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Arin pulled my right hand free. It trembled, dribbling blood onto the pool’s shiny tiles. This was all I deserved. I should hurt; pain was my birthright.
I pried the crown’s barbs from my flesh and abandoned Pain’s crown in the middle of the empty pool.
Standing, a wave of dizziness blurred the room.So much blood on my hands… Has it always been there?
Arin hurried off and collected his crown, then set it beside Pain’s—the pair so very different, one vicious and barbed, the other regal and beautiful. They were not meant to be together, just like us.
As Arin collected Justice’s crown and brought it closer, the background hum grew louder still, thumping against my ears and chest.
Razak stirred.
“Is it working?” Draven asked.
“Something is happening.” Arin hurried to collect the last crown: War’s. Its rubies gleamed bloodred and as he approached, the resonating waves of sound grew heavier still, pushing down and down, hammering into my skull.
Arin stumbled into the pool. “Gods, it’s almost unbearable.”
“Place them closer together, quickly!” I slumped against the pool’s edge and the audible assault stretched needle-thin, jabbing into my skull. This had to be it, the final piece, the end of it all.By Dallin, please let this be right, please end this nightmare.
Arin fell to a knee, almost dropping War’s crown. Teeth gritted, he shoved it across the pool’s floor, slotting it into the remaining corner. The moment all four crowns touched, the sound slammed in like a physical force. Tears streamed from my eyes, and the pounding tried to shatter my mind. Four crowns, touching. Their gems shone, filling the chamber with brittle, colorful light.
But as horrifying as the sound was, and as beautiful the display, nothing else appeared to happen. The crowns discharged their hideous scream and gleamed as though lit from within, but there was no display of power, no sign that we’d been successful in sealing off Razak’s ability to yank out souls.
Razak’s laughter rolled through the noise.
I lunged from the pool’s edge and yanked Love’s crown away. The screaming song collapsed back to its irritating but less debilitating state, and the three of us stumbled, panting.
“Your faces?” Razak chuckled. “So desperate, and so pathetic. Is that all you came here with, hopes and guesses? Did you think the power would unbind itself from me and return to those crowns? Is that what all this is about?”
Draven grabbed Razak by the neck and rattled him. “You piece of shit. Where’s my son?!” He punched Razak in the gut, doubling him over, then grasped his hair and flung him to the floor. “Where is he!” Draven slammed a kick into Razak’s side, curling Razak around his boot.
No, he’ll kill him!
I dashed from the pool, grabbed Draven, and pulled him away, but he twisted free. “Stop.” Draven lunged, I danced in front of him, shoved, and we wrestled, and Razak laughed as though this was the best night of his life. “He has the answers!” I shouted. “We need him.”
Draven roared and threw himself away, then paced the far side of the room. “My boy, where is he? Just tell me that. I’ve done everything you’ve asked of me, betrayed the people I love. Just tell me where he is. Let me save him, Razak. Damn you, where is he, please?”
Razak snorted. “Gasping his final breath, I expect.”
I backhanded Razak so hard he sprawled to the floor. Blood dribbled from between his lips, but his stunned silence didn’t last. He grinned. “I’ll take you to the boy, but we must hurry. He does not have long.”
Draven caught my eye. He didn’t trust Razak. None of us did. Any time he made demands, he was thinking of himself. If he wanted us to go somewhere, then it was likely a trap. But what choice did we have?
“I’ll tell you how to destroy the crowns,” he added. “Isn’t that what you want?”
Arin climbed from the pool. “Why should we believe you?”
“Because I want to live.” He licked blood from his lips. “I know I’ve lost. You’ll kill me, I see it, even with one fucking eye.” His one eye swiveled to me. “I cannot wield the power without direction. I’ve tried—it churns within me, furious and chaotic. It knows its trapped. Let me live, and I’ll help you.”
“Tell us how to fix this,” I said. “Tell me how to destroy the crowns and we’ll let you live.”
He snorted. “Says the man who lies with his every heartbeat. No, not you, brother. Arin, give me your word. I’ll take you to the boy, and I’ll tell you how to destroy the crowns, but you must give me your word, Prince of Love, that you’ll let me live.”
Arin peered down his nose at the ragged mess that was my brother. Beaten, bloody, bruised, missing an eye, stabbed in the back. All he had left was the power, now churning and trapped within him, if he was to be believed. Taking his eye had hobbled his ability to lash out, but all of this still felt like a ruse. He said he’d lost, but we’d be fools to believe him. He was a mess, but he wasn’t behaving like a man who’d lost.
“Quickly now, Draven’s son’s life hangs in the balance,” he said. “Delay a moment longer and his young life will be over. His death will be on your hands, Arin.”
“Fine, all right,” Arin snarled. “We’ll let you live. But tell us, how do we destroy the crowns and the power they unleashed?”
