Chapter 7

The crazed look in my eyes caught Cassian off guard.

He ran his tongue over his cheek, something dark crossing his face, and grabbed my wrist.

"Have I gone too easy on you lately? Hm?"

Then his phone rang. He picked up, and his face changed in an instant. "Aria, I'm coming. Don't be scared."

"Aria's hurting. I'm going to her. That new place of yours—I had it torn down. Stay put."

And he walked out without looking back.

I sat there, frozen, for a long time.

Then I lifted my hand and dialed that number, my voice shaking.

"Before you come for me—help me put on a show first."

I hung up, and a taunting message came through.

Aria was curled against Cassian, drawing circles on his chest.

[Wren, look—even bitten up by a snake, one word from me and Cassian leaves you flat to come running to me. He doesn't love you. You almost died for him, and he still only wants me. Pathetic.]

I gripped the phone, tears hitting the screen, my vision blurring.

There were warriors posted outside the ward. Nowhere to go. I had to stay in the bed.

The second I closed my eyes, the nightmares came.

Ninety-nine brutal Trials. Cassian's cold, final stare. My grandmother, hopeless in her bed. The pup that vanished before I ever got to meet it.

Another day passed, and Cassian brought Aria to see me.

"Wren, are you okay?" Aria said, all wounded. "Cassian really does care about you. Even now, he still wants to give you one more fair shot against me."

"If you won't play, it means you don't really love him. You don't want him at all."

This time I turned and looked dead at the two of them.

"Fine. I'll play."

His eyes lit up for a second.

Aria froze, like she hadn't expected me to fold so fast. Something venomous flickered, but her voice stayed soft.

"Of course I want a fair fight too. But this time, I'm setting the rules."

Cassian stroked her hair, indulgent. "Of course. You won last time."

Where he couldn't see, the corner of her mouth twisted up, cruel.

"Last time you lost the gun game. That must've stung."

"So let's bet on the gun again. What do you say?"

My eyes were strangely calm. I nodded. "Fine."

"Then it's settled." Aria smiled, scheming. "Cassian, let's go get ready. Let her rest."

The next night.

They brought us both to the top of a cliff.

A table had been set up there, two chairs. A black revolver lay in the middle, the barrel cold in the moonlight.

The warriors walked me and Aria to opposite sides of the table.

Then Cassian's car rolled up beside us.

He stepped out and lowered himself into a lavish throne of a chair. A warrior beside him held a bottle of champagne.

"When the game's done," he said softly, his gaze drifting between us, "I'll announce it on the spot—and the winner gets the name of Luna."

"Now. Begin."

Aria played humble. "You roll first, sis. Fair's fair. Odd number, you shoot first."

I rolled without hesitating. Odd. I'd go first.

I heard Cassian's breath catch, his fist cracking.

His nerves gave it away. The bullet had to be in an even chamber.

Aria's face went pale too. "No, no—best two out of three!"

I gave a cold little laugh and didn't argue.

Somehow Aria rolled odd twice, and now she went first.

"I'm first. So I'll start."

Cassian didn't stop it. He just said, flat, "Get on with it."

Aria gave him a coy smile, gripped the gun backward, pressed it to her own chest, and pulled.

Click. A faint tap of metal. Empty.

Then the gun came to me.

I weighed it in my hand for a second and laughed under my breath.

This wasn't the fake from last time. The weight was real.

So was the bullet.