Chapter 21

Senka

The silence was a living thing between us, thick and expectant as I watched Cross pull on his dark attire with methodical precision. His pale hair was messy, long strands falling out of his warrior"s braid that trailed down the center of his head.

"Are you going to keep staring?" Cross finally broke the silence without looking at me, his voice dry and gruff after screaming for who knew how many hours before I showed up.

I remained motionless, my arms locked over my chest, every muscle taut. "Maybe I will. I"m contemplating how you manage to make the simple act of getting dressed take so damn long."

He chuckled, a low sound that rolled through me, warming me from the inside out. I hated it. "If I'd known you were so impatient, I wouldn't have taken my time with you this time."

The corner of my mouth twitched involuntarily. "I have no idea what you"re referring to," I lied, feeling the heat rise to my cheeks despite my attempts to appear unfazed. "I came here to get some answers, Cross."

"Really?" He raised a brow, turning to face me fully now, the ghost of a smirk playing on his lips. "Because, from the way you"re eyeing the door, one might think you"re the proverbial frightened doe, poised to bolt at any moment."

"Please," I scoffed, letting some of my true annoyance seep in. "You don't scare me. You know that already."

"Is that so?" He stepped closer, his movements fluid and silent, much like the predator he was. "Then why is your heart still racing?"

My breath hitched, and for a fleeting second, I wondered if he knew just how much he really affected me. But I was too seasoned to let my guard down around Cross.

"Your arrogance amazes me sometimes," I said dryly. "The death orders, Cross. They"ve stopped coming. Explain."

His pale hair fell over his forehead as he paused mid-motion, the playful glint in his eyes smothering into a flicker of concern. For a moment, he was silent, the only sound in the room our breaths.

"What do you mean?" The question came out more clipped than he likely intended. He straightened, every line of him taut as a bowstring. "Senka, I"ve been sending them. Emore was to deliver them directly to you."

"Emore hasn"t shown his beak since the priest." My voice was steely calm, but inside, a tempest raged. A sudden wave of fear rolled through me. Fear and dread. I needed to get back to Valera immediately.

"Impossible," Cross hissed, running a palm over his head in annoyance. "I've sent him with three orders this week. You're telling me every mark is still breathing?"

"Obviously. What does this mean?"

"Trouble," he muttered, his long braid swaying as he shook his head. "We need to find out where he is. If he"s been captured... or worse."

"Or if he"s betrayed us," I added, the possibility slicing through me sharper than any blade.

"Not Emore." His voice was low, each word slow and deadly. "Never Emore."

I couldn't say I disagreed. Emore had been with us nearly as long as Wolfe. I trusted him as much as someone like us could trust anyone.

No, something didn't sit right in the pit of my stomach about this. Maybe Valera knew something. She and Emore were closer now, ever since we were sent to the palace. She had to know.

Cross"s pale eyes pierced through the dimness of the room. "Merikh has given me another order."

I held my breath, feeling my shadows respond to the death goddess's name. "And?" I prompted when he didn"t continue.

"Phelan, the emperor's advisor." His lips twisted into a mirthless smile as he delivered the verdict. "And Lady Saldan."

The names hung in the air between us, heavy with unspoken questions. I kept my face impassive; I never questioned the death goddess" will. But Saldan? My mind scrambled for any reason she would be marked for death.

Yet Phelan... A shiver of satisfaction coiled within me at the prospect of ending him—something about him had set off alarms in the darkest corners of my thoughts.

"They won"t see another dawn," I vowed with a sly smile, already feeling the tendrils of my shadows beginning to writhe. Once I received my death order, it was like some internal force pulled on me to carry it out, and my shadows couldn't rest until it was done.

Sometimes I wondered why Merikh chose who she chose. After a natural death, a soul returned in the form of a newborn babe, ready to start a brand new life in a fresh body. All the mistakes of their past were washed away, with a chance to live better and kinder than they had before. But when Merikh wanted a soul for herself, she needed someone like me to snatch them for her. But why? Why them, and why now?

Cross"s voice was a purr as he stepped closer, his body radiating heat. "I love when you get that look in your eyes," he said. "The darkness suits you, my shadow."

By now I knew my eyes were fully black, and veins of shadows snaked over my skin. Cross wouldn't dare touch me. Not right now when I was so volatile.

"Prince Bazaan killed Lady Isolde," I said, steeling myself to this conversation. It was the conversation I'd been dreading for days, and now that it was here, a part of me wished I'd brought Wolfe along as a buffer.

"Did he, now?" Cross"s interest was piqued, his stance shifting to one of predatory focus.

"Poison in her drink at the culling dinner. She was a spy for the new queen of Aetheria."

"And how did you come upon such information?"

"Because Bazaan knows what I am." The admission tasted bitter on my tongue. "He tricked me."

"Tricked you?" Cross echoed, the two words a stormcloud. His whole body went utterly still and rigid, his hands balling at his sides. I'd seen this quiet rage before. "Explain. How the fuck did he trick you?"

