Page 234 of The Ascended
I yanked against the ropes, ignoring the searing pain as I leaned forward.
"I'll tell you what happened," I hissed. "I trusted him. I trusted him, and then I found a letter in his study." My voice caught, raw with fury and betrayal. "About killing my brother."
Marx went still. Aelix's eyes fluttered closed.
And Xül—Xül didn't even flinch. That perfect, terrifying calm settled over him, and I wanted to scream until my throat bled.
"What?" Marx's voice came out strangled.
"Wanting to do something and being told something must be done are two very different things." Aelix's words were too careful, too measured.
"Oh, that's rich. That's fucking poetry, Aelix." I leaned forward as much as the bonds would allow, feeling them burn deeper into my skin. "Tell me—would you fuck the sister of the man you’re helping to murder?"
The silence that followed was deafening.
Aelix's mouth fell open. Marx gasped, the sound echoing off stone walls. And finally—finally—Xül moved. Just a fraction. Just enough for me to see the muscle jump in his jaw, to watch his knuckles go white where his arms crossed his chest.
"You didn't." Aelix and Marx spoke in perfect unison, her horrified eyes on me, his on Xül.
"Okay, hold up." Marx raised her hands. "This is a lot of information at once."
"You couldn't wait until she ascended?" Aelix asked Xül, and I saw red.
"Of course not." My voice broke on the words, fury and grief tangling in my throat. "Much harder to sleep with a woman in mourning, isn't it? Better to fuck her before she loses her last living family member?"
Xül pushed off the wall in one fluid motion. When he crossed the distance between us, I forced myself not to flinch.When he leaned down, his voice soft as silk and twice as dangerous, I made myself meet those treacherous eyes.
"I guess you know me, then. Through and through."
The words sliced deep. My eyes burned with tears I refused to shed. Not here. Not for him. He knew what I'd been through. Knew what had happened to Sulien. What had happened to my mother.
"I thought I did," I whispered, hating how my voice cracked.
I could have sworn he winced at that, but it was gone so quickly I couldn't be sure. Then he turned, giving us all his back.
Another sigh from Aelix. He studied me, and I wanted to spit at his feet. "There's a lot you don't understand, Thais. Context you're missing."
I shifted in the chair, using the burn of the ropes to stifle my rage. "I need answers. Real ones. And you're going to give them to me."
Aelix's eyebrows rose slightly.
"How long?" I demanded. "How long has thisplanbeen set in motion?"
Silence.
"Answer me!" The chair creaked as I strained against the bonds.
"Weeks," Aelix admitted finally.
"Who ordered it?"
Aelix glanced at Xül, who remained facing the wall.
"It's complicated."
"Then uncomplicate it." I wasn't playing their games anymore. "No more riddles. No more half-truths. I want to know exactly why my brother is on this hit list, and I want to know now."
Aelix hesitated, then began slowly, "Contestants form bonds with their mentors. More often than not, those bonds become alliances. This is why we're directed to choose contestants with powers similar to our own—makes the eventual domain selection simpler."
