Chapter 4 004

Rayna

The silence was deafening, and I hated every bit of it. I'd always said the quiet helped me think, but the only thing I was sure of right now, was the fact that it made me slightly more nervous than I originally was.

I stood frozen just inside the door, staring at the man they called Zero. He didn’t move, didn’t even blink, and yet I could feel the weight of his gaze pinning me down like invisible hands.

The air between us was thick and charged, like the space between lightning and thunder.

I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could, the lights dimmed further. A low hum filled the room, vibrating through the floor beneath my heels.

Then she appeared.

The woman in crimson, though now she wore a mask of black feathers that shimmered like oil. She moved as though the world bent around her, her presence swallowing the air.

The Mistress of the Game.

Everyone in the underground had heard rumors of her. Some said she was a courtesan who’d seduced kings; others swore she was a ghost who never aged, feeding on the sins of the men and women who entered her Game. Seeing her now, I wasn’t sure which version I believed.

“Miss Vale,” she said, her voice smooth as wine, sharp as a knife’s edge. “And our beloved Zero.”

Zero didn’t respond. His gaze hadn’t left me since I walked in here, and I had no idea if that was a good thing or not.

“He rarely does.” The Mistress smiled faintly, like she'd read my thoughts. “But you already know that.”

“You said I had thirty nights.” I swallowed, forcing my voice to steady. “To do what, exactly?”

“It's simple.” Her lips curved. “To make him feel.”

“I caught that part,” I said, folding my arms. “But it sounds more like a riddle than a rule.”

“It is both. The Game is never simple. Each player enters with desire and purpose.” The Mistress stepped closer. Her perfume was intoxicating, dark flowers and smoke. “Yours, Miss Vale, is to awaken what he has buried.”

“Really?” I glanced at Zero. “And what’s his?”

“To remind you what it costs to try.” something about the way she said that, so easily, just didn't sit right with me.

“What?” My pulse skipped. “Meaning?”

Her eyes glittered behind the mask. “If you fail, you are his.”

“That part I heard too.”

“Then let me make it clearer.” She circled me slowly, her fingers brushing my shoulder as she passed, the touch light, deliberate, unsettling. “Each night, you will come to this room. The door will close at midnight and open again at dawn. Inside, there will be no witnesses, no saviors, no escape. Only you and him.”

“And if I refuse?"I asked, even though I already knew the answer.

“You can’t.” Her voice was smooth, amused almost, and it only made my nose flare in crystal.

“I’m not your prisoner,” I snapped.

“Not yet.” The words sliced through me, but I didn't speak. The Mistress smiled, amused by my reaction. “You entered the Orpheus by invitation, Miss Vale. The moment you stepped through the doors, you agreed to the terms of the Game. Consider this… consent through curiosity.”

“That’s not how consent works.” I shook my head. “This is….”

“Oh, my dear, you’ll learn soon enough.” She tilted her head, feigning pity as she cut me off. “..in the Garden, everything is rewritten. Even consent.”

I wanted to hit her, but I also wanted to know more.

“What happens if I succeed?” I dared to ask, and the smile that made its way to her face was all the indication that I'd asked the right thing.

“Then you earn your freedom.” The Mistress’s smile darkened. “And perhaps, the truth you came here for.”

My stomach turned cold. “My sister?”

She said nothing, but the pause was enough. Zero’s eyes flickered in that moment, and I took that as the first hint of reaction all night. He knew something, something he wasn't ready to give up so easily, I was sure.

“Why him?” I demanded. “Why me?”

“It's simple.” The Mistress leaned close until I could feel her breath against my ear. “Because some monsters can only be undone by those who carry their reflection.”

“The same rules bind you, darling.”

Before I could respond, she stepped away and turned to Zero. “Thirty nights. No words. No violence. Unless she asks for it.”

“Excuse me?” My breath caught, solely because I didn't want to believe what I was hearing.

“Every pleasure, every pain, must be her choice.” The Mistress met my gaze. “You may tempt, but never take.”

Zero didn’t move, but I felt something stir in the room, a pulse of energy, slow and deliberate, almost as if he was agreeing to it in his own twisted way.

“Why the silence?” I asked, turning to him. “Can’t speak, or won’t?”

Nothing.

“He made a vow ten years ago.” The Mistress laughed softly. “Broke a kingdom with his voice, so now he wields silence like a blade. If you make him speak, the Game ends. You win.”

“And if I can’t?”

“Then you belong to him. Body and soul.”

The room fell still again. The only sound was the slow ticking of a clock somewhere behind the velvet curtains.

The Mistress drifted toward the door. “Your first night begins now.”

“Wait….”I stepped forward instinctively.

“Oh, and Miss Vale?” She paused at the threshold, glancing back.

“What?”

“Try not to fall in love.” Her smile was pure sin. “It ruins the Game.”

That did it, and the door clicked shut before I could even process her words.

Silence filled the room the minute she was gone, and I fought back a shudder. Zero was still watching me, his expression unreadable. The candlelight glinted off the ink curling up his throat, intricate lines, symbols I didn’t recognize.

“So that’s it? You just sit there like some carved statue while I... what?” I crossed my arms, more to hide my shaking hands than anything. “Try to make you feel something?”

I wasn't sure what I was expecting after the mistress had warned me, but best believe that his silence hurt more than I was willing to admit.

“You know,” I laughed bitterly. “ This would be easier if you could actually talk.”

He tilted his head, the smallest movement, but his gaze burned into me, steady, cold and unyielding.

He was daring and teasing me to do my worst. Fine then, two could play this game.

I took a slow step closer, then another, until I was standing right in front of him, close enough to see the faint scar cutting through his brow, the silver ring glinting on his finger, the rise and fall of his chest, steady but measured.

“Tell me, Zero,” I whispered. “Do you enjoy this? Watching people squirm?”

Still nothing, but his eyes dropped, not to my face, but lower. My pulse stuttered.

Maybe I imagined it, or maybe I didn’t. Either way, I’d found my first crack. I leaned closer, until my breath brushed his skin.

“Then watch closely, because I don’t break easily.”.The silence between us stretched thin, tight as a wire.

And then, just barely, I saw it. The corner of his mouth twitched. It didn't morph into quite a smile, but not quite nothing.

It was enough to make me forget, for a heartbeat, that the Mistress’s warning still echoed in my head.

Try not to fall in love. It ruins the Game.

Great. Just fucking great.