I invisibly walk through the prison’s passages, following the map I memorized to find my way to Ophiuchus’s cell. There are fewer guards than last time, and they’ve all been drinking. No one has ever broken out of The Bellow in the history of its existence, so why should they sense any threat?
Yet as I near the cell, for the first time, I start reviewing and reconsidering my plan. Whatever Hysan might think of me, I’m not going to doom the Zodiac with my actions. Once I’ve freed Nishi, I’ll do whatever it takes to find out if Aquarius truly plans to go through a portal in Helios—and if he does, I won’t leave his side until I’ve stopped him or he’s killed me, whichever comes first.
After that the stars can have what’s left of me.
The metal door to Ophiuchus’s cell scans me, and then it slides open. I step into the blindingly white room and find the Thirteenth Guardian asleep on his back just as he was in the surveillance footage I saw earlier.
Even though he’s in mortal form, he doesn’t look human. He’s even larger than an Ariean, and the subtle patterning of his textured skin is indescribably delicate.
The metal cuffs confining his movements are still in place, as is the needle keeping him sedated. Once I pull it out, I won’t undo his bonds with my Barer until I’m sure he’s onboard with my plan; I’m hoping I won’t need the weapon for self-defense since last I checked, Ophiuchus and I were on the same side.
Watching him sleep it’s hard to reconcile the shape-shifting ice phantom that’s been haunting me with this overgrown, otherworldly teenager. And as the seconds tick by, something starts to feel wrong.
I should have woken him up by now, only my hand won’t move to the needle. All I can think of is Hysan.
Is he trapped in a cell just like this one? Did they do him the favor of sedating him, too, or is he stuck with nothing but his memories of my betrayal for company?
I had him arrested. I almost divulged his identity. I made him the scapegoat for my sins. Just like Aquarius did to Ophiuchus, and the Plenum did to me.
I’m acting exactly like the crooked leaders I was supposed to replace. I’m going behind everyone’s backs to defy a democratic decision just because I believe I know better. That’s the act of a tyrant, not a leader. And if I keep making the same mistakes as the politicians who came before me, what hope does the Zodiac have?
But I need to save Nishi.
My hand trembles as I reach for the needle, only I still don’t touch it. Maybe I can find Mathias and ask for his help. He told me earlier that I could come to him about anything, and I should have spoken up then. He’ll understand when I explain to him why Nishi can’t wait—after all, he was tortured by Corinthe, too.
I drop my hand, and with a last look at Ophiuchus I turn to go. But a deep, booming voice stops me in my tracks.
“I knew you wouldn’t do it.”
I gasp and wheel around. Ophiuchus is still lying in bed, his face angled up at the ceiling, but he’s awake.
“Though I also didn’t think you would make it this far.”
My throat dry, I take a few steps closer and meet a pair of eyes that are wider and longer than any human being’s, with vertical slits for pupils. “You know why I’m here?” I ask, my voice insubstantial when compared to his.
“Undo my binds and let’s go,” he commands.
“I c—can’t,” I stammer, my skin breaking into a chilly sweat. “I changed my mind.”
His silver irises glow like starlight, and flecks of platinum swirl around his pupils, like worlds orbiting elliptical black holes. “Are you certain?” he asks, his words reverberating through me long after he’s spoken.
I think of Nishi, and most of me wants to scream NO. But I force myself to jerk a nod instead.
Without warning Ophiuchus sits bolt upright.
A mere flexing of his muscles and he blasts apart the metal cuffs holding him. I leap back until I’m pressed against the wall, too stunned to run out or raise my Barer.
“Y—you had the power to escape this whole time?”
His bare feet fall to the floor, and he tugs off his crinkly hospital gown and tosses it aside. I drop my gaze to the ground to avoid staring at his naked body, and I notice his toenails are curved like claws.
In the fringe of my vision, I watch him dig into a hidden drawer beneath the bed and pull out white healer’s scrubs. The textured patterns of his skin gleam in the room’s blinding brightness, and once he’s stepped into the too-short pants, I look up again.
“Why didn’t you leave before now?” I ask as he pulls on the shirt. His body is so powerful that his muscles ripple through the fabric, straining every thread.
“I was weak. While I waited for you, I focused on regaining my strength.”
“For me? You foresaw I’d come?”
His starry eyes lock onto mine, and the shading of his thick skin shifts from light to dark as he moves toward me.
I try retreating even further into the wall until the back of my skull starts to ache from the effort. “W—why do you need me?”
“If I’m going to bargain for my House,” he rumbles, “I’m going to need something Aquarius wants.”
I have to tilt my chin up to keep my eyes on his. “Your plan is to use me?”
“Just as yours is to use me.”
“No.”
And before he comes any closer, I raise my right hand to his face, tapping into the Barer’s buzzing until my fist grows a set of electric brass knuckles. “I came to my senses in time. I’m not going with you.”
Hands as strong as stone grip my arms, and my head bashes into the wall.
Pain blasts through me, and the Barer fizzes out as my body is pinned in place, my scalp stinging and eyes streaming tears. A boulder presses into my chest, knocking the air from my lungs, and through my bleary vision I see Ophiuchus, his body pushed up against me, his lustrous snakeskin face just inches from mine.
“I’m not one of your little boyfriends,” he hisses, his swirling silver irises rampaging with rage. “You don’t turn me down.”
17
MY HEART RACES, AND ITS ferocious pounding feels foreign and new. I can’t remember the last time I heard it this clearly.
Fear coats my tongue, releasing gallons of adrenaline through my veins. And though my head is in agony, this is the first time I’ve felt something real since the Sumber.
The first time I’ve felt alive.
Ophiuchus steps back, and without him to hold me up I crumple to the floor. My pulse fades away, and as the emotions recede I’m left even emptier than I was before.
He reaches down for me again, and I scream as he bundles up my limbs as if I’m weightless. He cradles me to his chest like a newborn, wrapping me completely in his arms, and then he rams his back into the cell’s door.
The slab of metal goes flying and slams into the rocky passage.