This was the tricky part.
I pulled the wickedly sharp knife out from under my pillow and pressed it to my throat. “No,” I said calmly. “I won’t be doing any of that.”
The cloaked woman snapped, “You wouldn’t dare.”
She was just as powerful as Dick, perhaps more so.
I pushed the knife against the thin skin on my neck and winced as it stung, warmth pouring down my chest.
My heart beat erratically, and I tried not to think about what I was doing.
I tried not to hyperventilate.
“Are you sure about that?” I asked, my voice high-pitched with the strain of holding back screams. “You’ve already taken my life from me. I have nothing left to live for.”
“Do it, then, little girl,” Dick spat vehemently as his average disguise disappeared and a handsome, cruel man stared down at me. “Do it,” he taunted.
“Stop it.” The cloaked woman grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the bed. “What is wrong with you? You know this can’t get out. Everything we’ve worked so hard to build would be ruined. Our names would no longer be synonymous with greatness, and we’d be slandered. The realms would have nothing to believe in and the peace would fall apart.”
Dick glared over her shoulder at me with pure disdain.
I pressed the knife deeper and nearly passed out as the pain became unimaginable. It took everything I had not to scream in agony.
“Fine!” Dick raged, and I nearly sobbed with relief. “You better keep yourself alive, and we will be sending a representative to assist you in ruling the fae realm.”
He activated an RJE device.
The woman’s otherworldly blue eyes glowed as she lifted her cloaked head and stared at me. “Careful with the games you play, Jinx of Lazarus. We are very upset with you, and everyone knows—you don’t want to upset the gods.”
The truth of what she and Dick were hung in the air between us.
Crack.
They disappeared.
I dropped the knife and screamed for help as I clutched at my bleeding neck. Warren climbed out from under my pillow, and he transformed. He knelt over me, swearing as he bunched up the sheets and pressed them to my neck.
Fae guards burst into the room and summoned a healer.
An hour later, after I’d promised a reluctant Warren that I’d explain everything in the morning, I lay on fresh sheets with bandages wrapped around my neck and a sleeping ferret lying on my head protectively.
My teeth chattered from the force of my tremors.
There was a recording from the beast realm, which I did have in my possession, but such an algorithm was beyond my current capabilities.
It would take years to figure it out.
I rolled out of bed, holding on to furniture and placing Warren on my pillow as I hopped awkwardly over to the gilded desk and collapsed into the chair. I pulled out a golden ink pen and began furiously continuing my equations.
If I was ever going to follow through on my threat, I needed to start working.
Now.
As I wrote numbers and letters through the night, I only paused once to marvel that I’d really done the impossible—I’d successfully blackmailed the sun god and moon goddess of the realms.
I didn’t know if they were actually omnipotent figures ruling over the masses, or if they were frauds masquerading as something greater than themselves. At the end of the day, it didn’t really matter.
I was no longer at their mercy.
My teeth chattered from excessive adrenaline.
I got back to work.
When the first morning rays shone through my window, I picked up my enchanted phone and called Jax.
“How’s my genius sister doing?” he asked warmly, answering on the first ring.
Moisture built behind my eyes, and I whispered, “I love you so much.”
He chuckled, and as we spent the morning talking, the scared little girl who’d cowered for so long before terrifying gods finally healed.
Chapter 71
Journal Prompt #3
TRUTH JOURNAL TO HELP FACILITATE RELATIONS AMONG THE CRIMINALLY INSANE
Do you feel like your sexual needs are being met in your relationship? Why or why not?
Aran Alis Egan Malum
I can’t believe we open these up for fun and this is the prompt. Isn’t this supposed to be about prisoners making friends?
Orion Malum
I love this question.
Yes, I especially enjoyed fucking Arabella in the lake yesterday while Corvus took me from behind.
Aran Alis Egan Malum
To answer, yes, I’m very sexually satisfied. However, I’m still worried we got diseases from the lake.