Chapter 18 Holometabolism
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
HOLOMETABOLISM
Any nightwalker who has harmed a Feeder will be prohibited from entering the Undercity.
— Serun’s Law
Before everyone arrives, the Bleeder takes the tray away. As he does, the doors swing open, and the rest of the Feeders file in. Jax is at the front of the line, with Cole trying to keep up. A broad grin lights up his face, and when he spots me, he pushes Jax aside to wrap his arms around me.
I wince at the tender ache in my neck but manage to swallow the pained sound that threatens to escape. Instead, I embrace my brother, resting my face on his shoulder and inhaling his lingering rusty copper scent.
After the hug, he leans back, and as my hands slide down his arms, my gaze drops to his elbow. A cotton ball is taped to the crook of his arm. With a proud grin on his face and excitement lacing his voice, he says, “I bled today!”
A churn of disgust twists my insides as I watch my brother experience a sense of achievement rather than horror at this milestone.
He sits next to me while Jax takes the seat opposite us. Words flow from Jax, low and rapid. He’s eager to know everything. If and where the nightwalker touched me. His onslaught prompts an uneasy squirm, and I clutch my shirt as I recall the nightwalker’s sharp fingernails digging into my skin.
“No,” I say, pushing down the memory of the nightwalker who assaulted me, and the one I kissed when I was drunk on his bite. “No, he didn’t touch me. He only bit me.”
“He…” Blue eyes settle on the side of my neck. “How big is your brand?”
I roll my tongue across the top of my teeth while I get hold of my rising irritation.
Jax knows a hell of a lot more than he lets on, and it is really starting to bother me. He could have told me I’d be branded. He could have fucking mentioned to expect a nightwalker’s venom to ink my flesh. He could have shared a lot more to ease my mind—or a lot more in fucking general.
I lick my lips, tasting a distractingly potent salty iron scent in the air, but I shake it off and answer, “It covers my back.”
Jax’s face contorts in revulsion for a moment before his mask slides into place, and he bites into his bread.
But I saw it. I saw every muscle that twitched and every line that formed that facial expression before he concealed it.
With it, a hole in my heart expands—calloused and filled with a bleeding rot.
He will look at me that way if I drop my glamour.
“Then it just left?” he asks, taking another bite.
“Yeah…” My nostrils flare, and I press my tongue to the roof of my mouth.
“Good,” he sighs, a wash of relief flowing from him. “I’m glad.”
I glare at him, and before I can open my mouth, the timer goes off. Like well-trained livestock, the Feeders rise and turn towards the sunlit courtyard.
I stand, and as I move to join them, a Bleeder intercepts me and says, “Feeder zero-zero-eight, you are to be escorted back to your room.”
Jax touches my shoulder with a smile. “You should rest. You had a rough night.”
I look back to the Bleeder and nod.
While my friends make their way to the courtyard, I turn away and follow the Bleeder out of the mess and back to my room.
Overwhelming tiredness washes over me, and a stinging ache throbs in my neck, though it somehow feels more like pleasure than pain.
The Bleeder opens the door for me, and I collapse on Cole’s bed, too tired to reach mine.
The Bleeder waits at the door. My gaze drifts to him, and he says, “The god would like to see you tonight, but wants you to know you’re not obliged if you don’t want to. However, if you agree, tomorrow will be another day of peace.”
I grip my shirt. “Is it the same nightwalker?”
“Yes. The god left a letter on the bed.”
My breath shakes on the inhale, then burns on the way out. An ache fills my mouth, thickening my saliva. I want to tell the Bleeder to fuck off, but I didn’t get to ask the nightwalker what he saw in my memories, so this might be my chance.
“Did the letter say anything else?”
“That he enjoyed your company and would like to see you again. That was all.”
Pressing my lips inward on a deep breath, I exhale and say, “Okay.”