Page 212 of Seasons of War
He shuddered, fighting to keep himself from throwing the Phaedra across the room. “Please, let me have Kira. I'm begging you. I'll give you everything.”
The Phaedra lifted Zayne's head back up, gazing into his eyes. “I own you. Say it.”
“You own me.”
A tisk. “Say it like you fucking mean it, boy.”
His chest ached. Everything ached. Pain didn't matter anymore. He said each word slowly and clearly so the emperor could savor his power. “You own me, Phaedra.”
“I own your bitch too.”
The Phaedra shoved his head away.
“Break your end of the deal, and there's no holding me to mine,” the Phaedra said. “If you don't give her heart and soul to me, then it's her blood I'll take. Her spirit. More than you know, a person has to give.”
If Zayne could stay silent while the northerners tortured his friends to death, then he could keep his mouth shut now. Had to keep his damn mouth shut. Zayne told it to himself over and over as hot blood drummed harder in his ears, deafening him to all reason.
“Zayne.” The Phaedra's face softened with such compassion. All lies. “I'm asking too much of you right now. I know.” His eyes ran along the body of the snakes creeping from his collar, burning beneath his shirt. “You can do this. You've already proven that.”
“Yes, Phaedra.” The dreadfully familiar face of his emperor blurred. If Zayne stayed present and looked at him, really looked at him, neither of them would leave this room alive, and that meant Kira dying alone in that prison cell without him.
“I'll never forget all you have sacrificed.”
That last word rang through Zayne's mind and forced the Phaedra's image to sharpen until his piercing stare tore into the emperor's.
Sacrifice.
His Father didn't just sacrifice himself, but millions of people he vowed to serve.
Zayne promised to never become his father, and seeing the horrible things he did as High General convinced him they were different. But the Phaedra had trapped them both. Trapped them so easily.
He'd been right before. Kira and Zayne were traps for each other, but in a far worse way than he imagined.
The Phaedra forced Zayne and Kira together to blackmail him for life. How did he know Zayne would fall for it? Was he that easy to see through?
Stupid question. He threw his life away for a girl he didn't know as a child. The Phaedra knew if Zayne spent weeks on end getting close to someone like Kira, then he'd do anything to save her. Anything, including becoming his father, and protecting Phaedra's legacy.
The emperor wanted to make Zayne lock Kira in a prison of his own making and strangle the rebellion from her. Just like his father did to Mom.
And Mom let it happen to save him. She sacrificed everything for him.
His body threatened to collapse. How could she be dead?
Kira couldn't be next. Not the next one to die or lose her freedom for good. But look at everything Zayne already did to her. He walked the same path as his father. The same exact one because the Phaedra manufactured it.
Fear wormed deep within Zayne.
The cycle ended here. Generations of Rivens bowing to the Phaedra ended here. Believing that, unlike every person before him, he'd find the strength to out-maneuver the emperor… That ended here.
Kira's heart and soul wasn't his to give. And Zayne promised Mom to never turn into his father.
The Phaedra never doubted his ability to control people. It might have been one of his only weaknesses. So Zayne needed to make him believe this bargain was real, and he walked in his father's footsteps. Because he would have before Kira changed everything. He would have before she refused to let him cage her in his need to protect her.
Soon, he'd ensure the Phaedra owned none of her—not her heart, or her soul, or her blood, or anything of her body and life. For now, the emperor held all those in his cruel fist, and so Zayne nodded before lowering his head in sublimation.
“I give my word, my Phaedra. I'll make Kira yours.”
“Then stop with your honor and dignity.” The Phaedra slinked closer, so Zayne felt his hot breath again. “Kira is broken. Now is your chance to fuse with her. Give her as much of yourself as she wants. Rip her heart open and bury me in her depths.” His voice hardened. “This empire is mine. She will obey me.”
