Page 45 of A Reign of Storm and Madness

I thought flesh would make a sound when it’s being torn, but it doesn’t. It’s almost quiet, far quieter than paper or fabric. Blood drips and pools onto the floor and the scent of shit and urine hits my nose. I’ve seen death, caused it enough times not to be shocked by it, but I am not brutal. I am quick. I am clean. I kill with precision, not with the barbaric savagery that Kalix commands.

Rahela’s body finally collapses to the floor between us, her legs and arms a tangle of limbs, and then, as if her head is an afterthought, Kalix tosses it next to her body and sighs. He places his hands on his hips and stares down at the merciless crime he’d just committed, and guilt blooms inside me because I know why. He did it for me.

“What. The. Fuck.” Ruen’s quiet wrath is an ominous warning.

Kalix tips his head back, letting it fall onto his shoulders as he stares up to the ceiling above.

“What have you done, Kalix…?” Theos still sounds more shocked and confused than particularly angry or upset.

When Kalix lifts his head again, his moss green eyes meet mine. A silent understanding passes between us. He’s waiting to see what I’ll do. What my decision will be. Right now, I don’t fucking know.

“You just killed another Mortal God,” Ruen says the words and Kalix turns to face his brother with a casualness that I certainly don’t feel. Quickly, I lower the dagger in my hand to the floor, turning and dropping onto the cot. It squeaks, the noise loud enough to make me flinch.

“So what?” Kalix asks with a shrug. “She attacked our Terra. She would’ve told the Gods that Kiera fought back—and then where would you be? Don’t you want to keep some of your favorite servants in the Academy still breathing, Brother?”

Crimson fills Ruen’s features, turning his normally stoic expression into one of sheer rage. I close my eyes, not wanting to see it, not wanting to acknowledge that it’s my fault. He just doesn’t know it.

“She would’ve healed from a throat cut,” Theos says. “We could have reasoned with her to stay si—”

Kalix laughs, the sound unrepentant. “You thinking you could reason with Rahela is what put our Terra in this mess,” he replies. “She was obsessive and wouldn’t have stopped until she put our Terra in the ground.”

“You wouldn’t have given a shit before!” Theos’ yell makes me bury my face in my hands. I don’t know why I expected him to be on my side in this. I’m the one who told him that the sex hadn’t meant anything.

“Kiera.” I raise my head and lower my palms, turning as my name slips from Ruen’s poisoned lips. His eyes are glowing a dangerous red. The color pulsates in his irises. The room swells and shrinks, the walls growing and then shriveling back and forth as if he’s losing control of his abilities as his emotions surge. “Explain,” he orders.

Kalix doesn’t turn around now that Ruen is focused on me and I don’t glance at him as I meet Ruen’s stare. “I came in my room,” I say, surprised by the evenness in my tone, but pushing through nonetheless. “And she was here waiting for me. She attacked me as I came in and I … defended myself.”

“That’s all?”

I stare back at him and then push up off the bed. “What do you mean ‘that’s all?’” I ask. The sharp instincts that had me reacting so quickly have returned to where they came from and my heart rate has lowered, but the sound of his voice is grating on my ears. “Are you asking me if I fucking provoked a Mortal God into attempting to kill me?”

His face clears briefly as if he’s shocked by my response, but then just as quickly his brow furrows again and he steps closer, just past Kalix. “Did you?”

I want to punch him. No, I want to do something worse. I want to take the dagger I used to slit Rahela’s throat and I want to dig out his eyeballs and throw them into a fire.

“No.” If anything, since my punishment, I’ve been a perfectly acceptable Terra. I might have allowed myself to be a little more mouthy to them, but outside this tower, I’ve been submissive and obedient. I let Kalix grope me and finger fuck me in front of Dolos, for fuck’s sake!

“Ruen, don’t put this on her,” Theos says. “She’s just a human—”

Kalix snorts and shakes his head. “Enough of this,” he says, dragging their attention back from me. “We need to let the faculty know and take care of the body.” He gestures to the corpse still lying on the ground, her blood soaking into the floorboards.

Ruen growls right before he lets loose a long stream of curses, some in a language I’m not sure I understand. Perhaps the ancient Gods’ language. I knew they had a class that studied it—not that I paid attention—but I didn’t know their education allowed them to learn curses in that language.

“They’re not going to be happy about this,” Theos says.

“Tell them I killed her for overstepping,” Kalix replies. “It wouldn’t be the first.”

Bile rolls against the back of my tongue. It’s not the first time? Was that why he’d torn her head from her shoulders so easily? To ensure that she wouldn’t be able to heal from the slice I’d made to her throat? What will he ask for in return?

“They’re going to want punishment,” Ruen states, sounding far too cold for the fury he’d just been ready to unleash. My gaze shoots to his and he’s staring at me hard.

“A week or two of imprisonment?” Kalix laughs. “That’s fine. I can handle it.”

My hands ball into fists, half expecting Ruen to say something to me about that, but he doesn’t. Instead, he turns away and disappears out the door.

Theos curses. “I’ll go help him gather the supplies, you—” He glances at Kalix before turning worried eyes on me.

“Go,” Kalix huffs as if he can read his mind. “I just killed one of our kind to keep her alive. I’m not going to fucking hurt her.”

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