Total pages in book: 210
Estimated words: 200837 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1004(@200wpm)___ 803(@250wpm)___ 669(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 200837 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1004(@200wpm)___ 803(@250wpm)___ 669(@300wpm)
“This was about the Council. And the Choosing. And how… nothing matters. What did you mean by that?”
Shit. How drunk was I? Come on, Finn, you were wasted. You thought you were with a woman last night when really all you were doing is jerking off like a freak. There was no woman up here. Just me and my hand. I scoff, then walk over to the windows and draw in a deep breath when I look down and see all the Little Sisters milling about along the canal. They will line up soon so I when I leave my tower I can get a good long look at them.
Inspection day. It’s like a meet and greet. But the whole city is invited to gawk. They can’t ask them any questions—well, I guess they could, but the girls are not allowed to answer. It’s literally just an inspection day. They are not wearing gowns, but the Little Sister uniform, which is the same as a Matron uniform—blue tunic and cream scapular apron—it just looks a thousand times better on the young women than it does on the old.
One would not think that a tunic and apron could be tantalizing, but it is.
Mitch comes over to the window and looks down, nodding his head in appreciation. “They look like a bunch of virgins waiting to be fucked, don’t they?”
I laugh as I turn to look at Mitch. “What are you talking about?”
“Them. You know. They’re all young, and tight, and… just... I’d fuck them all. At once, if I had the chance.”
I scoff. He’s such a fucking dog. But as I look at them, I see Clara. I remember her inspection day and I am a thousand percent sure that my father and his valet—who was Clara’s father—were not up here talking about fucking these girls. “Knock it off, will ya? Have some respect.”
“Well, excuse me, Extraction Master. I was stating the obvious.”
I will hate you ’till the end of time. That’s the last thing Clara ever said to me. And she will, too. I’m certain of it. Even if she’s dead right now, she will hate me forever. Because what I did to her last night was unforgiveable.
Mitch must sense the mood change because he grabs my upper arm and turns me around. “Come on. Go shower. Let’s try and be on time. The Council—everyone—they’re all uneasy. And uneasiness typically translates into anger. We can avoid that by sticking to the schedule as much as possible. I’ve eliminated day two and day three of the Little Sister schedule because they really didn’t have anything to do with you. It was mostly stupid contests between the girls for rights to fabrics and… whatever sewing bullshit they need to make their next gown. But day four—which is tomorrow—also includes a minor Choosing. You need to have dinner with one of them. I’ve made you a list.”
He leaves me to grab the paper he was writing on earlier and bring it back. “This is my ranking of the girls with a little note next to their names. And I put a star next to the ones I’d invite to dinner tomorrow night, if it were my choice.”
When I look at him, he’s grinning wildly. So I interpret this to mean that these are the ones he’d like to bed, given the chance.
I take the paper and glance down at it, then hand it back. “Thanks, Mitch. Seriously. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“You’d fail miserably.” Then he claps me on the back. “Go. Shower. You really do smell. I’ll be downstairs handling things. All your notes will be waiting for you in the Maiden Tower main hall.”
He retreats without further comment. But this is when I remember that I do actually smell a woman’s scent up here. “Hey?”
“What?” Mitch stops on the stairs to look at me.
“Did you… did you send a woman up here for me last night?”
“No. You were a drunken dick. You made me kick everyone out. I kept a guard outside though. Why?”
“Nothing. Never mind. I was just… missing Clara, I guess.”
He nods sympathetically, then resumes his retreat.
I go down one level as well because that’s where my new bedroom is, and then I take a long hot shower. Jerking off to the image of a sexy redhead as I stand under the water.
“Are you nervous?” Mitch and I are riding the elevator down to the ground level for the mandatory meet and greet. “Don’t be nervous. Trust me, these girls are so nervous, they probably all wanna throw up right now.” He leans in to straighten my Extraction Master stole.
It’s light blue and the ends are trimmed in gold fringe. It’s part of the Tau City official dress uniform. Everyone on the Council, plus the mayor and I, all wear them for formal functions. Though the Extraction Master has the only blue one, I guess because it matches the Little Sisters and they are, technically, under my control.