by M. Lathan
Chapter Fifteen
“We’ll take credit for them both. Understand?” Liam whispered to Remi. She nodded. “Did you practice?”
“Yes, Liam, a thousand times. I told you I would.”
He sighed. “You’ll understand when you have a student. It’s nerve wrecking. All of mine have died. I can’t fail again. I won’t get another chance.”
We walked up flights and flights of stairs and then down a long hallway, a glint of light ahead of us.
“C-13, exit,” a voice said in the distance. A glass door swung open and a figure stepped out. From here, it looked like a boy, my age or a little older. He met the large man who’d called him out of there and turned on his heels like a soldier. “C-14, exit,” he said. Another boy stepped into the hall, slow and controlled, as we walked closer. Liam and Remi slowed. So did my heart. “C-15, exit.” Another boy emerged and got in line behind the others. “Liam, you may pass.”
They motioned us to start walking again. Nate had to pull me. I couldn’t move. They’d come from three rooms with glass walls and doors and pure white furniture. It was clean and neat, no mess other than a few books on the beds and floors.
“Triplets,” I whispered, when I saw their faces. They were dressed in stretchy black pants and shirts, muscles pushing at the fabric. “Copies,” I whispered, even softer. Nate tightened his arms around me, pulling me further away from what my life could have been, where my life could be headed.
At the end of the hall, Remi and Liam pulled wide hoods over their heads. The room we stepped into looked like a chapel. Candles flickered all around us. Nate held me so close that I heard his heart pounding against my ear.
More robed figures pushed past us, some with one or two frightened prisoners in their grips. The triplets marched to the front. I’d lost blood and been drugged. I needed a bed, not to be made to kneel on a marble floor. Liam forced Nate to kneel closer to him. I wanted to grab his hand and try to escape, but I felt like I did in the shower before my fit—woozy, jittery, like I’d hurt myself by trying.
I inched to my left, closer to Nathan, and Remi grabbed my arm. She didn’t speak, but the look in her eyes was such a terrible mix of fear and anger that I knew neither of us could move right now.
“Those who willingly enter his quarters, let your voice be heard,” a rough voice like crackling fire said.
“I willingly come,” they all said together, one voice, well trained.
Footsteps interrupted the silence. Well, as silent as this room could get for me as my growing strength allowed me to hear them again.
“Greet me,” a man said, passively like he was bored.
I looked up at him, and my heart stopped. Kamon was as handsome as he was in Lydia’s memories, just with graying hair in one spot. He’d kill Nate and breed me for sure if we didn’t get the hell out of here.
Remi peeked up at him, awestruck and teary eyed. He was the man she wanted to impress, not Liam. She’d followed a witch around for him. I remembered what she’d said on the phone call I’d eavesdropped on. She'd said that Sophia always told Emma where not to party. Sophia would know exactly where Kamon was at all times, and Remi latched on to Emma in hopes of finding him. She wanted to be here. She was never obsessed with Nate. She was obsessed with the man who would’ve drowned me.
“Hail, Kamon. We assemble today to show our undying loyalty for making us whole, our commitment to learning your ways, and our devotion to your cause.”
Right hands shot up into the air everywhere.
“And to you, Julian, we pledge to avenge your death, but stray from your flawed path.” My hands balled into fists, suddenly more upset with the dead man than the person I couldn’t think about. “To you, Kamon, my Master, my Lord, you have made me what I am. Without you, I have no home. No life. I am nothing. Please accept my humble praise.”
Kamon sat back in an ornate black throne. He crossed his legs and raised his chin. He had to really believe he was a king, no a god, to these people.
“I accept,” he said, like it was a bother to speak to them. The hooded figures bowed their heads again. Only the prisoners and the triplets who were standing near his throne were left with stretched necks. “Who has something for me?”
Remi pulled me up, and Liam grabbed Nathan. I reached for his hand but missed.
There was a clear hierarchy with the hunters, and Liam and Remi were at the bottom. They moved us out of the way each time a hunter stepped in front of them with their offering. We ended up at the end of the line.
One at a time, the offerings, mostly witches and wizards, were brought before Kamon. Ten passed, accepting his offer to be purged, until the first one objected. The stocky man was covered in dirt and scratches, like he’d been fighting.
“C-14,” Kamon said, chuckling. The middle triplet stepped up, and the stocky man thumped to the ground, his neck cracking without C-14 moving a muscle.
No one else objected.
Then it was our turn. Liam and Remi bowed to Kamon. Liam took another step up and bowed again.
“Master, we have brought you two offerings today,” Liam said. “Both human. I pray you accept them.”
“Do they willingly come?”
“No, Master.”
Kamon laughed and leaned forward. “Then you’d better have a good reason for bringing them here. Julian was dismembered because he chased after those who didn’t worship him like I did,” he said, his voice darkening with each word. Dismembered? Wow. No wonder I wasn’t allowed to see that happen. “Surely, you don’t expect me to make that mistake.”
“No, Master,” Liam said.
Kamon glared at me. His eyes were a hypnotizing mix of green and brown with a hint of blue. That’s when I realized I was staring.
