Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 85029 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 425(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85029 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 425(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
“Why not here? What’s so special about America?”
“It belongs to Paul. And he was cast out. He made abominations back in the Old World. Sick things. And he was punished for it.”
“Is that what he wants me to make with Ryet? Sick things?”
Tristin shrugs. “I don’t know. I am not privy to the ambitions of Paul. I doubt it, since the last time resulted in a very severe banishment. But the important thing here is that whatever happens next, it must not happen in the presence of the Obscurati. They must not get a hold of you, or any children you have. They must not get Ryet, either. He’s under our protection too.”
“Since when?”
“Always. He’s always been under our protection.”
“So you were lying to me the whole time. You were never trying to keep me safe.”
“I was lying.” He shrugs with his hands.
And this throws me. Because I was really expecting him to tell me no, he didn’t know. He was lied to as well. We were all lied to. That we’re still a team. Still on the same side.
But instead, he gave me the truth.
It’s a big letdown.
Tristin continues. “Paul and the Guild have a deal.”
“Me.”
“You’re only a small part of it, Syrsee.”
“He said I would be the mother of demons. I don’t want to be the mother of demons, Tristin. I don’t want to do any of this.”
“Well,” Tristin sighs—it’s nearly a scoff—“that’s like me saying I don’t want to be a rogue. But here I am.”
“What the hell is a rogue?”
“It’s a type of vampire.”
I blink at him. “You’re a vampire?”
“No. I’m a rogue.”
“What’s the difference?”
“I was cut when I was born. More accurately, I was burned. They cauterized my wing buds so they never formed. Then they took out my heart and put it back in.”
“What?” Just when I think this world cannot get any more horrifying, there’s more. “Why would they do something like that?”
“This stops the blood thirst because it interrupts the maturation process of the filtering in my lungs. It makes me ‘other’. They consider me… a eunuch. But…” He closes his eyes, sighing. “Not the way you think.”
I look down between his legs, but then quickly look back up again.
Tristin smiles. “All of that is still very much intact. I’m just missing wings and the blood thirst. I am a low creature to the Obscurati. A… servant. They send the rogues to the Guild as representatives.”
“Representatives of…?”
“They rule the world, Syrsee. The Guild and the Obscurati. With the Darkness, of course, which acts like a judge.”
“I don’t understand. If the Guild and the Obscurati are working together—”
“Since when do two hands of a three-handed government work together?”
“I don’t know.”
“Never. It never works that way. It’s all in the Guild library.”
“Well, that explains my ignorance, I guess. They never let me read the books.”
“They couldn’t, you see. Because they didn’t know if you were the true match for Ryet. They really didn’t think it was going to work. But now that it has—”
I stop listening because I remember more of what Paul said that day we were in the purple and he was trying to explain what would happen next. “If you take your girls to the Guild, they will be safe and so will you. And not only that, Syrsee, they will reward you for coming home to them and let you read the books.”
I finish for Tristin. “They will let me read the books.”
“They will want you to know everything.”
“So that’s why you’re here? To take me back to the Guild?”
“Not just you. Ryet must come as well.”
A little pain stabs my heart once again. Because this is the catch. I can go home. I can read those books that were forbidden to me. I can learn all the secret things. I can have all the knowledge of my history. But only if I bring Ryet with me.
It hurts, I’m not gonna lie. It hurts. Because this is just yet another trap.
“What do you think Ryet would say if I told him this story?”
Tristin gives me a small shrug. “He would… be suspicious. I would, if I were him.”
“But… if he wanted to make me happy, he might relent, don’t you think?”
Tristin smiles. “Probably.”
I let out a long sigh. I knew it was too good to be true. They don’t care about me. They don’t care about Ryet. They care about power.
“Do you think he likes you?”
“Who?” I ask.
“Ryet.”
“Does he like me… as a person? As his food? As his friend?”
“As his lover?”
“I’m not sure yet.”
“Well, I think he does like you. And you’ve been gone for a while now, so…” Tristin stands up, smiling at me, his job here done. “I’ll see you out.”
I stand up too. “What am I supposed to do now?”
“Convince him, Syrsee.”
“Why can’t you just come take him? Why do you need me to deliver him?”