“You didn’t abandon me. I was held captive and you didn’t even know. But I’m fine now,” she says, a tiny smile still plastered on her lips.
“I…I’m glad. That’s what I wanted you to know. That you’re safe now,” I say weakly, ignoring the unease creeping across my flesh like a thousand crawling ants. This is what I wanted. I wanted her to see and hear me, and she is.
So why does it feel so wrong?
“What did they do to you?” Gregor asks.
“It doesn’t matter.” I shoot him a glare.
“We have been compromised so many times; it is good to know if there are any outstanding risks,” he says calmly. It makes sense, but the Gregor I know would never ask such a thing given her state. It sounds like something Vaduin or the Worldkeepers would say, and I wonder if they put him up to it.
“Any risks are moot now,” I attempt to counter. “So much has changed; all her information is out of date.”
“I don’t mind sharing if you think it’s helpful.” Arina overrules me and sits a little straighter.
“You shouldn’t strain yourself. Just focus on relaxing for now.” In my periphery, I see Thal as I speak, their worried expression becoming more and more haunted the longer this goes on.
“It’s no strain,” Arina assures me.
“Arina…” My weak objection is ignored completely.
“I was working on getting supplies out of the academy—I’d bartered for them. Had to trade my bracelet for resources and secrets. I suspected the man I had met who lived in the depths was reporting to some other competitor of the Starcrossed Club. There was something off about him.”
“We know about Silas,” I say.
“Oh, yes, Silas. That was his name.” Arina smiles with her unsettling ease. “One time, I agreed to go with him, thinking that I might be able to catch him in some kind of lie, or find who he reported to. Well, I did find out.
“Turns out it was Prince Ravin. The prince captured me and took me to Halazar—though I didn’t know where I was going until we arrived. First, he blindfolded, bound, and beat me. But the beatings did not end there.”
My hand balls into a trembling fist. There’s something so, so much worse about the methodical and calm way she’s recounting this. I’m glad she’s not in pain. But…without that pain, every word seems so detached, as if she’s speaking about something that happened tosomeone else. But maybe recounting it like this will help her in some way…
“He kept going on about my being the Star—as in the Major tarot.” She laughs lightly. “What a ridiculous notion that was. But he brought a new man into Halazar to verify this claim, allegedly.”
“The Hierophant,” Thal murmurs. I give them a slight nod.
“Once it was confirmed, Ravin asked me—over and over—to ink my card. When I could not, he shattered my legs because ‘legs are not needed to ink cards.’
“When I still could not, he began to demand that I read his future—he said that, as the Star, I was the only one who could catch a true glimpse of what was to come. Something immutable, regardless of what cards were cast or actions were taken.”That must be her innate ability,I realize as she speaks. Usually a tarot reading shows what islikelyto happen, not whatwill.But her readings always had an element to them that was so spot-on it was scary…“Naturally, I refused. I was quite tenacious. So he poked me with hot irons. He ripped off my nails from the beds…”
The room falls into a horrified hush as she continues detailing all the heinous and horrifying acts Ravin committed against her. Every instance of torture is far more gruesome than the last. Every detail turns my blood molten. My fists are clammy from the sweat generated by my relentless grip.
I will kill him.
Never have four words been more delicious. More satisfying. Morenecessary.
I will kill him, and it will beslow.I will take my time with him like he took his time with my sister. He does not deserve a good death, or a clean death, not after all he’s done.
Her eyes drift to mine. “Then Ravin began to ask about you.”
“Me?” Shock momentarily snaps me back to my body.
She nods. “He began asking what you liked, and what you didn’t. He…he wanted me to read tarot spreads relating to you. Of course I refused.” She smiles again, but this time it doesn’t quite reach hereyes. “He very much wanted to know, however. So he began to interrogate me, alternating interrogations and torture with the Six of Cups.”
The Six of Cups offers glimpses into the memories of an individual, usually whatever is top of mind for them at the time. It’s an erratic card that is impossible to control and is generally regarded as unreliable, considering that people are so apt to misremember or to lie to themselves.
“He would use the Three of Swords to have me relive Mother’s death. Eventually, he used the Nine of Swords, and I finally broke and told him what he wanted to know.” Her eyes turn to mine, and I see they’re shining now with emotion that wasn’t there before. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry for what I told him. I spoke of Mother, our time living on the streets, of your first love and the club.”
“Like I said, it doesn’t matter now,” I assure her. “Ravin has already played his hand, and so much has changed. There’s nothing you could’ve said that might impact things going forward.”
