by Quil Carter
“I probably should watch Luca then?” I smiled when our lips had parted. “You love the innocent ones.”
Elish smiled back. “His genetics halted any feelings from developing,” he said, and I laughed and kissed him again.
“What happened to Sacario?” I asked, hoping that this wasn’t a question that would trigger bad feelings. Sacario had been hilarious to read about, the way he treated my master in the beginning had me in stitches. I wish he’d been alive during my time; I know we would’ve been friends.
I was happy when Elish smiled fondly. “Sacario passed away about ten years before I first met you,” he said. “He lived to be an old man in his eighties, something that can’t be said for most of my friends.”
“Wow,” I said. There was another reason for my surprise, the Crown had an age limit on the elderly. Once you hit seventy-five you were humanely euthanized, unless your family took up all of your care, including hospital visits and medication. Usually the Crown paid for emergency visits and all costs that were attributed to things out of the person’s control (like if you were a smoker your whole life and got lung cancer, you were shit out of luck and had to pay for it yourself), so this could be a huge expense on people. From what I’d heard, most of the time it was the elderly person’s choice to be painlessly put to sleep; they didn’t want to be a burden on their family. “I take it the royal family took care of his expenses once he hit seventy-five?”
Elish nodded. “Yes, I visited him monthly until he passed away, surrounded by his family. He lived in a luxury suite reserved for friends of the royal family, and was thankfully healthy until his last month.” I loved that smile on his face, the wistful recollecting of a good memory. “On his and his husband’s request, I combined their DNA and gave him two sons and a daughter. His descendants work within Skyland, several of them even work for Skytech. Sacario’s legacy has lived on, and I’m happy for that.”
My eyes travelled around the apartment. “Do you have his urn too?” I smiled. “I can only imagine it would be surrounded by Skittles.”
Elish chuckled. “No, I believe it is with some family member, I never did ask.”
Then my gaze fell on Finn’s urn, and my heart pulled when I remembered earlier thoughts. “I was sad because I thought Finn’s had burned in the fire… but it was down here the entire time?”
Elish nodded. “I don’t come here as often, but I felt a pull to visit this place tonight. I’m the only one who knows about it, which makes you the second person.”
I burst with pride and honour over this. He’d had other partners before me, Jack and Mantis for example, but I was the first?
“Let’s sit down,” he said. “I’d like to put some faces to those names you’ve heard so much about… and I’ve also decided to ask you some questions.” When we both sat down, I realized in front of Elish on an old coffee table, was another laptop, one I’d never seen upstairs.
“Questions?”
Elish nodded. “I’ve decided to start the next book,” he explained. “And once I get to our part… Well, I cannot write about our first couple years without your help.” He pulled me onto his lap and put the album down. I just stared at him in awed shock. After all this time, he was going to start the next one?
“But I must warn you, maritus.” He gave me a cooled look. “If you dare read this book I will gouge out your eyes and cut the memories right out of your head. Digital surgery has been perfected. Do not tempt me.”
I laughed. “And when can I read it?”
He didn’t miss a beat. “I already told you… When you reach the physical age of thirty-three…”
I dug my hand into his side, making him let out the squawk’d noise he always made when I hit one of his ticklish spots.
Then, with a laugh, I jumped off of the couch, Elish chasing after me, a smile on his face.
A NOTE FROM QUIL
And here we are again! I hope you enjoyed Garden of Spiders, the very first two volume companion book. I’d love to say “I’m never fucking doing a two volume companion book again!” but I said the exact same thing when I finished The Ghost and the Darkness, and well, now two volumes seems to be standard for the main series. So, I’ve learned to stop putting my foot in my mouth.
This book ended up taking a lot more time than I had initially put aside for it, which isn’t a big surprise considering it was a book about Elish. Of course the cold chimera will demand more from me. Near the end of it, I felt like his slave and he was looming over my shoulder with a whip in his hand, cracking it whenever I wrote something wrong. But it’s done! It’s done, it’s done…
Until Garden of Spiders 2.
Yes, there will have to be another one, that goes without saying. When I first started this book, I had dreams of it finishing off where Breaking Jade left off, maybe even a bit further. Obviously, that never happened because there was just so much content I wanted to get to. I’m not sure when Garden of Spiders 2 will be started, if it’ll be a companion book or a stand-alone, but there will be one one day. Like Jade and Elish talked about, it will deal with Elish’s life from thirty-three years old to the events of Breaking Jade, so we’ll get to see Silas crush the poor man’s heart, and the subsequent consequences of that. We’ll get to see Elish’s feelings towards Silas darken, the birth of Adler, Reaver, Killian, and Luca, plus the greywaster Silas clone we haven’t met yet. I’m already looking forward to writing that book, so Elish’s story can be told the way it was intended, without me having to rush things.
So, what’s next for me? After this I will be taking a step back from The Fallocaust Series (stop screaming. Jesus Christ, I won’t be gone for that long), to complete a brand-new book I’ve been working on. Like The Gods’ Games Series, this book was one I started before Fallocaust. I have always called it Fallocaust’s Grandfather, because it’s the first book I ever said “Fuck it, no one will read this, I’m going to write it how I want. Nothing held back.” It’s the book that broke the trail for Fallocaust and one I know everyone will like. It’s dark, it’s graphic, it’s twisted, and downright fucked up. It’s called Silent Ground and this wonderful book will be out sometime in 2017. It’s already 33% done, and I’m itching to dive back into it again.
After that? The Fallocaust Series Book 4 will be started. It’s insane how many great ideas I have for book 4. It’s going to be something else.
And as usual, for updates on book releases, to view excerpts, or to watch me pull out chunks of my own hair due to my insane workload, follow me on Twitter @Fallocaust, also find me on Facebook /quil.carter, and of course, my website: www.quilcarter.com. I’m also found on Spotify, where I have playlists for all of my books, released and upcoming. In those playlists are songs mentioned in the series, songs I think suit the book, and ones I listened to while writing.
Also, I would like to personally thank Kristie, Charity, and Jon for their help with this book.
Be well and be nice. I will see you soon.
Sincerely,
Quil Carter