Page 18 of Of Wind and Terror

“Tell us about the Mark of Chaos,” she repeats.

Aleksander’s arms tighten nearly imperceptibly around me.

At first, I think he isn’t going to answer, but then he blows out a breath and slowly pushes me away. I move to join Faye against the wall, but Aleksander’s arms lock around me once more, and he moves us both so we’re sitting on the bed with me in his lap.

I give Faye a wide-eyed, bewildered look. “What in Gaia’s name is happening?” I mouth.

She just grins, amused.

Tentatively, with a gentleness I didn’t know he was capable of, Aleksander grabs my arm and twists it so he’s able to get a better view of my bicep and the mark. His fingers are feather-soft against the material of the glove, and I can’t help but wonder what they’ll feel like against my bare skin.

The thought makes zings of excitement sizzle along my nerves.

“The Mark of Chaos…” I hear rather than see Aleksander swallow. “Do you remember the story I told you before? About Order and Chaos?”

How could I forget?

“Well, there’s more to the story than I initially told you.” He takes a deep breath, and the fine hairs at the top of my head stir with the force of his exhale.

Goose bumps pepper on my skin, and a strange heat surges in my lower belly.

“Explain,” Faye barks, speaking for me.

“The only reason I’m not killing you right now is because I have my cherub in my arms,” Aleksander tells the fae woman nonchalantly. “Besides, I think your death will make my cherub sad, and I don’t want that.” He begins to stroke my golden hair, the movement almost absent-minded. “But if you keep disrespecting me, I’ll kill you, regardless of what Kassandra wants. Now, can I get back to my story without any interruptions? Please and thank you.”

Faye rolls her eyes but nods for him to continue.

“What I failed to mention the first time around is that, before Chaos and Order were put to sleep, Chaos created an army of minions to do his bidding. It’s one of the main reasons why the other gods retaliated against him. They didn’t want their universe to fall to ruin.”

An army?

Faye frowns. “What exactly do you mean?”

“Chaos couldn’t simply take control of people’s minds and force them to do his bidding,” Aleksander continues. “That would defy the natural order of things. However, he chose to create a virus to help exacerbate the disorder in the world.”

“The black virus,” I mouth at the same time Faye repeats it out loud.

“Exactly,” Aleksander agrees. “But back then, the black virus wasn’t how you see it today. It wasn’t characterized by violent outbursts and anger and mindless attacks. It was more…calculated. Sophisticated. And every person who got ‘sick’ was branded with this particular mark. They called it the Mark of Chaos.”

Feather-soft, his fingers trace the outline of the brand on my skin.

“So you’re saying Kassandra’s sick with the black virus?” Faye asks, dumbfounded.

And maybe even a little afraid. Everybody knows that the black virus is a death sentence. There’s no escaping it. No surviving it. No coming back from it.

Unless, of course, you touch the hand of the esteemed Death Whisperer.

“I’m saying that Kassandra has been infected, but it’s not with the black virus we’ve come to know now. It’s something else. Something other. Something deadlier than we could even begin to imagine.”

His words send a chill of fear through my body. I begin to tremble in Aleksander’s arms as I think of all the males and females I’ve come into contact with who’ve been sick with the mysterious virus. Will I lose my mind? Hurt people? Hurt myself?

Faye has gone a deadly shade of white. She opens her mouth—no doubt to ask more questions—when the door to the room is thrown open. A golden-skinned guard with red hair stands in the entryway, looking out of breath and wildly disheveled.

“Faye.” His voice trembles. “We need you. Now.”

Faye instantly straightens. Her fear from only moments ago has been replaced by steadfast determination. “What’s going on?”

“We’re under attack,” the fae rushes out.

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