Page 4 of Glutton for Punishment

“I do not know why you need this for your... experiments,” I say, unable to hide the warning in my voice, “but Ellias, listen to me carefully.”

His expression remains calm as I point toward the parchment between us.

“You are entering dangerous territory. The Council will not tolerate this. If word gets out you are experimenting with powers outside the natural order of our factions, they will not see it as curiosity. They will see it as a threat.”

I pause.

“And you know as well as I do they eliminate threats.”

No sign of fear crosses his face at my warning as he stands. “Come, Forest, let us get to work.”

Chapter 1

Arwen

The universe has always felt cruel, but this time it went out of its way to prove it.

Exile was supposed to end me or free me. I was meant to disappear in the Wastes, as if correcting a mistake.

Instead of exile, I landed in a prison. Instead of feeling powerless, something inside me woke up. And now the Councilor responsible for the massive change in plans is standing outside my cell, looking far too pleased with himself.

I look back at Atticus’s unmoving form and slowly inch myself in front of him. He was still holding me when the transporter activated.

“To think,” Councilor Blaise says, stepping closer, “that I’ve caged not only the most powerful individual our nation has seen in centuries…” His eyes glitter. “…but Councilor Willshire’s prized heir as well. This couldn’t have gone better.”

The unfamiliar feeling of sin power surges under my skin in response to the threat on Atticus.

Blaise’s smile falters, a hairline crack in the smug certainty he wears so easily. He can tell that something is different.

The uncertainty rolls off him in faint, uneven waves. He doesn’t know what I am or what I’m capable of.

And that makes him nervous.

Whatever this thing is, it hums beneath my skin like it’s always been there, just out of reach. It doesn’t feel alien. If anything, it feels like me—or a part of me I never knew I had.

Blaise steps back, eyes locked on me as every ounce of my fury stretches across the space between us, and the power inside me responds, eager to surface…

Then vanishes completely.

The hum that's building cuts off, leaving a hollow echo. My limbs buzz with absence, as though something vital was ripped out before I could grab on.

I don’t move, don’t let him see the disorientation, but my ruse doesn’t work. Blaise laughs under his breath as he steps forward. “What a disappointment! I thought you had something there for a minute. Maybe you would have been better off in the Wastes.”

My jaw tightens in defiance as I speak for the first time.

“The view would be an enormous improvement.”

Maybe once his insults would have hurt, but I know my worth now.

His gaze sharpens, greedy and calculating.

“Still, a 100% rating is far too valuable to ignore. Certainly worth investigating. If you do have a useful power… we can’t have it falling into the wrong hands, can we?”

Fear slides down my spine as he glances at Atticus, unconscious on the floor.

“I see little use for Willshire’s boy. Only the convenience of removing a rather influential piece from the board.”

He raises his hands, and although I have no idea what his power is, the threat is genuine.