Page 21 of Bright Blinding Ruin

The corners of his mouth twitch in a half-smirk. “Perhaps.” His gaze falls. “They wanted the empresses to pay for the crimes of their predecessors. You—”

I’m pretty sick of everybody and their brother claiming I’m an empress, and I want to tell him that—there’s no goddamn way I can be an empress. I don’t have magic. I’m just a normal girl from a different world, that’s it.

But I can’t say any of that, because… I don’t know why. It’s like I forget every single reply I have ready in my head.

Invictis raises a hand. His fingertips brush up against my cheek, and what breath I’m holding I let out in an uneven sigh. “I waited so long to find you,” he whispers as his fingers trail along my jaw. “I never imagined you would be so… different than the others.” If it was anyone else saying that, I might’ve taken it as a compliment, but with him…

I know better, even if his trailing touch on the underside of my jawline isn’t the worst feeling in the world.

The hand with the surprisingly tender touch turns rough when it curls around my throat and jerks me forward. I’m on my tiptoes suddenly, my head angled back, unable to tear my eyes off him.

“But it doesn’t matter, Rey,” he murmurs, the hidden venom in his voice now detectable. “You will fall, just as the others fell before you. I will destroy you, undo everything you are, and then I will achieve my purpose. Nothing you do can stop me.”

I grab the wrist attached to my neck. He’s not choking me, but it’s not the best position to be in, either. Such a sudden switch in him, but I guess that’s only because this is the real Invictis. He’s not a person; I can’t guilt him into anything. He doesn’t have something as silly as feelings… does he?

“Maybe you’re right,” I admit while doing a strange balancing act on my tiptoes. “Maybe I can’t beat you and you’re the big baddie you say you are. It’s your nature, or whatever. It’s your purpose.” Very hard not to roll my eyes as I say it. “But that doesn’t mean I’m gonna roll over like a dog and give you my belly.”

That statement confuses him enough he lowers me so I’m no longer on my toes. “I don’t see how that applies.”

“It means,” I pause and give him an unperturbed grin that some probably would consider crazed, “my hackles are up and I’m not backing down. Somehow, someway, I’m gonna kick your shiny golden ass.”

The laugh that escapes his chest is one of amusement, and the hand around my neck curls upward to cup my jaw. Even in this form, he really is a massive specimen of a man—even if this face technically doesn’t belong to him.

Invictis leans his tall frame down as he whispers, “I look forward to regaining my full strength and seeing you on the battlefield, then.”

“Not as much as I’m looking forward to it, buddy,” I hiss out the final word as I frown.

“I will crush you like an insect beneath my heel. As different as you are, you are nothing compared to me. You are simply—” Invictis’s chest rumbles with vehemence. “—a girl, after all. An empress with no magic is just a—”

I interrupt him, knowing it’ll annoy him, “A girl, yeah. I get it. You sure do like to repeat yourself, Rune.”

His blue eyes flash molten gold. “I am Invictis, and nothing you do will change your destiny. You will fall at my feet as your empresses did. Through blade, magic, or madness, I will undo everything you are. That is a promise, Rey.”

“That’s funny. I was going to promise you the same thing… Rune.”

Before he can respond—and get even angrier—the dream fades around me, and I wake up with a smile on my face and a renewed sense of pettiness. I don’t want to be a hero, no. The very opposite.

However—and this is a big however—I am petty enough to be willing to die just to inconvenience my old pal Rune. With anyluck, I’ll find a way to stop him, but if not… well, pettiness is always the way togo when it comes to someone like that.

I’ll give that asshole a taste of his own medicine.

Chapter Nine

The journey through Pylos is long, but I know it won’t hold a candle to how long it’ll take me to reach Acadia’s castle next. The days blur into each other, the air gets hotter, the mountains more jagged and craggy. I don’t see Invictis in all of my dreams; those nights are scattered throughout.

I’m exhausted. I start hiking before sunrise most days and stop for the night well after the sun goes down. Anything I can do in an effort to make the journey as quick as possible. I ration my food and water; there are some rivers and creeks that flow through the mountains, but it takes me well off the main road to reach them most times, which only adds to the length of the journey.

It is, surprisingly but thankfully, a mostly uneventful trek. I don’t run into any obscenely large blighted animals that I have to run from. A few smaller ones here and there, but ones I’m easily able to outmaneuver or swat away. The flock of birds the first week was probably the worst.

Beyond that, it’s lonely. It really is. I know I’m used to being alone all the time, but I guess I liked having Rune with me more than I realized.

Invictis.

I don’t know how long it’ll be until he’s at his full strength, if he’ll come straight for me the moment he’s regained himself or if he’ll hang back and watch me from the shadows, let me get close to my goal, and then swoop in. Either way, I know it’s only a matter of time until I see him in person again, and when I do, I won’t have any way of defending myself.

In other words, I’ll be fucked, but until then, I’m going to do my best. That’s all I can do.

I’m going to be honest, a large part of me thought I wouldn’t make it to the castle nestled amongst the mountains in Pylos, but the day that castle and its surrounding city come into view, I feel relieved.

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