Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 92612 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92612 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
“All right.” He gestures toward the overgrown roses and silent fountain. “Have at it.”
I hesitate for a few moments, my desire to get out into the garden at odds with my need for information.
“What?” he asks, the slightest hint of a Southern accent in his voice.
“Can you tell me what’s happening in Atlanta? If you know.” I ask and try not to wring my hands.
He narrows his eyes. “The same thing that’s happening all over.”
“Mass murder?” I meet his gaze.
He shakes his head. “Look, I’m your housekeeper, not a newspaper. If you want to know about the war, then you should speak to Valen.” He looks up at the sky, his nose wrinkling. “Ah, fuck.”
A big whoosh sends fallen leaves and bits of debris swirling around us.
Startled, I turn around and find Coal standing behind us, his wings spread wide.
“What?” David glares at him.
“You’re too close.” Coal grabs David’s arm and pulls him away from me.
I just stare.
“I wasn’t trying to—”
“Even if you weren’t, you need to keep your fucking wits about you. If Valen thought for a second you were getting too cozy with his guest, there would be bloodshed.”
“Why are you even here?” David snaps back. “I don’t need you up my ass. I already have Valen wedged up there.”
I just watch, the dynamic becoming clearer the more they go back and forth. Coal is a father figure, and David is something of a bratty son. The resemblance is much more striking now that they’re standing face to face.
“—isn’t the best situation, and you have a habit of—”
“Coal’s your father?” I blurt.
They both turn to me in unison, their shared expression confirming my suspicion.
“No.” Coal shakes his head. “Absolutely not.”
“Yeah, that’s crazy. I’m not—I mean, no.” David makes a pfft noise.
They even lie the same.
“I need a word with David, if you don’t mind.” Coal glowers. “Don’t go far.”
“Where’s Valen?” I ask.
“Out.” Coal bites the word off, his fangs sharp against his bottom lip.
I don’t argue, not when I’ve already cheated death once this week. Wrapping my sweater around myself, I wander down the path between the wild roses, careful to avoid their thorns. Once I’m at the statue, I stop for a while. I can still hear the low growl of the argument going on behind me as I stare into the statue’s face. Valen’s mother. A human. I want to know her story, to hear more about her life than the horrors she endured at Gregor’s hands.
“I’m a human in their world, too,” I whisper to her, a chilly breeze blowing past and taking my voice with it.
Stepping out from beneath the tree, I walk around toward the overgrown arbor. Ahead, a gray monument glows pale in the moonlight. I don’t remember it being here before. When I’m close enough to read the inscription carved into the stone, my eyes water. Melody Okpara Dragonis, flame eternal. The monument is simple and beautiful, a curving swirl of marble that gives the impression of a dancing lick of flame.
“I miss you.” I sit on the grass and cross my legs in front of me. Wiping my eyes with my sleeve, I lean against the cold stone. “I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I’m sorry about what happened.” I don’t want to think about it, to re-live it, but it happens anyway. My vision blurs with tears. “I don’t think I was very good to you. I was suspicious. Scared, too.” I rest my head against the marble. “And I saw you as the enemy. You weren’t.” I sniffle. “I know that now. You were nothing but kind. You didn’t deserve—” My voice breaks, and I have to sit in silence for a long while, the wind growing colder as I think a thousand different thoughts to Melody. I tell her how badly I wanted to save her, how angry I was that Valen didn’t. I still don’t understand how he could do nothing.
“You told me you know him differently.” I give up wiping my tears away. “You told me how he saved you from your father’s house. But I can’t read him. I don’t see what you see. He could’ve stopped Gregor, or at least tried. Why didn’t he? Then he saved my life, but he only did it for Gregor. Right?” My questions remain unanswered, her soft voice and clear eyes gone somewhere far beyond my reach. “I don’t know. I don’t know anything.”
I sit for a long time. Until my hands are freezing, and I shiver with each small breeze.
A flap of wings overhead draws my attention, and I watch as David swoops down and lands about a dozen feet away.
“Let’s go.” His face is stony.
“Did you know her?” I ask.
He glances at the monument. “Yes.” He doesn’t say more, pointedly so.
I get up and brush myself off, then walk toward the elevator. He stays several steps behind.