But I’m already marching toward the fire. I don’t stop when I hear Skarlet shouting my name or her footsteps thudding behind me as I eagerly rush into the black flames’ embrace.
I’m almost disappointed when I don’t feel anything.
There’s just a slight tickle in the air when the flames touch me, and I get the weird feeling that if I were wearing my Ring, I’d sense the Psynergy’s buzz intensify. This fire feels connected to the stars somehow, like the Pegazi of Aquarius or the Cathedral of Pisces.
Skarlet is out of breath by the time she joins me, and she yanks on my arm so I’ll face her. “Helios, Grace! I’ve been through that fire tons of times, and it still freaks me out. You looked like you couldn’t wait to burn!”
I jerk my arm free of her grip. “Fear is a useless emotion. You should really try rising above it.”
Skarlet’s nostrils flare again, but I don’t wait around for her retort. I keep forging ahead, even though I don’t know where I’m going, and soon she marches past me to take the lead again. We pass another pair of guards as we turn down an endless rocky hallway illuminated by torches, both walls lined with windowless metal doors.
“Why hasn’t anyone stopped us yet?” I finally ask when we’re out of earshot of the Majors.
She waits almost a whole minute to answer me, and then she speaks through gritted teeth. “Because as far as this army is concerned, you’re the top-ranking person in the Zodiac.” She spares me a glare. “Since you woke up, your position is now official.”
I try to process what that means, but I can’t. It sounds like too much power and responsibility, and I don’t want it.
“Don’t worry,” she adds in a low voice, “when they realize you left your mind back in that Sumber, they’ll totally strip you of the title—but hey, at least it’ll be a familiar experience.”
“I must be getting you in some major trouble,” I say without looking at her or breaking stride.
“If someone reports our little visit here,” she whispers heatedly, “I’m the one who’ll be breaking the law, since I didn’t disclose this with my commanding officer—”
“Then let’s not get discovered,” I cut in.
Skarlet starts taking such large strides that I have to double my speed to keep up. By the time we get to Corinthe’s cell, I’ve memorized the number of doors we’ve passed. The Ariean places her hand against the dark metal, and a laser scans the length of her body. Then she crosses her arms and juts at the door with her chin, like she’s telling me to do the same, so I do.
After a noticeable delay, the door slides open, revealing an immaculate white room. The place is so glossy and pristine that it’s almost blinding, and I squint on walking in. It takes my eyes a moment to adjust. There’s a white bed against the wall and a toilet in the corner. Other than that, the room is empty.
Corinthe sits on the mattress wearing white scrubs, her back stiff as she stares at the blank wall before her. A curtain of blond curls conceals her face.
“What’s wrong with her?” I ask, approaching slowly and noting the metal cuffs around her ankles, wrists, and neck.
“Before the cell door opens, a prisoner’s mobility is suspended.”
When I’m directly in front of Corinthe, I can’t repress my gasp. She looks just how I pictured her in my nightmares.
What Skarlet told me on Aquarius is true—Corinthe could be my twin. Except for her mouth.
Her too-long lips look just as they did mid-transformation. When Risers shift too many times, they develop deformities that carry over through different identities; Corinthe’s massive mouth seems to be one of those mutations.
Her pale green eyes widen on seeing me, and even though they’re the same color as Stan’s, they reflect none of his light. Her gaze grows duller and colder as her overlong lips curve into a sinister smile that I’m sure will haunt me long after I leave this room.
I glance at Skarlet and find her standing in a Zodai stance by the closed metal door. She doesn’t offer to leave the cell to give us privacy, and I don’t feel like arguing, so I decide to ignore her.
Turning back to Corinthe’s leering grin, I say softly, “Tell me what Aquarius wants with Nishi.”
She blinks but gives no other sign she’s heard me.
“Where is his army headquartered?” I try next.
She blinks again.
“What’s his plan? How can I stop him? What leverage do I have?”
It’s pretty clear she’s not going to answer me, so I tip my head toward Skarlet and command, “Major Thorne, hand me your bayonet.”
To her credit, Skarlet exhibits no doubt or hesitation as she marches over to me. Carefully turning her back to Corinthe as she faces me, she shoves the levlan handle into my hand and narrows her catlike eyes at me in warning. I close my fingers around the reddish-brown grip and nod in understanding before she returns to her position by the door.
When I turn to Corinthe again, she’s watching me without a trace of fear, like she knows I’m only pretending.
“What does the master want with Nishi?”
Corinthe deliberately drops her gaze to my left arm, slowly trailing her eyes down the blue sleeve, like she can see every mark she carved into my skin through the fabric. I set the bayonet down on the bed beside her, and Corinthe’s gaze follows it longingly. Her arm quivers slightly, like she’s struggling to reach for it.
In a different dimension, an alternate Corinthe is mutilating my best friend’s body, and I can’t stop her unless I get answers. “Please,” I say softly. “Help me.”
It’s strange how quiet my heart is, almost like it’s not even beating.
“I’m trying to save my best friend,” I go on, and I take Corinthe’s cold hand in my steady one and lovingly stroke her skin. Revulsion flashes across her face. “Your master went out of his way to recruit her into his new army, the Tomorrow Party. Why would he do that?”
She stares at me stoically. My touch grows even gentler, and I tenderly wrap my fingers around her thumb.
Then I squeeze tight and yank her nail off.
Corinthe’s scream would awaken the whole mountain if we weren’t inside this insulated cell. The nail falls from my fingers as Skarlet pushes me into the wall.
“What’s wrong with you?” she hisses at me as I watch Corinthe panting in pain over her shoulder. “The Zodai have more humane ways of extracting information—”
“Well I wasn’t making a political statement. This was personal.”
“These Risers have been brainwashed—I thought we were in agreement on that!” Skarlet squeezes my chin between her fingers, forcing me to look at her frowning face, and I smell her spicy fireburst scent. “Corinthe isn’t the master—she’s a person who’s never known anything but hate, so that’s all she can reflect back. But you’re Cancrian—you’re privileged enough to know how real love feels. You should know better.”