Page 92 of In Death's Hands
“Liar,” she seethes.
“No!” I cry out, fighting Nathan’s hold in vain. “I don’t remember!”
“I don’t believe you.”
I want to beg for my friend and plead with her that I’m not lying, I have no reason to, but before I can, red fills my vision. I choke and cough as images and voices fill my head. The Order.
I do remember. I look for the red again, expecting to see a thread, but it was only the trail of Atys’ blood on the white tiles.
With the memories come the realisation of how truly screwed we are.She’s the one holding one of the missing Fates.She’s the fucking liar in all of this. I suddenly understand why communing with the Order is forbidden.
I don’t know what to do. I want to play dumb, but anger chooses for me. “I’m not the liar here, you bitch!”
I’m not a fan of that curse for women, but if there ever was an appropriate word for her, I’d say this is it.
I feel Nathan tense further as her nostrils flare. Her face transforms into a wrathful mask and the air starts to whip me. I cry out against a particularly vicious lash, and when I look down, I see a bleeding welt on my thigh.
“What did you learn, yourat?”
I shake my head, but she grabs Atys’ hair, holding his body half sprawled at her feet, half in the air.
A sob escapes my lips, and I can feel my body weakening further under the constant lashes of the air. I refuse to look down and see the mess of my flesh.
When Celestina wraps her slender hand around Atys’ throat, I cave.
“No! Wait! The Order said that the Novensiles weren’t to be feared, which is stupid. Th-then that the person who cursed you all and has been after me is one and the same.” She tightens her hold on Atys, forcing his neck into an awkward angle. “I swear!” I scream, my heart seizing in fear. “It wouldn’t tell me who did it. Something about altering what—” My mouth closes of its own accord.
“Alteringwhat?”
I want to say, “What was written in flesh,” but the words don’t come. My mind freezes over for a heartbeat, wondering what it is with this sentence that keeps tripping me up. I try to open my mouth again. For Atys, who’s been so nice to me, I try to say the words. But I can’t. She sees the fight in my eyes, sees me keeping something to myself. I notice the familiar tangle of red threads appear above her head a second before I hear a crack.
A crack.
That resonates.
No. “No!” I yell as I push past Nathan, somehow finally breaking free of his protection, and tumble towards my friend. Atys lies in a pile of unnaturally placed limbs. I look at his chest and wait. And wait. And it never goes up. His next breath stays lost to the world. A scream echoes in the room, so loud it seems to push Celestina away from him. This decent man that tried his best to lighten my terrible situation. She’s taken him from me. And why? Because we talked to a thing that doesn’t even give straight answers? Because she didn’t want us to knowshe’s the one holding a Fate? I look at her startled face, and the scream I heard before comes again. From my lips. She flies back so hard that she dents the wall. I feel myself getting to my feet and stalking towards her. I will make her pay. I clench my hands, and I could swear the red mass of tangled threads moves in answer. In a call.
Hands catch me once more, but I am lost to rage and grief.
“Liv!”
I shrug Nathan free but his shadow steps in front of me, hands raised in a placating motion. This gentle being makes me pause. Take a breath. The blinding rage ebbs slightly, enough for me to breathe. Toseewhat I’ve done. I unclench my fist and ignore what happens in response. It cannot be, anyway; the anger makes me see things. The shadow’s hands come to my cheeks, cooling my now burning skin. Nathan is at my back, his chest brushing against me with every harsh, too-fast breath he takes.
I let them calm me down. But a movement behind the shadow makes me realise how wrong it was.
Celestina is back on her feet, and I feel a vicious pleasure at her dishevelled state.
“See what you brought back?” she spits at Nathan. His shadow disappears. The ones swirling at our feet freeze. The words take forever to land.
He stumbles, taking a step backwards. “It wasyou?” he asks, shock laced through each of his words.
See what you brought back, see what you brought back. See. What.You.Brought. Back.
Celestina barks out a laugh, wiping blood that somehow trickles down her lips. “You do not know what you’re talking about, boy.”
“What did he bring back?” I ask, my voice barely above a whisper as my mind runs over everything that’s ever happened to me. From the moment Death appeared, looking so damned exhausted and alone, to when I met Nathan’s lovely eyes, when he introduced himself and his voice felt like coming home.
Celestina stares at me, confusion quickly turning to endless glee. She cackles, her shoulders shaking as her hideous laugh becomes so loud I want to hurt her just to shut her up.