"His blessing is... perceptive." I chose my words carefully, treading the line between too much and just enough. "He can sense powerful blessings and identify them to an extent. He lured me away and forced me to reveal myself. He wants an alliance of convenience."

"Convenience," Cross repeated with a scoff. "I assume it comes with terms then? Blackmail, is it?"

"Emore never told you about Red Sam?" I aksed, a pit yawning open in my gut. "It's back, and it's spreading through Saltburn.

"I do have sources other than Emore, Senka," Cross bit out.

"Bazaan thinks I can help him understand what's happening. He thinks my shadows might be useful since it was a deathbringer who created it in the first place. I told him he's insane, but he only threatened to expose me if I refused."

Cross cursed, dragging his palm down his face in frustration, a calculated gleam entering his white eyes. "And you agreed to this... partnership?"

"Is there any other choice?"

"Survival," he shot back. "This is suicide. You cannot trust the royals, Senka, you of all people should know this. He's lying to you."

"Don't you think I thought of that already? Give me a little credit, Cross. I don't trust him, and. I don't plan on it either. But What I do know is that both Wolfe and Valera will be exposed with me if I refuse to help him. He made that perfectly clear. He will have your sister killed. I trust that at least." I stepped closer, urging him to hear me out. "Isn"t this what we do? We weave, we dodge, we play the fucking game."

"You think he"ll keep your secret? That he won"t use you as a pawn in whatever game he"s playing?"

"Cross—" I began, but he cut me off.

"No, you listen. I know men like Bazaan. They don"t give without expecting tenfold in return. He"ll hold your identity over you like a guillotine, waiting for the perfect moment to let it drop. It won't end in Saltburn."

"Then I"ll just have to make sure my blade finds its mark first," I said. "I"m not some helpless girl anymore. I am a deathbringer—an instrument of Merikh herself. If Baz thinks he can control me..."

"Control isn"t always about chains and shackles," he warned. "It"s about fear. It's about making you believe that you have no other choice."

"What if there is no alternative? What would we do then? Even if he"s not being completely honest with me, what I do know is that if Red Sam infects Andune, we are all doomed. If this is some sort of political ploy from Aetheria, we will let the prince handle it. But for now, our main focus is to stop Red Sam from spreading to our city."

The tension in the room pulsed like a living thing. His pale eyes bore into mine with the intensity of a man who refused to be denied. "I"m going to Saltburn with you," he stated flatly, inching closer with all the confidence in the world.

"Absolutely not," I shot back, my own voice spiked with irritation.

"It's my call to make. If I can"t come with you, you won"t go at all."

A dangerous smile curled my lips as I crossed my arms defiantly. "You"ve never owned me, Cross. And you never will. I'm free to walk away whenever I choose." It was a warning laced with venom, a reminder that the shadows I commanded were mine alone.

He stepped forward, bridging the gap between us, until we stood toe to toe, his height dominant as I peered up to meet his eyes. "And will you walk away now?" he murmured darkly. "Can you?"

The dangerous tension crackling between us was almost palpable—the allure of his closeness, the tantalizing dance of power and desire. It was a game we played well. Too well, perhaps. But this was no time for games.

"Fine," I spat out, conceding with a frustration that felt like ashes in my mouth. "But you"re not coming as Cross, Underlord of Andune. You"re coming as a bodyguard, nothing more. Can you manage that, or will your ego be too bruised?"

His lips twitched almost imperceptibly, but he nodded. "As you wish, Lady Senka."

"Good," I said, allowing myself a momentary victory. "We meet Prince Baz at the chimera nest on the seacliffs at sundown. Don"t be late." I turned away, but not before throwing a pointed look over my shoulder. "And Cross? Remember your place."

For a long beat, silence hung heavy as velvet curtains. Then his voice sliced through, cool and smooth as the edge of a blade. "And the shadows parted where she walked…"

I was turning towards the door but his cryptic words made me pause. "Why do you care so much about my safety?" I asked him, peering at him from over my shoulder as I reached for the handle.

His gaze locked onto mine, an impenetrable fortress, giving away nothing. He remained silent, leaving a trail of unanswered questions swirling inside of me like smoke.

"Cross," I pressed, a note of desperation slipping through.

But he offered no answers—only the weight of his stare, the gravity of some dangerous, unspoken promise.

I glared at the underlord, my eyes screaming at him to just say what he was thinking. To tell me why he was so concerned. Concerned enough to come face-to-face with the prince himself. To leave his domain behind and follow me into enemy territory.

I was under no delusion that any of this was out of some unrequited love or affection for me. More likely, he coveted my blessing too much to loosen the reigns.

"I"ll see you at the nest, my shadow."

His silence was a shackle, a claim, and maybe even a confession. One I had no interest in delving into tonight.

With a final, heavy and wordless look into Cross's eyes, I swept out of the room and disappeared into the halls of the catacombs.