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Back Seven Devils
Chapters (62)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. 1.
  4. 2.
  5. 3.
  6. 4.
  7. 5.
  8. 6.
  9. 7.
  10. 8.
  11. 9.
  12. 10.
  13. 11.
  14. 12.
  15. 13.
  16. 14.
  17. 15.
  18. 16.
  19. 17.
  20. 18.
  21. 19.
  22. 20.
  23. 21.
  24. 22.
  25. 23.
  26. 24.
  27. 25.
  28. 26.
  29. 27.
  30. 28.
  31. 29.
  32. 30.
  33. 31.
  34. 32.
  35. 33.
  36. 34.
  37. 35.
  38. 36.
  39. 37.
  40. 38.
  41. 39.
  42. 40.
  43. 41.
  44. 42.
  45. 43.
  46. 44.
  47. 45.
  48. 46.
  49. 47.
  50. 48.
  51. 49.
  52. 50.
  53. 51.
  54. 52.
  55. 53.
  56. 54.
  57. 55.
  58. 56.
  59. 57.
  60. EPILOGUE
  61. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  62. ABOUT THE AUTHORS

“Doesn’t matter. How do we do this?”

“You’ve changed your mind?”

Nyx nodded, one quick jerk. It pulled at the blood caking her temple.

“I have a friend who can help get us out,” Rhea said.

“Who?”

“Someone even closer to the Archon than me.”

It took Nyx a moment. “The madam of the Pleasure Garden would help you leave?”

“She knows she can’t go, but she wants to see me fly.”

Nyx let out a breath. Fly. Away from all of this. Before Damocles could finish what he started and get her punished. She’d be the one who suffered. She’d be the one the Oracle reprogrammed until One’s influence was so impenetrable, Nyx would have no thoughts at all. And that’s if she was lucky—the only other punishment would be execution delivered at the end of a Mors.

By then, it would be too late to escape.

“What do you have in mind?” Nyx asked.

Rhea held her palms out, her silk whispering in the quiet of the room. “I have years of ideas.”

Nyx nodded and looked out the window to the glittering, lit trees of the Pleasure Garden. She let herself feel something like hope.

27.

NYX

Present day

Nyx didn’t know how to comfort the other women.

They had all gone back to the ship in silence and returned their facial features to normal.

Once revealed, Eris just shook her head and went off to another part of the ship. Rhea seemed the most affected, having watched the Evoli’s execution through Ariadne’s eye camera. Sadness drenched every line of her body. Clo sat next to Rhea, offering her a steaming cup of tea. Rhea accepted it. She didn’t drink but simply held the warmth in her hands for comfort.

Nyx rubbed her own arms, fingertips trailing the vanished swirls of her old tattoos. What happened to the Evoli wouldn’t be marked on her skin, and yet Nyx felt like it should have been. She didn’t understand why his death bothered her. It wasn’t—

Realization struck deep. It was the first time Nyx had seen an Evoli executed since Ariadne had deprogrammed her. Now she could choose who to grieve, who to love, and who to hate. There was nothing to alter the patterns of her thoughts.

It was freeing. It was terrifying. What if she made the wrong choices? What if—

The bright light of the vid-screen jerked Nyx back into the room. Ariadne had drawn up her weapon schematics.

“I should never have made this,” she said.

“You designed it,” Clo said firmly. “I’m the one who made it.”

“It doesn’t make a differe—”