyes.
The taunting grin fell away from Mateo’s lips.
“If it’s any consolation…” he muttered softly, “…I meant every word of it.”
“You lied to me,” Irene spat out.
“You’re right.” Mateo approached her, steps tentative. “But I had to. If I had told you the truth of who I am—whatI am—would you have trusted me? Would you have opened your heart to me?”
Irene opened her mouth, but no sound came out.
“I can still reward you with what I promised,” Mateo continued. Masika didn’t miss the way Irene flinched at his words, the faint glimmer of hope rising inside her. “I can still share this power with you, Irene. Offer you what you deserve.”
He paused a few feet from them, arm extended.
“Just…hand me the ring.”
“Don’t do it,” Masika blurted out. Mateo’s eyes snapped to her, rage burning behind them. “He’s lying, Irene. You can’t believe a word out of his mouth. He told us himself. He’s consumed by shadows. He can’t be trusted.”
But Irene looked lost in thought. Her teeth anxiously gnawed at the inside of her cheek. A palpable desperation in her stare. She couldn’t possibly be considering listening to him. She wouldn’t betray them again…would she?
Irene took a step forward.
Masika let out a strangled gasp.
“Irene.No.”
But her friend wasn’t listening. Eyes locked on Mateo, Irene approached him, inching closer, the ring remaining tucked in her hand. Would Masika need to strike her down?Couldshe?
“That’s it, Irene.” Mateo beckoned her closer. “Hand it over. Claim your rightful power.”
Irene took another step forward. In front of her, Mateo reached out, fingers trembling, hunger in his eyes. Masika felt her own legs moving beneath her, panic twisting her chest. She readied her magic, reluctantly drawing upon its power.
Please, Irene.
Don’t make me do this.
And then, as Irene was moments away from handing the ring over…she stopped.
Something in her expression changed.
Her tears continued to fall, but gone was the sorrow that had flooded her face only seconds before.
Her lips curled into a smirk.
Her eyes gleamed with feverish defiance.
