Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 110809 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 554(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110809 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 554(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Candice turns to look at me. My knees go a little weak as the reporters erupt in shock, some in jeers, others in jaded laughter. A few of them leave, anger powering their steps as they hurry through the foyer and out into the night.
“Settle down!” Fatima yells in her schoolteacher voice. “Settle down, please!”
The guffaws lessen somewhat, but plenty of whispers remain. “Nothing like campaign promises,” someone mutters. “—going to eat her alive… –Gray will become our Dear Leader at this rate.”
Juno turns to Valen. He steps up beside her, his black suit seeming to swallow the light just as his cold gaze swallows the whispers. His presence is curious, not just to the press but to me as well. Curiosity is dangerous.
“Now, to show you the truth of my claim, I’m prepared to give a demonstration.” Juno’s voice rings out clear and strong.
“What?” I step forward, but Candice keeps her grip on my arm. We’re just inside the reception room now, all eyes on Valen.
“Vince, if you please.” Juno rolls up her sleeve and holds out her arm.
My insides twist as Vince pulls out his pocketknife and opens it, the silver glinting in the bright lights.
“What in the name of—” Candice yelps.
Vince, without hesitation, cuts a long gash down Juno’s arm.
The entire room gasps, and I pull away from Candice and try to push my way through the throng of reporters. I don’t know what the hell is going on, but I don’t like it. I need to get to Juno.
“Witness!” Juno calls with the fervor of an old-timey preacher.
I keep pushing despite some of the people throwing elbows or trying to block me as everyone crushes forward for a better look. By the time I reach the front and have a clear view of Juno again, Valen is drawing a silver blade across his palm. When he pulls away, I see blood on his pale skin, the flesh neatly split.
“Stop!” I yell.
Vince jumps down from the stage and barrels toward me.
“Juno!” I drag my eyes away from him to stare at the deep cut on her arm. Oh god, Vince cut tendons. It’s almost down to the bone. I have to help her now or she’ll lose function. Fuck!
Valen holds up two fingers, each of them streaked with his blood. Then, with a smooth movement, he swipes his blood across her wound.
“Don’t!” I yell as Vince makes it to me and grabs my arm.
Juno’s gaze locks on me. “Trust me,” she says through the din of shocked reporters. “Trust me, Georgia.”
I fight to get to the stairs, but Vince isn’t letting go. “Wait!” he hisses. “Just wait!”
“What the fuck?” The reporters behind me are still jostling forward, and the cameras at the side of the room have moved in closer. Blood draws journalists like shit draws flies.
“Let go!” I yell at Vince. He refuses and bears my anger with a stoicism that pisses me off even more.
When I look up again, Valen is staring down at me, his eyes dark, the blood on his skin a stark red. All I can think of is what could be lurking in that crimson forest. Plague virus, influenza, one of the old coronaviruses of the past—anything could be infecting Juno right this second. Why would she do such a thing?
“Now!” She raises her arm.
I stop. The entire room stops. It’s still, as if someone has cast a spell that locks us in amber. The gash is gone. Completely gone. The only thing left is a slight trace of blood, and somehow, I know it isn’t even hers.
“Juno!” I lunge forward, breaking Vince’s hold as I awkwardly climb onto the podium and yank Juno’s arm toward me. “What were you thinking?” I can barely hear past the screaming in my mind as I run my hand along her smooth flesh. “What the fuck, Juno? What the fuck?” I can’t find a break in her skin. Everything is smooth and brown, unblemished.
“It’s all right.” Juno grips my wrist and shoots a scowl at Vince. “Really, Georgia. I’m perfectly all right.”
The room behind me is in an uproar, the reporters jockeying to get closer. “Move! Let us see!”
Juno pulls me around to her side. “My doctor—who also happens to be my sister—is just as surprised as all of you. She didn’t know about this demonstration. But she has seen—” She holds up her arm. “—what this new discovery can do. Look for yourselves.”
A million cameras snap photos, and I’m suddenly painfully aware of the sheer number of people with their attention focused on us.
Someone snickers behind me. “Primitives,” he hisses. It’s the blond man who came in with Valen.
Juno steps back to the microphone and holds out her hands. “Settle down. Settle down, everyone. I will explain.”
The room stills somewhat, though the agitation in the air is like a living thing, its tail whipping and snapping silently over our heads. I ease down the steps to Vince, my entire body buzzing in alarm. Her arm—I need to examine it more. I need to know she’ll be all right.