“Are you sure they’re human?” Kamon asked, tilting his head to the side, eyes still locked with mine. “They’re awfully silent.”
I knew he meant our thoughts and I was grateful. At least her … well our … secret was safe.
“We aren’t sure, Master,” Remi said. “We need you to figure it out for us.” Liam turned around and raised his hand, poised to slap her.
“Drop your hand. She isn’t talking to you. When did you become her master?” Kamon said. He motioned Remi forward and smiled at her. She actually blushed. “Tell me why you need your master to figure out a simple blood test?”
Her hands shook, and she took a loud breath. “I never want to disappoint you with a mistake. I am nothing. I need you for everything. I think we all do.” Her tone sent chills up my spine. She sounded brainwashed. Insane.
“Remi…” Kamon said. Her face lit up, like she was surprised he knew her name. “I think you should sit in the front from now on. Liam has no business leading someone smarter than him.” Remi fell to his feet, and I jumped. Nathan pulled me closer, but I couldn’t try to escape. I was too worried for her. I knew how her life would unfold. She’d live to please him, possibly be bred. If she ever changed her mind, ever decided not to be devoted to him, he would make her life hell. “Get up, pet. Take your spot.” I shivered. Julian used to call Lydia that. Remi stood with a face full of tears and ran to where he pointed, at the feet of the triplets. “Liam, you may return to the back.”
“Thank you, Master,” he said.
Kamon stood from his throne, and Nate stepped in front of me. “Cute,” Kamon said. I wrapped my arms around Nate and tried to pull us back to my house. I shook, so hard that Nate tried to steady me, so hard that my nose leaked blood on his back. “Excuse me, young man. Give her to me.”
“No!” Nate yelled.
Kamon chuckled. “How do you humble a man, boys?”
“Make him a prisoner of the ground, Master,” the triplets said together.
As I held him, Nate’s back twisted, and he fell. He screamed, shaking all over. I reached for him, but Kamon flung him to the back of the room with a gentle wave of his hand. He moved closer to me, smiling, and I knew it was over. I also knew that b
ecause of the horror demented men like him had done to my family, I couldn’t cry or show an ounce of fear.
“Who trains you?” he asked, smiling, as charming as a prince from a fairytale. I didn’t answer, just stared at him while I contemplated spitting a mouthful of blood in his face. “Who owns you?”
“No one.”
He laughed. “You are bleeding. You’re either well bred or poorly trained. Join me. I can help you. You strike me as someone who belongs here. Do you feel at home, staring at them?” he said, pointing to his brainwashed followers on their knees. “Or perhaps them?” he said, pointing to the triplets.
I knew with unsettling certainty that if Kamon had gotten to me before Sophia, this offer would have been appealing. To finally be among people like myself, to finally not be an oddity. I would have joined him. I would have thought I was meant for this. But Sophia had gotten to me, so living alone in a glass box and being a killer would never be okay. I would rather die.
He reached his finger out and slowly collected my blood on his nail. His touch infuriated me, and his finger snapped as I stared, twisting painfully away from the knuckle. I’d never broken a bone before, but I’d imagined doing it hundreds of times. I didn’t even feel myself do anything. He grunted, but moved away as more of his fingers bent in the wrong direction. I wasn’t even looking at them. Then his right arm went. Then the left.
He howled, and an arm wrapped around my stomach.
Lydia turned me around. Her eyes were burning, and she was shaking all over. I knew it was because of me. Because she couldn’t handle the thought of me being hurt. I wanted to jump in her arms, thank her for saving me. Every piece of me knew she wouldn’t push me away, but we were around the man she wanted her child hidden from. Witnessing a world she never wanted me to see.
I pointed to Nathan, and she nodded.
“Get him,” she said.
I ran to him. He was stiff and straining, maybe to keep from shifting.
Lydia circled Kamon, shuddering. He laughed.
“Shut up,” she said, but I hadn’t heard him say a thing. “I could end you right now if I wanted to.”
He laughed again, stretching his mangled arms, breathing in like he enjoyed the way it felt. “But you won’t. You know what will happen if you do. You’ve taken a student, I see. Maybe two? A boy and a girl. I thought you were against that.”
She jumped at Kamon but caught herself before she touched him. “This will be over soon,” she whispered.
“I know. I’ve seen it, too. You must be afraid,” he said.
She walked away without turning back. She didn’t look afraid at all. She took my hand and lifted Nathan with the other. I was seconds from this nightmare being over, but I suddenly felt more fearful than I had the entire time.
“Remi!” I screamed, like her life depended on it. She was the reason why we were here, but I knew more about this world than she ever could. I knew how it ended, how the decision to stay here would infect the rest of her life. “Please come with us.”
She said nothing, didn’t even look up. On her knees, she looked hollow, like the little personality she’d had a few days ago had been snuffed out. I wondered what she would smell like to Nathan now. I wondered what I could have done to stop it.
“I’m sorry, but we have to go,” Lydia said.
We left the chapel in an instant, leaving Remi behind to fester with Kamon. And all of those people, and the triplets, too. If she wasn’t afraid of what he was doing, I had enough fear for the both of us.