More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
“Hide your feelings, hide your fear, and most importantly, hide behind your facade. No one can know, Paedy. Trust no one and nothing but your instincts.”
“Make them underestimate you. Make them overlook you until you want to be seen.”
Abigail. I walk toward her slowly and lower myself to one knee, sinking deep into the hot sand so we’re eye to eye. Though she doesn’t say a thing, her eyes speak volumes. She’s only a child, and yet I see a devastating amount of determination behind her gaze. Perhaps you may not need powers to be powerful.
“Every girl deserves something equally as pretty and deadly as they are,” I say, urging her to take the knife. She eyes me warily before stretching out a small hand to pluck it from my palm. “Use it wisely.”
It’s like drowning in the ocean. Her eyes are the color of the Shallows Sea’s deepest corner, a clear sky as it begins to drift into night, the subtle shade of a forget-me-not. And like the hottest flame, her eyes are blue and full of fire. Her high cheekbones lead up to equally strong, dark brows, now slightly raised as she takes me in.
I drown in her blue eyes. Every time our gazes meet it’s like ice meeting the hottest fire, like gray mist rising on the deep blue ocean.
And with that, I’m suddenly curious, suddenly wondering what power she possesses. So I reach out to her ability with my own. Nothing. I feel nothing.
I blink away the blurriness long enough to see something glint in the light behind the Silencer—the sun reflecting off a mass of silver hair.
A calloused hand grips my arm before spinning me around to pin me against the alley wall. He presses both my wrists against the brick with strong hands before leaning in toward me.
“So he’s pretty and he has a brain. The ladies must love you.”
There, at the bottom of the list, lies a name I’ve thought of far more than I care to admit. It’s her.
And yet she still hasn’t even bothered to look at me. That just won’t do.
“Mark my words, Prince, I will be your undoing.”
This girl might be the death of me. Literally.
“Good reflexes, Gray.” That cocky son of a— “What the hell is wrong with you?” I stomp toward Kai, closing the distance between us in a matter of seconds. “What if I didn’t duck, huh?” He shrugs. Shrugs. “Then, I would’ve had less competition to worry about.”
She cut me. On purpose. A muscle feathers in Kai’s jaw, the only indication of his temper. He remains hovering over me, refusing to turn toward Blair while half blocking me from her with his body.
Something must be horribly wrong because the future Enforcer just gently tucked hair behind my ear so it wouldn’t get any bloodier than it already is.
“Good luck tomorrow, Gray.” I don’t bother fighting my smile. “If I had any manners, I would wish you luck as well, Prince. But you already informed me that I don’t.”
In fact, they wouldn’t be calling me anything, because I would just become another dead Ordinary who doesn’t deserve a name, a title, a memory.
“I am more than willing to rip your dresses for you, Gray. To help, of course.”
I’m sure I imagine the flash of worry on her face, the look of concern when she thinks it may be my own blood staining the shirt.
“Careful, darling. You almost look as if you care.” I give her a lazy smile, and she gives me a lazy eye roll.
she’s made it abundantly clear on what she wishes us to be: competition. Enemies. And more importantly, why isn’t that what I want as well?
It’s the first time she’s called me by my name, and I realize then that I could get used to the sound of it rolling off her tongue.
I place a gentle hand on the small of Paedyn’s back, prodding her forward. It’s a question, a tentative test, an innocent inquiry. Is this okay? I briefly wonder if she’s considering breaking my wrist, maybe contemplating placing a dagger to my throat— And then she relaxes, easing into my touch. An answer to my question without uttering a word. Yes.
“So, you just want me? No powers?” “Yes. I just want you,” she breathes, annoyed with me. My mouth twists into a crooked grin. “I knew you wanted me, Gray.”
One minute we’re flirting and the next we’re fighting—possibly even both at the same time. I can’t seem to figure this vicious girl out.
I take her in, bloody and straddling me. “If it weren’t for my current situation,” I glance at her fist still posed to strike, “this could be a lot more fun,” I say quietly, looking her up and down before staring into those blue eyes as they widen.
“Looks like I messed up your pretty face after all, despite my best efforts.” “Oh, this is nothing.” She laughs breathlessly. “You should see the damage I did to your pretty face.” My lips quirk into a smile as I lift my head toward hers. “Oh, darling, as long as you still think I’m pretty, I don’t give a damn what I look like.”
