Joshua catches my hand. “You don’t need to worry about that. I won’t let my heart get in the way. I can control it. I will control it.” He’s clutching my hand so tightly it stings almost as much as his words.
“And here is the twist in our tale. Do you mind? This is my favorite part.” Jasyn steps between us, coming so close I can almost feel the wickedness emanating from his soul. “As you can see, the Verity’s vessel is limited, love his greatest weakness. My theory is he does truly love you, but only time will tell.” My grandfather tsks. “The Void can be imprisoned, oh yes. I have been its prison for quite some time, in fact.”
Of course he has. I stare out one of the arched windows to the forever night beyond. Why didn’t I see it? The Void’s prison isn’t a place. It’s a person.
“I felt it when Aidan died. Sensed his passing in the deepest part of my charred soul. The Verity’s vessel alone is able to imprison the Void. And with each new vessel, a new prison must be created—the one the vessel cares for more than any other.”
I don’t respond. I have no words.
“For the person closest to the Verity’s vessel is also kind and good, another pure soul nearly equal to the vessel himself.” Jasyn circles me now, my head spinning with each one of his egotistical steps. “It is meant as a fail-safe, you see. Such a soul is strong enough to fight against the Void within. With the help of the vessel who captured it, the Void can be controlled for quite some time. It is the sacrifice the Verity’s vessel must make in order to maintain the delicate balance between good and evil.”
And there’s the hook. The true reason Joshua hopes his love for me is merely an illusion created by our childhood bond. The thing Mom’s been keeping from me. The tidbit she worried Jasyn had figured out.
I am the one who will be the people’s savior.
The Void’s new prison is me.
“The Verity and the Void must always have living vessels,” Jasyn says. “It is the only way the Verity can subdue the Void, contain it.” Jasyn descends the dais, hands clasped behind him. He steps on Makai’s hand at the bottom. My uncle doesn’t move or react, too injured to get up and fight, but not so much he’d give Jasyn the pleasure of seeing his pain.
Thank the Verity Mom’s not here. If she saw him like this it would kill her. It’s killing me.
Jasyn rounds on Ky. Pauses behind him. Rests a hand on his neck. Ky is taller but their ranking is clear. Jasyn is in charge here.
Terror chills my face and ears. Discos before my eyes. This is why I can’t leave. The reason it’s not as simple as snatching the dropped blade and cakewalking it out of here. Because I’d have to choose who to take with me. My uncle. Joshua. Ky.
“But the Void isn’t contained.” I move toward them. “The Soulless. The Threshold. Shadow Territory. If you are the Void’s prison, how do those things exist?”
Jasyn’s fingers squeeze Ky’s neck ever so slightly. I can almost feel the pressure against my own skin. My grandfather slips his hand into his blazer pocket, brandishes a syringe.
“They injected me with something, sent it directly into my bloodstream.”
My own blood curdles at the memory of Ky’s words.
“That is because . . .” The silver needle glints as Jasyn showcases it by Ky’s left ear. “. . . I am accountable to no one. Aidan imprisoned the Void inside my soul. I was the one closest to him long before he met Ember. I felt it when he died, when I no longer had the Void’s captor to control my actions. No Verity’s vessel to help quell the darkness within.” Jasyn removes his jacket. Loosens his tie and slips it over his head. Next comes his shirt, button by button. He folds the trio in half, laying one over the other. “I began to forget why I had allowed myself to become Aidan’s servant in the first place. The more my humanity slipped away, the more I hungered for what Aidan never allowed me to have—power.”
As if knowing what’s expected of her, my half sister parades down the stairs and gathers Jasyn’s unwanted layers.
I cross my arms. Assistant indeed. Does Meryl Streep know about her? Ebony brings new meaning to the phrase The Devil Wears Prada.
“It was quite the burden, really,” Jasyn continues. “Battling the Void as it insisted on taking over my soul. So I discovered a way to expel it. To remain in control of myself while building an army. The Threshold was one thing, but not as quick as I would have preferred. Veins travel to the heart. With a mere injection I had a ready-made Soulless. Someone I could command and manipulate with a mere thought.” He inserts the needle into his arm. Draws the plunger out slowly. Purposefully.
Unbidden nausea rises.
Blood does not fill the syringe’s barrel. Instead a murky, smoke-like substance occupies the empty space. “I lay in wait, expecting the new vessel of the Verity to challenge me. But alas, he never came.” A cutting glare toward Joshua.
I compel myself to keep my gaze trained on Ky. He does the same with me. His puckered brow and wild eyes issue a warning. Stop. Don’t come any closer.
“And so.” Jasyn levels the syringe with Ky’s shoulder, needle pointed directly at his taut neck. “I win. If my theory is indeed correct, and Aidan’s pathetic son loves you even after your bond breaks, I have no reason to fear. He will not kill me and release the Void, allowing it to latch onto your soul. It is the reason he waits for your birthday. If he captured the Void now, it would enter you but remain dormant until the protection on your soul lifts next week.” His syringe hand remains rock steady. Ky remains frozen. “Waiting, at the very least, offers the miniscule chance you will not be the one the Void enters.”
Wait. Pause. Back up. I pivot toward Joshua. “If you don’t love me after my birthday, who will the Void inhabit when you imprison it?”
His gaze flits to my uncle. Back to me. “Makai has already agreed. He’s prepared to take on the Void for the good of the people. He’s strong enough to fight it.”
“And I’m not?” It’s not as if I want to become the Void’s prison, but does Joshua really believe I couldn’t handle it?
He averts his eyes.
I whirl on Jasyn. Descend one step. Two. “So what now?” The words are rushed. Difficult to hide my panic when the needle is so near to Ky.
“I am nothing if not fair,” Jasyn says. “I will give the Ever an opportunity to fulfill his responsibility. I suggest a celebration. You will be eighteen in a week’s time. I wish to hold a ball in your honor. The entire Reflection will be obligated to attend. I am sure your rebel friends will not resist the invitation. They merely require a little extra convincing.”
Haman fingers his gun. Blows on his snapping fingers as if they’re made of precious metal.
Convincing? Attend or die is more like it. “Is this some sort of sick game to you?”
“I only desire an audience when I reveal the Verity’s vessel. For every soul to witness his cowardice when he is unable to sacrifice you, an insignificant girl, for them.”
There it is. The real reason for his party. Does he have to make such a show of everything?
“It will be quite the memorable evening. An exhibit of true power. Here I am, a mere Amulet, yet the rare and nearly indestructible Verity’s vessel, an Ever no less, will not be able to touch me.”
“You’re wrong,” I say through clenched teeth. “Whatever happens on my birthday, Joshua will capture the Void. If that means I become its prison, so be it.” For Ky. And Mom and Makai. I glance at the Second Reflection tapestry once more.