“That’s because I am exhausted,” he says, and the heavy exhale that follows settles like a physical weight on my heart.
“All we needed was for her to be the face of our movement,” he continues, and there’s a lack of sunlight in his voice that makes me flash to the half-dark Helios from the Cathedral. “We had everything else covered—the strategizing, the fighting—but still she couldn’t help herself. And now the whole Zodiac is at risk just because Rho couldn’t handle her emotions.”
My jaw drops, and my chest hollows, like I’m being drained of every good emotion I’ve ever felt.
“I can distract you from all that,” purrs Skarlet, moving in until she’s too close to him. “I missed you last night.”
Air hitches in my throat as her lips trail up his neck to his ear, and she says something that sounds like, “Come tonight.”
My heart holds its beat until Hysan answers.
“As you wish.”
I cover my mouth so they won’t hear my gasp, and I hear her say, “What if your princess wakes up and discovers us?”
“Rho’s the most trusting person in the Zodiac,” says Hysan, and in the dim lighting his centaur smile looks more like a cruel sneer. “She won’t suspect a thing. And if she does, all it takes is a little sweet talking, and she’s mine again.”
I squeeze my eyes shut and rub my temples, desperately hoping I’m just hallucinating from whatever drugs they’ve pumped into me. Then I look again, just in time to see Hysan pressing up against Skarlet.
“How about showing me what I missed last night?” he asks huskily, grabbing her by the waist and pushing her onto the countertop.
I turn away as their mouths come together, and then I bury my face in the wall and try to swallow the impulse to cry—but when I hear Skarlet’s soft moans, I muster every lingering store of strength within me and force myself to keep moving.
If I’m going to die, I want it to be as far from this room as possible.
I don’t slow down until I’ve made myself nauseous. I knew Hysan wasn’t trustworthy. I should have heeded my brain’s warnings. I should have trusted my fears all along.
The sense that I’m being watched settles over me again, and I push past my pain so I can focus on finding the others. Mathias, Brynda, and Rubi can’t be far, and I need to know where I am and how much time has passed.
A flash of blond hair flickers around a corner, and I speed up. “Wait!” I call out, my voice scratchy and unused. “Wait for me!”
The woman turns around, and when I see her face, I try to call for help—but my throat is too dry to make a sound.
“The stars must like me more than I thought,” she says in the reptilian voice I remember as she raises a pistol to my chest.
She’s me, and she’s not. . . . Even on her Cancrian face, Corinthe’s smile is still leering.
She takes a step toward me, and I will my legs to move, but my muscles are leaden, my body betraying me. Broken chains dangle from the metal cuffs on her wrists, and I realize she’s escaped custody just as the pistol slams into my head.
2
WHEN I COME TO, I’M in a different dim hospital room, and I’m tied to a chair. Just like I was on Equinox.
My heart revs with adrenaline, and I struggle against the chains to free myself. I stop when I see Corinthe’s face leaning into mine.
She’s sitting beside me holding a jagged knife.
“Didn’t want to start the girl talk until you were awake to enjoy it.” Her voice is almost gentle.
She presses the sharp blade to my gown’s neckline and cuts down along the crinkly fabric until my chest is bare. “I thought we’d go with a different design today,” she whispers, bringing the icy metal up to my throat.
I cry out as pain explodes through me. The knife punctures my skin and slices from my neck to my collarbone, and I start gasping for air.
“Rising into your House has turned me into a romantic,” she croons as I suck in ragged inhales and try to fill my lungs.
“When I’m finished, you and your Guide will have matching scars . . . and if that’s not a sign of fated love, what is?”
My breathing is labored and high pitched as she carves down the rungs of my ribcage and reaches my stomach. I can’t scream or blink or fight. I’m frozen in my torment, my vision blurry, my thoughts swimming, the agony so complete and overwhelming that even if I survive, I know I’m not coming back from this.
“So quiet today, Rho. . . . Aren’t you going to tell me how I’m a victim?” She pushes the blade so deep into my gut that my neck swings forward, and I vomit on my lap.
“Aren’t you going to tell me how you still plan to plead for the acceptance of Risers?” she hisses in my ear as I hack up my insides. “How I can hurt you all I want, but you’ll still forgive me?”
And even if I could speak, I know I couldn’t say that.
Because if somehow I live through this, I’m going to kill Corinthe myself.
The door abruptly bursts open, and she leaps back as Mathias storms into the room with a dozen armed Lodestars. “Arrest her!” he booms, pointing to Corinthe, who’s backed up against the wall but holding her bloodied knife out threateningly as the Zodai close in around her.
Mathias darts over and immediately starts undoing my bonds, his square shoulders blocking everything else from view. “I’m so sorry, Rho. This wasn’t supposed to happen.”
As soon as my hands are free, I pull both halves of my gown together to cover the cuts on my chest. But when I look into his soft midnight eyes, I know he’s already seen them. We wear the same scars now.
Before Mathias can say anything, Hysan barges into the room. “What’s happened?” he demands.
“Corinthe escaped, but she’s been captured, and the asset has been recovered,” says Mathias, standing ramrod straight and saluting Hysan.
Asset?
When Hysan’s eyes land on mine, his face splits into a sun-filled smile that cuts right through the bags under his eyes and the worry lines on his forehead. His green gaze brightens as he takes my limp hand in his warm one, and even though I know better now, my skin still buzzes from his touch.
“I missed you,” he whispers, leaning in and pressing a velvety kiss on my lips.
His concerned boyfriend act is so convincing that I wonder whether I made up the conversation between him and Skarlet. Then I look closer, and I notice the faded red lipstick on his chin and the crescent nail marks on his neck, and I know I’m not crazy.
“Get away from me,” I snap, scrambling toward Mathias. I look up at him and say, “Mathias, please, take me away from here. I don’t want to be anywhere near Hysan.”
But Mathias doesn’t meet my gaze. He’s assumed his unshakable Zodai stance.
“He doesn’t answer to you anymore,” says Hysan, the gentleness gone from his voice. “Mathias is loyal to your heart, and you gave your heart to me. You’re both mine now.”
I shake my head and grip Mathias’s arms to try to force him to look at me. “Mathias—please—snap out of it!”
His blue eyes finally roll down to meet mine, but his irises are now as hard as stone. “You made your choice, Rho.”