Chapter 68

Chapter

Sixty-Eight

ALYX

M y breathing is loud, controlled but loud, as I dash after the robed attacker, gaining on them with every winding street. We suddenly break out onto the front of the docks, the crashing of ocean waves reaching us as they race across the concrete edge. The ships to our left set off more fireworks, throwing embers down around us as I race after them. The whole place is abandoned and empty, waiting for the celebration to reach it.

Pulling a dagger as I run, I hurl it with all my strength. They must sense it because they weave at the last moment, and it catches their side, making them stumble. I leap, and we tumble across the concrete, my head dangling off the edge of the dock as they pin me, but I kick out, and they fly back.

I flip to my feet and pull another dagger, moving away as we circle each other, neither of us flinching as fireworks explode above us.

“Well, I’m waiting.” I smirk, and they rush me. I duck under their arms and kick out their legs, but they manage to get back up and spin. They fist my dress and yank it, and it almost rips, exposing my shoulder as I snarl.

“You asshole!” I spit.

They glance at the now exposed mole on my shoulder, one I’ve had since I was a child, and they freeze. I use the opportunity to spin out of his grasp and kick out, sending them flying backwards a few steps.

Panting, I brandish a dagger as I stare at them, waiting for their next move, but I don’t expect them to just stare. They reach up, and I prepare to react, but they press their fingers to their eyes, pulling something free, and I blink. Suddenly, bright green orbs stare back at me from under that cloak as he yanks down his mask to reveal pouty pink lips and sharp cheekbones dusted with freckles.

“What are you doing?” I hiss in confusion. Why isn’t he trying to kill me?

Why is he unveiling his face? That’s something no assassin would do willingly.

Reaching up slowly, he pushes his hood back, and bright red hair springs out in every direction as he combs his hand through it, a cheeky grin tugging up his lips as I stumble back in horror, gaping at his pale face, green eyes, and red hair.

The same as mine.

“Hello, sister. It’s been a long time. It is you, isn’t it? I knew the king had a red-haired protector, but I never imagined it was you. You always hated that mole. I told you it was a sign of strength. It’s you . . . You’re my little sister. My Alyx.”

I stare at the face that is both familiar and not. He’s older, with burns down the left side of his face and neck.

It’s him though.

If he had grown up, if he had gotten older, then this is exactly what my brother would have looked like—a mix of my mother and father.

“How?” I whisper, my heart lurching as I stand frozen to the spot, scarcely able to believe it nor comprehend how this is possible. “I saw you die.”

“No,” he snaps before he blows out a breath. “You saw the fire starting to consume me after I ordered you to run. I managed to free myself and climb out of the back window. I did not die in that fire like our parents.” He takes a step towards me. “I thought you were dead as well. I searched for you, but I couldn’t find you anywhere. I thought they found you and killed you like our parents and staff.”

Shaking my head, I stumble back a step, swallowing around a lump in my throat as we stare at each other.

“Alyx . . .” He steps closer again, and I remember why we are here.

The king, the attack . . .

Is he behind it all?

Is my brother the one Constance mentioned? A ghost, forgotten and left to wander through these lands and cause havoc? Was he pulling her strings all along? Was he the brain?

But why?

“Why? Why did you do this?” I croak, confused and hurting. I thought my entire family was dead. I have grieved them for years. Every day, I grieved my brother, my best friend, and here he stands, alive and well. “Our family is loyal to the king?—”

“Was loyal! Look what it got them!” he shouts over the crashing waves as another firework explodes overhead. He takes another step towards me, his hands spread carefully. “Don’t you see? I did this for us, for our family.”

Tears burn my eyes as I stare at the desperation in his gaze. They slide down my cheeks as my lip quivers, and he softens his voice.

“Being loyal got our parents killed. They took everything from me. Yes, I did this. I was giving the orders, manipulating everything, and playing the game they started, not me. I just joined in, knowing it was the only way. Don’t you see, sis? I did this for us, for our family, to get revenge.”

Shaking my head, I waver as I stare at him.

“It’s almost over, Alyx,” he begs. “I did what I had to for us, for our family.”

“No.” I stumble back in horror, and he rushes closer. I hold up my hands to ward him off. “You’re not him. My brother died that night. He never would have done anything like this. He was kind and soft?—”

“And weak,” he interjects, arching his eyebrow. “Like you back then, but look at you. I guess we have both adapted to survive.”

I lift the dagger and point it at him, nearly touching his chest even as my heart breaks. “You killed so many people. Tell me it wasn’t you. Tell me it was all her. Tell me!” I scream, the horror of everything he’s telling me building up.

Please, please don’t let me have loved a lie all this time.

“Her?” he scoffs. “She was a means to an end and useful to a certain extent. We understood each other.”

“Because you both wanted the same thing,” I whisper in horror. “Power, rank, money. This isn’t about revenge. It never was.” I see the truth in his eyes he tries to hide.

I was right. My brother died in that fire. This isn’t him.

I still cannot bring myself to bury the dagger in his heart. He wears my brother’s face. For so many years, I dreamed of a moment such as this, wishing I had him back with me. Somehow, this is worse.

“Alyx, it’s me,” he pleads. “I read you stories every night when you were scared of the dark, remember? I wiped your tears and patched up your knees when the other kids bullied you. I protected you. It’s me. It’s still me, your big brother.”

Swallowing hard, I lower my dagger.

I can’t do it.

He smiles softly and steps closer, his arms spread like he’s going to embrace me. “That’s it. It’s me, it’s me.” I nod, unsure what to do, and his hand abruptly moves. He grips the sharp edge of the dagger, cutting his palm as blood spills down the blade.

I blink, frowning at it and then him. “Atlas?” I whisper, not understanding.

His eyebrow arches, his lips pursing for a moment.

“I am sorry, Alyx, truly, but I cannot let you stop me, and there can only be one of us,” he explains, sounding like it should make me feel better, and suddenly, he yanks the dagger from my grip, spins it, and slams it into my chest, plunging it in deep as my eyes widen in shock and agony.

I stumble back, and he watches me. Horror fills me as I stare at him.

“For what it’s worth, I am sorry, Alyx,” he says as agony rips through me. My legs become weak, almost failing me. “It will all be worth it in the end. When I sit on that throne, it will be because of our family’s sacrifice. I’ll make sure they remember them and you.”

It was all a lie.

I fell for it.

I let down my guard, and now I’ll pay the ultimate price for my weakness.

I stumble back another step, my body turning cold and weak as the backs of my feet touch the edge of the dock. I glance back to see the crashing waves before I turn my head to see him once more. He’s tracking me with his head tilted as he watches. I feel my organs shutting down, my body giving up to the blood loss as it puddles below me.

So much blood.

The knife is still in my chest, and my lungs are not getting enough air. My head is turning fuzzy, and my ears ring as more fireworks explode overhead. I jerk in shock.

“Goodbye, Alyx,” he says, waving with his fingers.

My body gives in, and I stumble from the dock.

My arms spread as I plummet, tumbling and crashing into the turbulent waves below before they swallow me. They close above me, my blood turning the water red as I sink, my gaze on the figure standing at the surface, watching me.

My eyes close as the darkness claims me.

My last thought is of them, of Joha, Orion, and Crux.

I love you.

I hope I haunt them. I hope they know I love them with everything in me.

I hope they know this is not their fault.