Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 78164 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78164 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
This kind of talk could lead to genocide, and I already knew Cyderial had a taste for such things. “Then what is it you have in mind? Torturing hybrid children in the academy is not exactly mercy.”
His hand came to my shoulder, rubbing where I had grown tense. Watching my every tic, he said, “We’ll have our chance to prove to the universe that we deserve to be here, even if we were not naturally created. But until our gene pool is large enough to be self-sustaining, we still need human women to bear us. We still need to suffer for them in exchange.”
“You make us sound like some kind of disease, eating away at the very humans I was raised to protect. Waiting them out until our numbers are high enough to make them obsolete.”
That clever touch moved to the nape of my neck, massaging fingers trilling along the bone. “Humans are the cancer on this world, just as they were back on Earth. We are the cure and the only means of survival on this planet. They will never be able to adapt. Were they wiser, every human female would birth only hybrid children who could care for her until her inevitable death from old age.”
I could not believe what I was hearing! Throwing off his touch, I let him see just how disgusted I was with his words. “The extremists are right. With talk like that, humans have every right to fear us!”
“I don’t support a human holocaust. Merely an inevitable transition.” All said as if my temper was expected, accepted, yet unsupportable. “Humans will breed themselves into starvation again. It is only a matter of time. Our video will cause an uptick in the popularity of carrying a hybrid baby. In that, it is a boon for our kind. We need genetic diversity to survive.”
“You’re talking about something that could be thousands of years away. What about today? What about Agnes? What about all the children you brainwash in the academy now?”
“Agnes will find a mate, and he will take care of her. He will suffer, so she doesn’t have to.”
Oh, he had sparked my temper. So much so that I was eyeballing the knife he used to prepare my breakfast. “Agnes doesn’t want a mate; she wants to study biology. I didn’t want a mate. I wanted the fog!”
My words, my rage, my snarls and booms, they did nothing but encourage the man to smile. A dark thing that made it clear he gained further ground in the battle between us.
Too late, I realized my slip. I said wanted the fog. Past tense.
“You are a terrible person, Cyderial.” And the idea of sinking my claws right into his eyes was very appealing. “Don’t play word games with me unless you’re ready to face the consequences of having to put me down, over and over, until my hearts grow so hard I will never be able to love you.”
“Someday, your craving for the fog will fade, and I will be at your side, taking care of you, challenging you, and keeping you happy in every possible way.”
He was trying to distract me from the very obvious consequences of my video with his underhanded tactics, and I wasn’t having it. “If my public meltdown encourages more humans to carry hybrid offspring, that would only mean there would be more children suffering in the academy. And it would ultimately be my fault. It’s in direct opposition to what I want for my friends.”
“You do not have the monopoly on loving our people. Remember that.” He dared run a finger down my jaw, admiring me like I was some work of art. “You already know there is only one immediate answer to the issue of how children are treated within the academy, don’t you, my love?”
Cocking an eyebrow, I gave him a harsh glare, and snarled, “Assignment as the weapons instructor to babies? Do you remember what those classes are like? What you’re ordering me to do to children I know and love?”
“Even a small change is an improvement, and they will forgive you when they grow up.” Said with such simplicity by a man who executed children right in front of me.
Forgive me when they grew up? My head fell into my hands, a weighty sigh warming the flesh of my palms. “I have terms, if you want me to even consider such a monstrosity. The older female recruits will be given education about mates and sex. No unmated female should ever be forced into a bond while blind to the reality of her situation. It’s wrong on every level, Cyderial. Hybrid men are hurting us just as much as the humans are. You must acknowledge that. It is wrong to raise us for your pleasure, leaving us to think we had any choice in the matter of who will claim us in the end.”