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“I’m teaching Amane a lesson. Unfortunately, you’re involved,” Ta’Zan replied dryly. Thanis didn’t get to do or say anything else, as Ta’Zan’s hand shot outward and slashed open his throat.

“No!” I screamed, then collapsed with Amal’s arms around me. “No! Thanis!”

Blood gushed out, and Thanis froze, then gurgled and choked as the life drained out of him. He slumped on the floor and gave his last breath, settling in a pool of his own blood. Tears stung my eyes, making it impossible for me to focus. The heartache was too much to bear, as was the guilt.

Thanis had been my closest friend and confidant. He’d backed me up in my endeavor to leave. He’d even encouraged it, promising to help however he could if I needed it. And my rebellion had brought him to his end. His death was on me.

I bawled like a little girl, while my sister held me tight, without saying a word. Ta’Zan wiped the blood from his blade, and the Perfect dragged Thanis’s body away, leaving a crimson trail behind. Someone else was going to clean that up, at some point. Ta’Zan’s horrific gesture had gutted me, but it hadn’t taught me the lesson he’d hoped. All it did was fan the flames, making me even more determined to take him down and destroy him.

“This is the price you pay for working against me,” Ta’Zan hissed, pointing a finger at me. I’d definitely crossed him, and it was finally starting to show. “Thanis’s blood is on your hands, Amane. The next time you betray me, I won’t be so merciful. I will chop off your arms, then your legs, until there’s nothing left of you, except an empty husk. And even then, I will not grant you the luxury of death. No, that is reserved for everyone you hold dear.”

Amal cleared her throat. “Father, I think she’s learned her lesson.”

“Good,” Ta’Zan snapped. “And you’ll make sure it stays that way. Otherwise, it’ll be your neck on the line!”

That wasn’t a threat. It was a promise. Ta’Zan showed affection, but he never really meant it. As long as we were valuable to him, he let us live. The moment we became a nuisance, however, he turned on us, and Amal was no exception. The only reason she was still alive was because of her act, her supposed obedience and loyalty.

On the inside, I grinned, because I knew I would stop at nothing in order to break him. On the outside, however, I cried my heart out, because my fight had taken Thanis down as collateral damage. He hadn’t deserved any of this.

I couldn’t do anything now, though I would’ve given anything to just reach out and slit Ta’zan’s throat wide open, like he’d done with Thanis. All I could do was focus on what came next, and make sure no one else suffered such a dreadful fate.

“Will you really obey my every command, Amane? Have you truly learned your lesson?” Ta’Zan asked, his tone calm and flat.

I nodded. “Yes. I will never turn against you. I promise. Just… stop killing the people I love.”

“Love is a fallacy, Amane. Get that out of your head and focus on your work. That’s your purpose in life. Nothing more, nothing less,” Ta’Zan replied.

I nodded again, though this time I was simply responding to my inner thoughts—the promise that I would watch his empire burn, that I would turn everything to ashes, and that I would do everything in my power to kill him.

Herakles

Rose and Ben had left clear instructions for us, and a specific amount of time in which to follow them. The timing was most important, since our moves had to coincide with the arrival of the four Perfects they’d previously captured from Strava’s orbit.

Araquiel and I geared up and headed for the winter-summer cluster, while the rest of my crew, along with Rakkhan and the Draenir, as well as Kallisto, stayed back in the cave. Rose and Ben had two extra earpieces, which they taught us how to use. I held on to one and gave the other to Kallisto. She hated being left behind like this, but she did feel better knowing she was useful to the communications part of our mission. After all, with Ben and Rose’s team inside the colosseum, we had to effectively rely on each other in order to succeed.

“Do we know where they’re landing, specifically?” Araquiel asked.

We were halfway through the journey already, moving from one island to another as we kept our distance from the populated archipelagos. I didn’t like Araquiel holding me as he flew us across the turquoise ocean, but his pristine white wings were our fastest way to dash toward Merinos. We were careful in our travel, though, so other Perfects wouldn’t notice him.

The last thing we wanted was someone catching on that he was still alive. Araquiel was, for the time being, our secret and most valuable weapon. The runners-up were Nathaniel, Uriel, Angelica, and Deena, who were thought to have been lost in space during the fleet attack.

“Rose said that they were told to land as close to Merinos as possible. The shuttle fuel reserves and their abilities combined should help them steer the interplanetary spell accordingly,” I replied.

Araquiel and I didn’t have that much to talk about, besides the mission. Prior to his memory wipe, he’d been the ultimate bastard and Ta’Zan’s right hand. I was still wrapping my head around this new version of him—able to think and rationalize on his own, without any form of indoctrination. He was generally quiet and remarkably obedient, but maintained a sense of righteousness and kindness I’d never seen in him before.

“It’ll be a few more hours before we get there, if we keep it up like this,” Araquiel said. “I would’ve gotten us there in minutes, otherwise.”

I chuckled, occasionally glancing over my shoulder. “That’s fine. I enjoy the quality time we spend together, as brothers from the same lab.”

He looked at me, his eyebrows raised with surprise as we continued our trek through a small, dark jungle. “Really?”

“No. I’m joking. You’ve yet to grasp the notion of humor, huh?”

“I’m not sure what I did to offend you, then. Perhaps, if you tell me, I can make amends,” he replied.

I shook my head slowly. “This isn’t about you, per se. It’s about the old you. I would’ve killed you then, if I could’ve, and if I’d had the chance.”

“I was bad, wasn’t I?”

He sounded sad as he asked me that, and I couldn’t help but feel bad for him.

“Ugh. Let’s just say you were thoroughly misguided and too stubborn to accept other viewpoints. On top of that, you and your Perfect siblings were always suffering from this obnoxious superiority complex that made us all hate you even more,” I explained.

“Yeah. Douma and Raphael told me about that. I know what I did, and I do regret it. Had I known then what I know now, I wouldn’t have hurt anyone,” he replied. He sounded genuine. Frankly, I had no reason to believe otherwise. Araquiel was fundamentally changed. All I had to do was adjust and finally accept it, which was hard, given the headaches he’d given me and my people before. It wasn’t impossible, though. It wasn’t in my nature to hold a grudge forever, especially since the old Araquiel was already gone. “The only thing I can do now is make sure my brethren don’t hurt anyone else, going forward. In order to do that, I must help Rose and Ben in their quest to destroy Ta’Zan.”

“And you’re okay with that? He’s your creator, after all.”

“He’s yours, too, and you don’t seem to have a problem with it,” Araquiel answered with a half-smile.

I laughed hard. He sure was observant.

“I have to admit. I like this version of you better than the old one,” I said.

We reached the western beach of a small, tear-shaped island. Looking around, it seemed quiet. Sand-colored deer watched us from the woods we’d just left behind. Turquoise felines prowled in the nearby bushes but didn’t have the courage to pounce—they knew who they were dealing with. Birds chirped in the trees, and the ocean lapped at the white sand shores.

Far away, the pashmiri moaned and huffed water like geysers, playfully jumping and splashing around. The waves they generated could topple a small boat or two, but wise people knew to keep their distance.

I wondered what the other rogue Faulties were up to—the ones I hadn’t been able to rally from the jungles. My charm only went so far in my physical absence. Most of my crew had come to me solely based on what they’d heard about me, but not everyone could be so easily convinced to abandon the temporary safety of the forests to join me and my crusade against Ta’Zan. Some were still hung up on the idea that he might take them back. The delusional fools.

Are sens

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