Page 80 of In Death's Hands
“The Fate told them so, and apparently the fact that I keep getting into deadly accidents only proves their theory.”
“Explain,” Celestina tells Nathan, and I stiffen at the order.
“Liv has been having near-death experiences her whole life.”
“But Fenrick swears they only startedhuntingme a few months ago,” I add.
The air grows colder, so much so that I can see my breath clouding in front of me. A deadly grey stare pins me. She may decide to kill me on the spot if she believes that’s what the Order wants, but I refuse to lower my gaze. I will face this as I have everything else in my life, with my head held high. She turns her cold eyes to Nathan, her hands clawing at her chair, and seethes, “Yousaved her.”
For the first time since stepping into this room, Nathan looks scared, and I don’t like it.
“He did, a few weeks ago,” I answer. “I was about to have yet another accident when he intervened.”
Celestina narrows her eyes at me for a second before refocusing on my friend. “That is not what I meant.”
I frown as Nathan nods once. “She was saved when she was young.”
Her eyes widen. “Defying the Order?”
Straightening, Nathan answers with a bite, “Nothing can be sure.”
“Bullshit,” she snaps, making me jump slightly. “What do you see when you look at her?”
Nathan tightens his jaw, and for a second I think he won’t answer, but he eventually opens his mouth. “Nothing.”
Celestina barks a laugh that is anything but merry. “You have no idea what kind of mess you created,” she seethes.
“What do you mean?” I ask.
She bristles but, to my surprise, answers. “I mean, girl, that you are a bug in the system. An anomaly.Thatis why the Novensiles are hunting you. You should not be.”
“Oh, that.” I snort.
She narrows her eyes at me. “You dare take it so lightly?”
“Well, we’ve already kind of figured out that if the mighty Order wanted me dead, surely I would be.” I shrug. I don’t know where this new devil-may-care attitude of mine has come from, but I like it.
“Stupid girl.” She straightens on her throne, her negligee revealing even more of her golden skin as she does. “When someone intervenes, the Order cannot fix it! There is always an element of free will, even in the best-laid threads.”
Something sours in my stomach and I’m suddenly not as confident anymore. “What?” I croak.
“The moment you were saved, the Order had no way to intervene. You stepped out and got lost in the void.”
I gulp. So… what we thought was wrong? The Order does want me dead but cannot find me to fix itself? Is that why I’m still alive? A simple anomaly, a bug the universe isn’t able to rid itself of? I struggle to breathe as the new realisation hits me harder than all the others. Celestina sees this and gloats. Her smug expression boils my blood, and I want to hurt her. I’m not a violent person—I always take creepy-crawlies outside my flat instead of killing them, shrieking the whole way, and I let spiders live worry-free in my shower—but I want to hurther.
“I don’t care,” I say, astonishing everyone in the room, including myself.
“What?”
“I. Don’t. Give. A. Flying. Fuck.” Her lips curl and part, but I cut her off before she can attack again. I don’t care who she is, what she did for her people. I don’t like her. I don’t trust her. “I don’t care,” I continue. “I’ve been fighting my whole life to survive, and I’m not about to give up now.”
“Because you were supposed to bedead!” Celestina slams her hands on her throne, and all I see is a toddler having a tantrum.
“Well, I’m not!”
The room stays quiet, like the peace after the rain. Or the quiet before the storm explodes.
Nathan, who was apparently happy to let me handle this my way, finally takes a step forward, drawing Celestina’s seething look to himself. “She’snotdead and was actually helpful. So maybe we can focus on more important elements?”
