1
A faraway realm Long ago
“Emotions are our greatest enemy.” With an unhurried stride, the headmaster paced before his charges. Students of the Order. The train of his voluminous black robe dragged behind him.
The most notable acolyte—Four—stood shoulder to shoulder with nine others in a perfectly straight line. Each boy wore a colorless tunic and loose pants; each kept his eyes focused ahead, chin up, hands locked behind his back and bare feet pressed together. None dared to take more than eight inhalations per minute. The allotted amount.
Though a mere twelve years in age, Four already towered over the others. As the son of an eight-foot-tall war god, he might grow bigger than even the headmaster. If that happened…
Headmaster dies screaming.
The stern, merciless male possessed crimson skin and obsidian eyes without any whites; the instructors were exact copies of him. Their only differences came from the symbols etched into their faces. Symbols that glowed when they contemplated any kind of punishment.
Headmaster never ceased glowing. “Say it,” he commanded now.
“Emotions are our greatest enemy,” the boys echoed in unison, monotone.
Four meant those words with every fiber of his being. What he wouldn’t give to rid himself of any softness. To no longer suffer the torment of grief and loss. Perhaps then he might finally forget his tenth birthday. The day invaders murdered his mother and carted him to the Order.
Here, orphaned children of “myth and legend” learned to assassinate kings and gods. The best executioners received rewards. Those who floundered were often used during target practice.
“Today, you will prove you mean what you say.” Headmaster continued his unhurried back-and-forth stride, drawing out the suspense. Testing his students, always testing. In the empty white room, his footfalls proved silent. “Shall I tell you how?”
“If you wish, Headmaster,” the boys responded, again in unison.
Four’s stomach churned, bile singeing his chest. He’d felt sick all morning. Even before he was summoned from his quarters—a small cubicle containing only a bed, nightstand, and handful of books he’d received for exemplary behavior. A sparse prison he’d come to appreciate. The less you owned, the less others could use against you. But not by word or deed did he reveal his physical discomfort. He knew better.
What would Headmaster force the students to endure today? Or worse, to do?
His skin glowed brighter as he passed Four. Five, the boy to his right, released an almost imperceptible whimper.
In a blink, the headmaster returned to the lad.
Four didn’t move. He willed his heart to maintain a slow, steady beat, lest a glaze of sweat dampen his skin, giving him away.
Headmaster purred, “Are you afraid, Five?”
Each student was known only by a number. A reminder of a terrible truth: we are easily replaced.
“No, sir,” Five said, but a slight tremor proved him a liar. “I fear nothing.”
“I’m not certain I believe you.” Headmaster lifted an arm and snapped his fingers. “But there’s a way to learn the truth.”
Instructors observed the proceedings from the back wall, lined up just like the students. A lone male eased into motion, closing the distance to stand beside his superior.
Dread gave the sterile air a sharp bite.
“Whip him,” Headmaster ordered. “He’s to receive twenty lashes. If he makes a noise, cut out his tongue. If he sheds a tear, blind him.”
No one in the room revealed an outward reaction as the instructor padded behind Five. But inside, Four waged a fierce war. He liked the boy and protected him whenever possible. Of the ten students in their group, Five was the kindest. Unlike the others, he shared his rewards, no matter what they happened to be. Food. Soft blankets. Special weapons. But Five was also the weakest among them, and he was about to suffer untold agonies. Could he maintain his silence until the end of the whipping? Could anyone?
As the instructor unhooked a barbed rope from the belt of his robe, Four fought the urge to safeguard his friend. He knew better. He’d made this mistake once before, with another student. The moment he had intervened, he’d made everything worse. At least Five wasn’t being given an animal to raise and later kill.
The first strike landed with a whoosh. Relief sparked as silence stretched. The second and third strikes fell. Five did well, his face remaining a blank mask.
Headmaster leaned down, putting himself at eye level with his victim. “With every lash, you are being rid of your secret shame. Thank me for this opportunity.”
“Thank you, Headmaster.”
Whoosh. Crack.
Whoosh. Crack.
After the seventh strike, Headmaster slowly slid his attention to Four. He canted his head, staring hard. The symbols in his skin glowed brighter and brighter.
Four revealed nothing.
“Tell me what you think of Five’s situation,” the evil male cajoled.
“I cannot.” The calmness—the coldness—of Four’s tone chilled even him. “I think nothing of his situation.”
“Is that so?”
Whoosh. Crack. Whoosh. Crack.
Calm. Steady. Breathe in, out. “That is so.”
After searching Four’s face, Headmaster withdrew a dagger from a hidden pocket of his robe and offered the hilt. “Kill him.”
Four blinked twice. “Sir?”
“You will kill Five, or I will kill you. The decision is yours. You have one minute to decide.”
As Four held the male’s gaze, he knew two things with absolute certainty. If he hesitated to do this, he would die today. If he revealed a single emotion, he would want to die.
With iron resolve, he accepted the weapon, his grip steady. He stepped backward and to the right, moving between the instructor with the whip and Five. Staring at his back—at the blood wetting his tunic.
I can do this. Four had delivered many deaths the past two years, his kill list more than double the length of anyone else’s. But then, he was born for this. And yet…
He felt as if a part of him died each time he stole another’s life.
Would he act anyway? Oh yes. Without hesitation.
Four stepped forward. Mere inches separated his chest and the ravaged back of his newest target. He reached around and gripped the boy’s chin, angling his head to the side. With his free hand, he pressed the tip of a blade into the upper dip of Five’s sternum.
A mewl of fear escaped his friend, and the churning in his stomach intensified.
“Your time runs out,” Headmaster stated.
Four blanked his mind, a grueling skill he’d worked hard to perfect. One by one, his thoughts faded to the background, his emotions dulling until he felt nothing. Only a cold, gnawing void. He calmed, and his breathing evened out. This? This was nothing. A single death among hundreds.
As the boy opened his mouth to protest or plead, Four met Headmaster’s obsidian gaze—and plunged the dagger deep. He twisted his wrist at the end. Bone cracked.
Five stiffened against him, choking sounds leaving him. In seconds—an endless eternity—he collapsed, crashing to the floor.
Blood spurted from the wound, splattering the motionless body, the floor. Four…didn’t care. He survived, whatever the cost.
One day, things would be different. Until then, Four could only bide his time…
Warm liquid pooled around his feet, and his inner cold thawed fast. The sickness returned to his belly.
“What is this I smell on you, hmm? Fear?” The headmaster swooped in and ran the tip of his nose across Four’s neck while inhaling. “No, not fear, but something.” He straightened and motioned to the instructor with the whip. “Give him twenty lashes.”
Reveal nothing. “Thank you, Headmaster.”
Already in position, the instructor struck without delay. Whoosh. Crack.
Pain splintered through Four, shooting across each of his limbs.
Whoosh. Crack. Whoosh. Crack.
He held Headmaster’s gaze until the end—and smiled. “Thank you again, Headmaster.”
Scowling, the male grazed two black claws across his cheek. “Whatever you’re feeling will boil over as soon as I turn up the heat.” Walking away, Headmaster spoke to the instructor. “Give him twenty more.”
Excerpted from The Immortal by Gena Showalter, Copyright © 2022 by Gena Showalter. Published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
