Page 58 of Court of Aether and Shadows

“OH SHIT!” I curse, immediately running backward back to where I’d just been, only I’m scurrying to get my rifle. It seems pointless because this is going to become a close-range battle, but fuck, I can’t be weaponless.

I watch as they emerge from the shadows like wraiths, weapons trained on me with deadly intent. There are only so many red dots that can be pointed at one person, but I guess today was the day to test that wild theory.

By the time I’m nearing the edge of the roof, I’m surrounded.

"Nowhere to run, little bird," one of them called out, his voice chillingly familiar.Little bird…"Be a good girl and surrender. We have such plans for you."

Plans. Plans for me?

I’m beginning to realize how the parallels are blending.

How the veil is fading.

These have to be the tendrils that surround their leader. Those creatures desperately fought to destroy the glass wall that protected me before I sniped the target in the spiritual aspect.

Now they have to come attempt to kill me in the physical realms.

I backed away, my mind racing. There had to be a way out of this.

As I neared the edge of the roof, a flicker of movement caught my eye. On a neighboring building, barely visible in the darkness, sat the white fox.

Its amber eyes seemed to glow as it watched me, utterly still amidst the chaos. It didn’t seem distressed in the slightest. It was so calm, as though I was in the right place at the right time.

With a blink, I’m pulled into watching how the world shifts so intricately — the chaos falling around us, only becoming petals of red and blue that fall all around while a little home sits among a lake of twinkling equilibrium.

It was as though this vision was my next destination.

Which meant, there was only one way of getting there.

I turned back to face the approaching leader of the stealth group; a humorless smile tugging at my lips. I knew that particular walk. Their stances.

Heck, their disgusting scent made me want to vomit all over again.

“Why am I not surprised?” I whisper to myself and dare to even laugh. Now I could accept that I was losing my mind because all of this was a brilliant catastrophe waiting to untangle.

"You know," I said conversationally, "for someone who's supposed to be so smart, you really are an idiot, Marco."

There was a beat of stunned silence, then a low chuckle as the leader removed his mask. Marco's rat-like features twisted into a sneer.

"Well, well. Aren't you the clever one? It's almost a shame to end you."

Through my earpiece, I could hear the shocked exclamations of Vincent and Liam. To my surprise, this intercom shit was still working, and I guess they could hear the revelation as clear as day.

Their voices overlapped, demanding explanations, and issuing threats, but I tuned them out, focusing solely on Marco. He was doing the same because his attention was solely on me.

"Why?" I asked, genuinely curious despite the dire situation. "Why betray us? Was it for the billions? Nah. The money wouldn’t have interested you enough to betray us now after all the shit we’ve gone through,” I speak with intrigue. “Why all of this?" I gesture to our surroundings. “At this striking moment where I have nowhere to run.”

Marco shrugged his casual demeanor at odds with the gun still trained on me.

"It's simple economics, darling,” he doesn’t try to hide a new accent that is deemed British. To even think he’s been hiding his native tongue all these years is a mind fuck, to say the least. “To move up in this world, you have to be willing to sacrifice the little fish. And you, my dear Sparrow, are the juiciest little fish of all."

“Juiciest?” I giggle at the word. “A shame I don’t even see my own value, but I guess you’re a smart ass, so surely you’re right in this instance.

I have to shake my head in dismay, giving off the impression Marco has truly made an error of judgment.

“Oh, Marco,” I begin and shake my head. “You have no idea what I am. Or really who I am.”

“Neither do you,” he snaps back, getting impatient. “You don’t remember your sins. The vile individual you were who enjoyed to set ablaze innocent lives who didn’t deserve to perish!”

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