Page 39 of Obsession

Again, things are quiet as Aris admires his work and Ryan awaits further instructions. I just stare at the senseless violence, shocked stupid. The crunches of bone and screams of pain ring in my ears. The blood sticks to me like sweat. Moist. Wet. I am littered with it, reeking of it.

I look down at my hands; they are shaking. Will I ever get this blood off of me? I picture myself in the shower, scrubbing at my skin until it is raw and pink.

“You are surprised,” says Aris, and I slowly look back up. He is studying me, and Ryan is gone—I hadn’t noticed him leave. “Why is that? Surely, Jaegen told you of my savage ways.”

My heart stops.

Aris smiles, an unfamiliar glint in his eyes. “Did you think I did not question how you suddenly appeared in Berlin, or how I can’t read your mind? These are curious feats for a mortal to perform, wouldn’t you say? They would be hard to accomplish on your own.”

He knows.

Of course he knows. He has lived forever and is more intelligent than I could ever hope to understand. With the mages dead, who else would I get magic from but Jaegen?

Now would be a good time for him to freeze like he did last night, to go away and to forget his suspicion. But he is entirely himself.

He steps towards me, as bloodied as I am, and I am too stunned to even flinch when he wraps his arms around me. There’s no use resisting; his hold is impenetrable.

“Did he tell you to advocate for your people?” he murmurs in my ear. I think of him whispering to the man before killing him minutes ago.

“I offered because I want to help people,” I say shakily. He knows, he knows. How long has he known—since the instant he saw me?

“You can’t help any of them.” His tone is dark. “You have always known that.”

Aris is at his most dangerous when he is serious, and he’s very rarely serious. When you’re all-powerful and immortal, it’s hard to be phased by inconvenience, or even tragedy. But I have seen him like this before: dealing with Dominachion, with the Grand Mage.

Neither are on this Earth any longer.

I shut my eyes, and, for the first time today, I relax. I always relax before I think I’m going to die. There is nothing to fear in that moment, nothing more to fight or to give. It’s actually kind of wonderful.

Strangely, Aris’ grip loosens, and he releases me. My eyes pop open to regard him, suspicious and wary as he steps back to stare at me with just as much doubt.

This is uncharted territory for us both. How is he to punish me for tugging against my leash? It’s funny to watch a dog struggle, but not when it itches for another owner.

“He is using you,” Aris says, hands drawn into fists.

“And you aren’t?” I have always been his source of entertainment. I’m nothing else.

Aris ignores me, shaking out his hands to relieve the tension, beginning to pace. He reminds me of lions at the zoo, a predator revealed in his jaunty movements.

“It won’t work,” he says. At first, I think he’s only speaking to himself, but then he looks at me. “Whatever you have planned will not work.”

I take a moment. Everything is on the line here; I can’t have him believing this. “I’m not… with Jaegen.”

Suddenly, Aris is before me, gripping my arms. He is so close that a deep breath would force us to touch. “Do not lie to me,” he growls. “That is the one thing that I will not tolerate from you.”

His tone offers no negotiation, his expression lethal.

“Why do you care?” I demand, blinking through my intimidation. “f you can’t be defeated, if you’re not worried, why does it matter if I try to stop you?”

Aris’ eyes narrow to slits.

Something wet touches my bare feet, and I look down, not exactly surprised by the blood, but it does tether me to the moment. He has just massacred a hundred people, and I am questioning him. Goading him.

What is wrong with me?

“‘Why?’” he says incredulously, as if thinking the same thing, unable to comprehend my nerve. But then, he pauses.

I look up, brow furrowing as his jaw clicks and moves. I don’t recognize the look in his eyes, mainly because there is no humor there. No jest, for once.

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