Total pages in book: 56
Estimated words: 53433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 267(@200wpm)___ 214(@250wpm)___ 178(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 267(@200wpm)___ 214(@250wpm)___ 178(@300wpm)
“Why?” I blinked, feeling a tension build in my chest. It was getting harder to fend him off. I wanted to let go and trust him. Don’t do it. Don’t jump off that cliff.
“You do not understand how incredibly rare you are, Jeni. Our breed of people is essentially extinct. You and I are it.”
His words instantly jerked me back from the cliff. So this was his point? This bigger matter was filling the world with more of us?
“You and I are not it. There’s Draco, too,” I said with a bite. “And why are you talking like you’ve already written him off? Is there something you’re not telling me?” Because when it came to Ansin, I had major trust issues.
“I merely meant that you have an important role to play in the future of this world.”
That depended on who won the race. The Seers were planning a full-on comeback with my son as their leader. Ansin was planning a comeback of his own people, the Bastuli. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that these two tribes weren’t going to be buddies. Who knew where that would leave me?
“Do you have high hopes of having Bastuli children with Obliza?” I asked.
“The odds are low, but I face an even greater challenge should I be successful. I come from a long line of healers. Yet, I cannot heal. I can, however, teach. I can fight. I can deploy the sorts of powers that make me a formidable adversary. But I am not a true Bastuli. Not anymore.”
“Why?”
“My heart is too dark,” he replied, like it was just a boring old fact. The sky is blue. Today is Wednesday.
He continued, “I never forgave what was done to my people, and that means I will not be the best influence on my children in the long run.”
“Then what’s your plan?”
“That is where you were supposed to come in, Jeni.”
I laughed quietly. “You expected me to raise your kids alone while you run off doing…whatever supervillains do?”
“Very funny, but no. I hoped that once you came into your powers, you might heal me.”
I frowned. “Heal your heart?”
“It’s either that, or I will have to abandon my children and hope for the best. I cannot risk poisoning them.”
What kind of crap plan was this? “So you’ll just walk away.”
“Walking would not be part of it,” he replied. “I would deploy my dagger on myself.”
His comment took a moment to sink in. “Wait. You’d kill yourself?”
He nodded. “I thought you should know.”
It was a moot point because he and I weren’t going to start a family, but something felt off. In prior conversations, Ansin had always made it seem like he wanted to ride off into the sunset with me and our gaggle of Bastuli children. He’d never mentioned any of this dying crap before.
So was he just trying to fuel sympathy and manipulate me, or was he actually being truthful for once?
“Why are you really telling me all this?” I asked.
“I want to prepare you for the future.”
There he was again, talking like he’d already given up on the present or ever finding Draco. I didn’t like it. I wouldn’t give up. Not ever.
“I don’t have a future,” I said, holding back the flood of soul-wrecking despair. “Not without my child, so let’s just focus on finding him. Do you know how to get my powers to work?” Once before, I’d used my gifts to find King. That was how Ansin and I had known he was at Sage’s. If I could figure out what was wrong, I could see where Draco was. But since his birth, my gifts didn’t seem to be working. The most I’d been able to do was push my mind to visit Seer Land. Not very successful.
“Tell me what happens when you attempt to locate him?”
“All I see is darkness.”
“That is unusual.”
“Why?” I asked.
“As I said before, you are very powerful. I can practically taste the energy coming from you. I would expect you to at least catch a hint of his location—a smell, a glimpse of his surroundings, a sound. Anything.”
“I get nothing.” None of this made sense.
“Maybe whoever took him is blocking you, and they’re doing it well.”
“So it’s the Seers. Just like I said.” Who else could it be? My eyes started to tear up.
Ansin took my hand in his. It was warm and rough, sending a calming wave through me. “I cannot imagine what you must be feeling, Jeni, but know I will do what I can to help you.”
“Is that a promise?” I asked.
He nodded.
“Why are you helping me?” After everything, he really didn’t owe me.
“I need you.”
I frowned.
“To heal me,” he added. “As I already told you. And, whether you believe me or not, I do not like seeing you suffer.”
For once, I sensed nothing but sincerity. “Thank you for doing this.”