Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 48407 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 242(@200wpm)___ 194(@250wpm)___ 161(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48407 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 242(@200wpm)___ 194(@250wpm)___ 161(@300wpm)
I sliced across its forelimbs, spun out of the way, and slashed at its neck, cleaving the head from the body in a single blow.
The beheaded body ran a few more steps and crumpled onto the stone. The head rolled across the arena’s floor.
Onyx stared at the dead vampire, trying to process what had happened. He wasn’t sure who took the vampire away from him. Both Rimush and Barrett were Masters of the Dead. It could’ve been either of them, and now he didn’t know how to react.
I breathed in, slow and deep. If Barrett caught me, there would be hell to pay.
Barrett wasn’t looking at me. He was staring at his journeyman, and his eyes shivered with rage. It had worked. He’d thought Onyx had bailed, abandoning the undead in the middle of the attack, because he got scared that I’d kill it.
“I don’t mind cleaning house,” I said into the silence. “But I have to charge.”
Onyx opened his mouth.
I flicked the blood off my blade. “Who did you sell Darin to?”
He took a step back.
I started toward him. Barrett said nothing. Good for me.
“You’ve broken the First Covenant. The People will not protect you. Tell me where the boy is, and I will spare your life.”
“I didn’t,” Onyx stammered. “I didn’t make him into a vampire. He’s alive.”
“The First Covenant doesn’t just cover making people undead against their will. The First Covenant forbids slavery in all its forms. ‘There must be free will.’ That is the first and most sacred pledge.”
The Shinar had been mostly a free kingdom, but it was also a cosmopolitan place where many travelers did business. My great grandfather had outlawed slavery among Shinar citizens, and yet there had been thousands of slaves in the kingdom, brought there by foreign dignitaries and traders. When my father woke up post-Shift, codifying freedom of choice was his first decision and the first law he passed onto the People.
Roland had wanted to impose his will on everyone, but he had also wanted everyone to obey him because they loved him and agreed with him.
I reached striking distance. Onyx stayed where he was, glancing at me, then at Barrett, then at me again.
“You put in a custom order for a child to be stolen off the street and you sold him. That is slavery. You’re a human trafficker. Scum.”
I raised Sarrat and aimed it at his throat. The blade smoked, feeding on the vampire blood still coating the saber. Thin tendrils of white vapor slid off the pale metal.
“I’m not a patient woman. Who bought the boy?”
Onyx sucked in a lungful of air. “It doesn’t matter anyway. He’ll kill you. His name is Aaron.”
“Last name?”
“Just Aaron. He’s a god.”
Oh goodie. “Where can I find this god named Aaron?”
“Emerald Wave.”
“And what is that?”
Onyx licked his lips nervously. “A cruise ship. It sank off the north end of Figure Eight Island. That’s his base.”
“Why did he want Darin? Why that particular kid?”
“He buys anyone who can stay under water longer than normal. That’s all I know.”
“How long has Aaron been buying kids like Darin?”
“For three years.”
Gods appeared during flares, extremely potent magic waves that came every 7 years, but they also showed up during random magical events. Three years ago there was a Night of the Shining Seas that coincided with or triggered a particular strong magic wave. And it had an especially strong effect on marine creatures. People called it the Night of the Shining Seas, because the oceans had glowed so bright, it looked like an inverted sunrise.
I slid Sarrat back into its sheath and took three steps back.
Onyx looked at Barrett. “I can explain.”
Barrett smiled and raised his eyebrows.
“I owe money to Lunar Crown,” Onyx stammered.
Wilmington’s largest casino. People did screwed-up shit for three reasons: love, revenge, or greed. Greed far outnumbered the other two.
“I just needed to pay off the debt, that’s all…”
Barrett gave him an encouraging nod.
“I never did anything…”
The remaining undead still sitting on the sidelines moved so fast, he might as well have teleported. A dark blur shot past Onyx. The journeyman stopped in mid-word. His mouth hung open in a slack O.
His stomach split in half and his intestines fell onto the stone by his feet.
The journeyman gagged. Blood gushed from his mouth. He choked on it, coughed, sending a cloud of bloody spray out, and collapsed.
Barrett’s eyes turned distant the way they did when a Master of Dead spoke through a faraway undead. “Blue Team 7, your feed is in the arena.”
He had piloted another vampire through this entire conversation. Masters of the Dead who could control two undead at the same time were rare. Just that ability alone had guaranteed a ticket to the Golden Legion when my father was in power.
Onyx made a gurgling noise.
“What’s your name?” Barrett asked me.