Chapter 36
SELAS
I ’m glad I can’t see the skin on my leg. I know it’s bad because of the soft gasp the medic made when he removed the cast earlier. I know it’s bad because I can feel the scar tissue from the claw wounds. Areas that will never heal fully.
I take a turn around my room, wincing in pain with each step.
I can do this. I will get stronger. I won’t let this beat me.
I’ll go back to the academy and train the cadets like Farnell.
Life doesn’t need to be over. I can still shift and fly.
The injury might make me slow on my feet but not in the air. I can be of use.
There’s hope.
But I won’t go back until Touron has moved on. I can’t bear to see him day in, day out and not be with him. I planned for a tryst or two, but the damn goyle stole my heart, and now that’s another part of me that’s broken.
I make a fifth circuit past the balcony and slow at the sound of voices. My father must be on the veranda below, but who is he speaking to?
“No. I don’t think so…Hmmm…if you say so…”
He’s on the phone, and it’s none of my business. I’m about to limp away when I hear something that stalls my step.
“Without the elites, they can’t do a thing…”
I limp onto the balcony and tune in.
“No, I did my part, and it cost me…Yes, my daughter…I know it will be worth it…Once they’re all dead…That’s right…I know…It’ll be over soon…”
My blood freezes in my veins as I piece together what he’s saying. The implications…No. It can’t be. Not my father. There must be some mistake.
I grab my gown and head downstairs.
I find my father standing by the hearth, whiskey in hand. His aura is muddy, an aura of conflict, but it brightens when I enter the room, warm and loving, and my heart hurts because I don’t want what I suspect to be true.
“Selas, sweetheart, you shouldn’t be exerting yourself so soon. The medic said to take turns about your room for the next few days.”
“I was taking a turn, and I ended up on the balcony.”
He stills, his aura shifting to muddy once more. “Oh?”
“I heard you on the phone.”
“What did you hear?” His tone is relaxed, but his aura darkens.
“You were talking about the elites, about them dying.”
“Sweetheart, I was talking about the elite exam. It’s happening as we speak.”
“You said, ‘ Once they’re all dead .’ Why would you say that? What’s happening? Tell me!” There’s a part of me that warns me not to push. Warns me to shut up and back off. Warns me to be afraid, but this is my father. He’s never given me reason to fear him. He loves me. He would never hurt me.
His aura confirms it now, brightening to tell me that all he wants to do is protect. “This is my fault,” he says finally. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart.”
A shadow rushes me from my left, and pain explodes in my head.
The world goes dark.