“I don’t want your mercy. Next time we fight,” I can see her blue eyes smoldering from where I stand, “impress me.”
Everything filling the room is nicer than my own, yet used and worn. This is his room—his real room.
My eyes fall to his chest that is far too close, reminding me that we are far too close for competitors, for enemies in these Trials. And yet, here I am, dancing with him in his bedroom. Alone. In the dark.
And it’s because I’m so distracted by that fact that my foot lands on top of his, and I stumble forward to collide with his solid frame. Both of his hands wrap around my waist, steadying me before I regain my senses and push away from him. A deep laugh rumbles from his chest, paired with a genuine smile, one that I’ve only ever seen him wear around his brother.
My best friend. My literal partner in crime. Safe and sound. Beautiful and bubbly as ever.
I’m not wearing green, but I feel it, nonetheless. Envy claws at me as I watch them step in time to the very waltz I led Paedyn through only last night.
I turn away from their spinning forms, angry with myself for feeling. Feeling jealousy and possessiveness over the one girl who’s made it clear that I shouldn’t.
She is the embodiment of a bad decision. The twin of danger and desire. The fine line between deadly and divine. And I can feel myself drowning.
“You’re a vision.” “She is, isn’t she?” My heart skips a beat. The voice coming from over my shoulder is so cold I nearly shiver. Kai brushes my arm as he steps around me, facing the stunned boy still clutching me to him.
He feels too familiar. We fit together perfectly, pieces of a puzzle snapping into place.
His midnight hair falls over his forehead in messy, silky waves. Smoky gray eyes meet mine, captivating, chilling. His set jaw loosens, pulling his lips into a cocky grin as he watches me take him in. Dimples. Both of them mocking me. “Like what you see, Gray?”
“By all means, carry on. I’ll never deny myself the chance of watching you watch me.” “And why is that?” I ask with a nonchalance I don’t feel. His smile is wicked. “Because it is far more fun to admire you when the action is mutual.”
Splitting screams drown out his words. I’m momentarily stunned, only snapped out of my daze when pain tears through my left forearm. The shooting jolt has my eyes falling to the torn, bloody flesh there. Throwing knife.
Kai’s large frame hovers over me, his hand cradling the back of my head so my skull didn’t crack on the hard marble when he threw us to the ground. He’s shielding my body from the debris and knives flying around the room.
The ballroom is utter chaos. Debris from the explosions litter the once-pristine floors. Throwing knives glint as they whiz through the air, thrown by the few fleeing figures wearing black strips of leather that cover only the top halves of their faces. Mimicking the Imperials’ masks. Who are these people?
“How badly are you hurt?” He reaches for me, but I step away, my back colliding with the hard wall behind me. Pain shocks up my arm, but I grit my teeth and ignore it. “I’m fine, but what is—” “I need you to get to one of the safe rooms. The guards will take you—” “Kai, I’m not leaving.” He flattens me fully against the wall, boxing me in with his arms on either side of my head. His eyes are wild, like smoke smoldering from a blazing fire. “Then don’t think I won’t throw you over my damn shoulder and carry you out of here myself. Is that what you want?”
Homemade bombs. It hits me then. They aren’t using powers because they have none. Because they are Ordinaries.
“Make me.” I practically growl the words in his face through gritted teeth. Wrong thing to say. He looks away and exhales, shaking his head. “You’re too stubborn for your own good, Gray.” And then the world flips upside down. His hand is cupping the backs of my knees, and my upper body is slung over his shoulder, hanging down his back.
Without a single glance in my direction, he says, “Get them to a safe room with the others.” And then he’s running back into the thick of the fight, dozens of powers flicking over his skin before he settles on one. Fire.
“The Fatals: the Silencers, the Mind Readers, and the Controllers. Father banished them alongside the Ordinaries during the Purging because of how dangerous they were, even to other Elites, and he only keeps one of each in his court who are loyal to him. But there are still some out there, and we currently have one in the dungeons beneath us.” He nods at me with a small smile. “We have you to thank for that.” The Silencer.
“I… I understand. I think it’s wrong, but I understand why they are doing it.” He looks me dead in the eyes. “But if they are allowed to live, then the Elite race will slowly die. Who knows how many Elites have already been infected by the Ordinaries hiding among them? I’m sure people have already begun to feel the effects, the weakening of their powers.” He pauses, sighing. “The Ordinaries’ sacrifice is necessary for the greater good of the kingdom.”
