Total pages in book: 401
Estimated words: 390373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1952(@200wpm)___ 1561(@250wpm)___ 1301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 390373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1952(@200wpm)___ 1561(@250wpm)___ 1301(@300wpm)
“They also confirmed that the four we found dead this evening were alive this morning.” Hisa paused. “I believe them. I also believe those stationed at the other homes—where you will find the same.”
I nodded absently and turned. Crossing the space, I checked the Ascended in the bedchambers, finding what Hisa had said. “And none of them showed any signs of struggle?”
“No.” Naill shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “Not even a scratch.”
I walked out of the bedchamber and jerked to a halt. My gaze swung to the two in the common area. I started to move, then turned back to the two before me. My eyes narrowed. “So, they died somewhere in the last ten to twelve hours.”
“I was wondering when you would realize the next utterly unexplainable event,” Emil said. “They haven’t turned. They’re not Craven.”
The Ascended were born mortal, so they weren’t immune to the effects any other mortal would experience if another Ascended drained their blood and didn’t destroy their heart or their head. Even Atlantians—damn, even the gods—suffered similar fates, falling into bloodlust if drained of blood and left alive with no way to feed.
“None of them,” Naill confirmed. “And as Hisa said, we’ve found no other injuries—like broken necks.”
My mouth opened, but I was struck speechless. A broken neck wouldn’t kill an Ascended unless the spinal column was severed completely, thus preventing them from turning Craven.
None of this was possible.
I saw the same in the other two homes: All sources of light were blown, the Ascended were drained of blood, and no signs of a struggle nor evidence that anyone had entered or exited the homes was found. They even smelled the same—that sweet yet stale scent permeating the space.
“My first thought was that one of them had gone mad,” Emil said as we stood in the underground chambers of the third home.
It was just us, four dead Ascended, and some dead birds.
I stared at the metal birdcage.
The colorful winged creatures lay on shredded paper covering the floor. I had no idea what kind of birds they were.
Hisa and Naill had left to check in with the guards who were still searching the remaining Ascended’s homes.
“I know older Ascended can go some time without feeding, and we don’t know when any of them were turned, but when we realized that all of them were dead, and no one could’ve come in or gotten out?” he said, looking around with a shake of his head. “I can’t think of anything that would’ve done this.”
“Neither can I.” I stared at the woman we’d found in a chaise with a book still open in her lap.
We had to be missing something.
“Unless someone—multiple someones—are lying,” Emil suggested, lifting a shoulder. “Look, none of us can say we’d be all that shocked if one of ours sought vengeance against them. And plenty would ignore it or even help, including some mortals. Which would also explain why they didn’t turn Craven.”
“It would.” An Atlantian’s bite wasn’t poisonous. A god’s? I had no idea. I would assume it wasn’t, but I couldn’t be sure since we had been misinformed and misled on so much. “But that doesn’t explain why there was no struggle.”
“I didn’t say my statement explained everything.” He picked up a leather-bound book from a stack of many and flipped it over. “Guess they were readers.”
I tasted the tartness of his confusion and wondered if it was only because we had no answers about how this had happened. “You okay?”
His gaze flew up to mine as he hastily set the book down. “Of course.”
I arched a brow. “You want to try answering that again?”
Emil opened his mouth, then closed it. His brows knitted as the tart taste of his confusion increased, and I knew it was something else—something deeper. “Something’s different about this house,” he said after a few moments. “In the other two homes, they had a chamber used to store blood.”
I’d seen the earthen chamber stocked with vials and packed with ice to keep the blood as fresh as possible. My lingering disgust from the sight returned as I wondered exactly how many had died to fill it. “It’s fairly common.”
“There’s been talk among some of the others about destroying their reserves,” Emil shared.
I’d heard that from Kieran, who had put a stop to the idea before anyone could act upon it. That surprised me. Kieran had no love for the Ascended, barely even a thin veneer of tolerance. The only thing I could come up with was that, like me, he didn’t want anything done to the Ascended until Poppy was awake and could voice her opinion on what to do with them.
I knew what I wanted to do with them.
“This house, though?” Emil said. “It doesn’t have one.”
My brows snapped together.
“We checked. They didn’t have a stock of blood in reserve.” He scratched at his chin, shaking his head as he stared at the ceiling. The sky was painted across the plaster in bright, sunny blues. There was also a mural along the walls of the common area—a painting of the Sun Temple in Carsodonia, its golden walls glimmering in the sunlight. “Why?”