Page 86 of A Sky of Storms
I grinned. “Get going you sap.”
Noah croaked, reaching his hand towards me, but I never got to hear what he said as the dragon above us roared and they disappeared through the crowd of people. I looked at the sky, my stomach dropping.
It was coming straight for me.
I ran like my life depended on it—because yeah, I was in no mood to be ripped in half—and skidded to a halt just as Victoria swiped at me with her blade. I dodged, trying to angle my body, but her blade slashed my back and I screamed, my nerves on fire as pain ripped me apart. My body jolted as I fell into the water, red staining it an even darker shade of brown.
She laughed, but her glee was cut short as the monster reared up before her, its long talons extended. Victoria grabbed one of her cronies and shoved them in the way instead, appeasing the beast as it clung to them and took to the sky.
This bitch. This. Bloody. Bitch.
Ihatedher. Despised everything she’d become.
With a grunt of effort I pulled myself up, sliding my sword from its sheath as I faced her. Victoria’s blond hair spiralled out from its braid, her copper eyes flaring in the darkening sky. For a long moment, we simply stared at each other, ignoring the chaos around us.
Thunder crackled and before long the heavens opened, spitting on our feud with torrential rain. Lightning flashed ominously and sweat and rain slid down my jumpsuit, the water easing the burning in my back.
“What did they do to you, to make you so fucking cruel?” I yelled, shaking my head.
She knew who I meant. The two people on this planet who were supposed to love, nurture, and protect us like only parents could.
“They made me stronger,” she said with a manic grin. “House Jupiter weeds out the weak. Just like I’m going to do to you.”
I spat on the ground, gesturing at the death all around us. “Do you really think they give a shit about you? Victrus and Eliana only care about the power you can bring if you become queen. They don’t care if you live or die, they are using you for their own gain. You’re just a puppet whose strings are being pulled.”
“You’re lying,” she hissed, beginning to prowl around me again. “They love me. I am their future, their heir! One day I will be queen, but you won’t be around to see it. This ends now, sister.”
She really was a fucking psychopath, deluded in all the worst ways. Our parents had warped her brain, manipulated her so deeply that she truly believed everything she was saying. And that kind of thinking only made her more dangerous. She would be anything for them. Do anything for them, including killing me. Their rebellious, strong-willed, weak spare.
Why had I ever wasted any tears on these people? They didn’t deserve my love or even my pity. I was done.
“You can try to kill me, but I swear to you, Victoria, before you die, my face will be the last thing you see. Your punishment is coming sooner than you think.”
Her face crinkled with rage, her eyes flashing like the lightning forking around us. The monsters had disappeared into the sky of storms and few Potentials were left alive in the crater.
It was just her and me, dancing to a discordant tune. The same way it had always been. The same way it always would be.
She advanced, running at me with a scream as I shifted, pirouetting and bringing my sword down, but she blocked the move and proceeded to attack quickly, getting me on my back foot.
Her sword smashed against mine again and again, her fury igniting even further as I gave it my all. I was losing too much blood and my wound made me weak and sloppy.
As her cockiness increased, I saw my opening when she thrust too far and, with a cry that took all my strength, I lunged, slipping my blade into the soft flesh of her stomach.
She gaped at me, her mouth opening and closing as she gasped for air, staggering forward with my sword still in her gut. Blood trailed down her stomach and she clutched at it in confusion, her brows pulling together as she stumbled and fell to her knees.
I stood there watching her, just as shocked and hurting badly. When she looked at me with eyes as wide as a child’s, her blond hair plastered to her scalp, I could almost forget what a monster she’d become. I remembered the few good memories I had of us playing together when we were little. Of the times she’d been a kind older sister, protecting me, looking out for me, caring for me.
It was so long ago, but I still remembered what she was like before being initiated into Auger Enterprises. She might have become a monster and forced me to do horrible things, but I couldn’t force those memories aside as I saw her now with my blade sticking out of her.
“You won,” she said, her voice barely audible over the rain. “You really beat me.”
I took a step forward, my heart raging against the unfairness of it all. “I never wanted this Victoria,” I cried above the storm. “I never wanted to be your enemy.”
“It could never have been any different,” she said calmly, her face almost serene as she looked at me. “You never understood what they were trying to build. There is so much you don’t know.”
“What?” I cried frantically. “Tell me!”
Fuck. She couldn’t die now, not before she gave me some answers. What did she know about House Jupiter? About the trials? About our parents?
