ššššš
Her eyes were empty as she looked at me. There was no ounce of fear. Something had settled over her, a resignation that went bone-deep. This was not her usual defiant mask of feigned stoicism she wore to give a front of bravery she did not feel.
But I knew better than to think anything of it. Yet another brand of human manipulation.
Withering hate festered like a rotting wound inside me, one that would never heal as long as her kind still existed on this plane of existence or any other.
She sagged against the chains, looking at us and beyond us at once. The expression on her face could have incited pity with how empty it was, like the life had been cleaved out of her.
But she had seen nothing. No matter what expression she wore, there would be punishment for what she had done despite the Core in her chest.
Especially after what Sonya had revealed to us once her full scheme had been discovered, including her attempt to frame the victim.
