THANE POV
I had seen death in mirrors.
In blood.
In the eyes of men who realized too late that begging did not work on me.
I had carried it in my hands since I was a boy too young to know what hands were supposed to be for. I had worn it under my skin. Fed it. Let it grow. Let it become useful, because useful monsters were allowed to stay alive longer than broken children.
Death knew me.
I knew death.
Then Persefone Savage stood barefoot in the corridor, wearing golden eyes, and I understood I had only ever been pretending.
The guard was ash.
One second, he had been there, silver gun raised at Aiden’s head.
The next, the air had cracked open and light had eaten him.
Light.
Violence stripped down to something holy.
His scream had ended before his body finished becoming smoke.
