“There will be plenty of time for that if you behave yourself.”
“I always behave myself,” she purred.
Silas took a pull on the cigar, studying her. “But you’ve got a lot of power pumping through your system, my dear.”
“That’s how I like it.” She pouted.
“We have to make sure you’re stable.”
“Why? That never stopped me before, and I’m pretty sure it never stopped you, either.” She leaned toward Silas. “We’re not stable. We’re Dark.”
Nox couldn’t stand to watch any more of this. He could see it now. Ridley had become another person entirely.
“Tell me what you did to her, Silas. Or I’ll make you suffer when I figure out how to get out of this cell. And I will find a way out.”
Silas turned toward Nox and flicked his ash into Nox’s cell. “Sorry, kid. You won’t get the chance. Today is the day you’re going to die.”
CHAPTER 19: RIDLEY
Eyes of a Stranger
None of it was real—not the snakes or the rats.
Ridley understood that now.
After they dragged the Rat Man away, she’d had plenty of time to think about it, and the realization had settled over her slowly. She realized the ceiling wasn’t actually rolling with storm clouds. Her arms weren’t crawling with snakes, and her cell wasn’t teeming with giant rats. The storm was inside her—something Ridley had always known. But it was comforting to finally have confirmation.
It also meant she was done cowering in the corner of her cell.
I just have to practice controlling this new power. No one else is going to help me.
Ridley couldn’t count on anyone except herself—something else she had always known.
It had been that way since the night her powers were Claimed for the Dark at sixteen.
Why should things be any different now?
Her memories were coming back, too. Silas threatening her. Those idiot doctors discussing her infusion. The Rat Man—Nox’s—face.
Nox.
The idea that he might have been there with her, and not just an illusion, seemed even stranger. How did he survive the fire at Sirene? Why would he risk his life to come here, after he’d escaped Silas?
For me … he came for me.
That thought—and the hope that came with it—was the anchor keeping her from drifting back to the crazy place. The place Silas left her after he pumped her veins full of a power that might have killed her.
How did Silas do it? Infusing one Caster with another’s powers wasn’t like mixing a martini. It must’ve required research, maybe years’ worth.
Who cares? You’re even stronger than you were before. A Siren with Illusionist powers—you’ll be unstoppable. You just have to figure out how to control the powers. Don’t let them control you.
It was easier said than done.
The illusions came and went without warning, and they always caught her off guard, with heat searing its way through her veins and her vision blurring until the flashes started.
The cell door opening on its own.
Snakes twisting around the bars.
Her senses were in some kind of supernatural overdrive, and it was still hard to differentiate reality from illusion.
When Ridley heard Silas’ Darkborns in the passageway, she pretended to be asleep. If they were really out there, maybe they’d leave her alone. If they were another illusion, she could practice ignoring it.
“Did you clear all the other girls out?” one of the Darkborns asked. “Silas doesn’t want anyone down here except for the two of them.”
“Yeah. Moved ’em all earlier,” the other guy said. “What do you think Silas is gonna do with him?”
“Kill him. What else?”
“Or experiment on him, which is probably worse.”
Ridley tensed as the rage burned inside her again.
I’m not your victim. But eventually, you’ll be mine. Right after Silas gets what he deserves.
“Then kill me already,” someone groaned.
Rid recognized his voice.
Nox.
He had survived whatever Silas had done to him. He was really here.
The images came back to her slowly. Nox standing outside her cell, talking to her. The sound of her own screams. Silas grabbing Nox and dragging him away.
She’d begun to think he was just another illusion for sure. Something she conjured to feel better. Something to give her hope.
Was that it?
The Darkborns had dragged his beaten body down the dim passage to the cell next to hers and slammed the door. Nox lay on the floor, blood smeared across his cheek, as if Silas wanted to be sure she saw him.
Heat burned through Ridley’s body at the sight of him—the feel of him. She could sense his power. It tugged at her like a magnet, the cold heat returning to her.
We’re the same.
Dark. Irresistible. Strong.
Power meeting power.
Electricity.
Ridley walked to the door of her own cell, her fingers curling around the bars between her and Nox. She could hear his heartbeat from across his cell—thudding softly. Calling out to her.
We’re the same.
Nox moaned and rolled over, his eyelids fluttering.
Open your eyes. Look at me.
He blinked as if he wasn’t sure she was standing there staring at him.
“Rid?”
The sound of his voice made her blood burn. Something about it.
Something about him.
There was so much power inside her now, and it seemed drawn to only one thing.