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Chapter 23
Now
I froze, a dozen arrows drawn and pointed directly at me. “Get the fuck on the ground!” someone screamed again.
“I beg your pardon,” Ludovicus hissed as my blood still ran down his chin. He stepped forward. “You have interrupted a sacred ceremony. I’m afraid you’ll need to see yourselves out.” His words dripped with quiet ferocity and self-control. He flipped his hand to shoo the intruders away, as if they were nothing more than a pesky swarm of flies. I could feel the gash across my wrist weeping blood and I held it against my gown that was no longer white. My heart pumped as hard as it could, the sound of it raging in my ears.
A hulking man stepped forward, his bow drawn, silver mask sculpted to look like a roaring bear’s face. In one fluid motion he shot at the chain that held the grandiose chandelier above the throne room and it crashed to the ground, exploding in a mess of glass and candle wax across the marble floor. The room was dimmer then, somehow even more sinister.
Ludovicus jumped out of the way stealthily and tutted. “What a shame. Such an elegant chandelier.” He crossed his arms and approached the man, glass crunching under his feet. He was only a few inches shorter than the masked man, but he looked miniscule as he stared up. “I am Ludovicus the Wicked. These are my brothers, and we are the Board of Blood. We have been chosen by the Saints. You have intruded upon a sacred Initiation ceremony, and I’m afraid if you don’t leave immediately, my brothers will have to act upon the rage of Rhedros at this sign of disrespect.” The conviction in his voice made me shiver.
“Ludovicus, you say? I’ve heard all about you, Ludovicus.” I could almost hear a smile come from behind the mask.
“How peculiar, because I have no idea who you are,” he muttered.
The man stepped forward, only inches remaining between him and Ludovicus. “You will soon enough. Get. The.Fuck.On. The. Ground. Now,” he snarled.
Ludovicus simply stepped back, crossed his arms, and raised an eyebrow.
As quickly as a lightning strike, the masked man retrieved an arrow from his quiver, nocked it, and let it fly.
It landed straight in the chest of Arturius.
Anton was the first to scream, hitting the ground beside Arturius who gasped for breath. Blood spurted from Arturius’ mouth, dripping down his chin the same way mine adorned Ludovicus’. The humanness of the scene, of witnessing a brother struggle in front of his brothers, the red of his blood, the sound of him gurgling… It almost made me pity him.Almost.
I watched Arturius’ eyes go dead as the other brothers hit the floor, curling in on themselves in fear. They were able to inflict absolute horror but cowered at the first sign of death.Fuckingpathetic. I didn’t have much time to relish the thought. Ludovicus had remained standing, barely a wince on his face. “Now, now. No need to overreact,” he said tauntingly, as if his brother had not justdied.The masked man raised a fist and struck him across his smug face, knocking him to the ground in a gasping heap.
Ludovicus whipped his head back to the masked man, who was growling under his breath. “I told you to get on the ground.”
“If it’s violence you crave,” Ludovicus said, rubbing his jaw as he stood, “I have five brothers left for you to do with what you please. Take them if you wish, but leave me and the girl.” I flinched as much as his brothers did. He would simply hand them over? In exchange forme?
A gruff laugh from behind the mask. “You seem very interested in this girl,though I’d say she’s more of a woman.”The way his voice curled around the words paralyzed me. He leaned into Ludovicus, whispering something to the man who still had my blood on his lips. For a split second, Ludovicus’ face blanched, but a fist flew into it. He was unconscious before he even hit the ground.
The sight of Ludovicus falling to the marble would have been satisfying had the masked man not caught me in his gaze. He stepped toward me, his looming figure casting me in the shadows that cloaked the throne room. “Aren’t you a pretty little thing,” he sneered. “I can think of a few reasons he’d want to keep you.” I kept my stare on Ludovicus’ unconscious body, letting the sight give me what little strength it could.
The sound of rustling fabric came from the back of the throne room. The masked man turned toward it only to find the eyes of the other girls still chained to the columns watching him. I swore I smelled the fear radiating from their trembling bodies. Estelle was prostrate, dead or close to it. Iridia was still alive, her skin marred with black veins, her eyes swollen, but somehow still choking out ragged breaths. Cora and Willow writhed against their chains as the man in the bear mask walked toward them. Alira’s dead body was a heap in the middle of it all.
He looked down upon them, slumped in the corner, chained to the columns. “Already too injured,” he called to no one in particular as he gave a slight nod and turned away. “Useless.” I watched as two other men, both bearing silver dog masks, stalked toward the other Initiates. One by one, they lifted each girl, dead or alive, and slit their throats. The shock I should have felt never bloomed within me, the previous events of today numbing whatever part of me controlled my flight or fight response. I watched the remaining live girls die and felt nothing.
His boots were heavy on the marble floor as he walked back to me. “On the ground,” he spat through gritted teeth. I lifted my gaze to meet the slitted eyes of the mask.
“Who are you?” I said, barely above a whisper but strong. Even.
The bear cocked his head and stepped back. I could hear a smile in his voice when he spoke. “I am Commander Camus Vorkalth. We are the Saints’ Regime, and we’re here to take you to Kauvras.”
