“I couldn’t take the chance that they would let the Elusians know what was happening,” he said. He turned his eyes toward me, the light reflecting like silver coins in his eyes.
Anger formed in my chest at the number of my people this man had killed, and it must have shown on my face, for he continued.
“You have to understand, Kat. Illyrians breed almost exclusively humans and Somas. We get maybe five Mageians a year, in a good year, and as our numbers shrink, that has decreased, too. I couldn’t risk losing this pipeline of Mageians.”
I tried to rein my emotions in and thought quietly for a few minutes.
“I’m glad you were there for him,” I said, finally. “Davidus is a good man. He was working on an escape plan for us when they found out he was Mageian. When I got to the Legion, and he wasn’t there… I figured I’d never see him again.”
Quiet fell as we sipped our drinks.
“Erix is your twin?” he asked. I nodded. I had heard V tell him I’d lost my twin.
“So what’s the story with V?” Hel asked after a while. “You seemed surprised when he lied about when he found out he was Mageian.”
I shrugged. I hadn’t been able to pin V down to have that discussion yet.
“I don’t know. I thought he found out the same day he was shipped to the Legion, just like everyone else does,” I answered. “Are you sure he was really lying about it?”
Hel nodded.
I harrumphed. His stare remained on me, and I shifted uncomfortably under its weight.
“So we have some other questions still needing some truth,” he teased, trying to lighten the mood.
“Ask.” I said harshly.
“Okay,” he said. “Men or women?”
I rolled my eyes.
“Fine. Men, when I have the choice,” I said.
His brow furrowed. “When you have the choice? What does that mean?” he asked, confusion thick in his voice.
It was my turn to stare into the fire, desperately wishing the light could drive the freezing blood from my veins when I thought of the Houses.
I must have been quiet too long because Hel reached out and touched my face gently. My eyes shot to his. The same zap was there, but it didn’t feel harsh anymore. It was more like tingling. Hot, but the kind of heat that made your heart race.
“It—we-,” I stuttered, trying to find the words to describe a Calling.
“Hey…” he said, stopping me. “It’s okay, you don’t have to tell me. This wasn’t part of the deal.”
I shook my head. I needed to get this out. I couldn’t talk to V about it, and I talked with V abouteverything. In a few more weeks I’d probably never see Helios again. It didn’t matter what he thought of me.
“A House is a brothel, tied up in religion. When you are a Mageia and are summoned for a Calling, you don’t have a choice. You do what they say, when they say it. Anything.”
I saw Hel swallow hard.
“There is no choice,” I spat out, bitterly. “No free will. The bastards can do absolutely anything to you. I did my best to save V from that. My best wasn’t good enough.
He stood and began pacing.
“Our half-brother, Maalik, paid for a Calling with Luke.” Hel swore quietly. I wanted to stop talking, but it was like when I had been given the drugged wine, I couldn’t stop.
“I—convinced them to change it, to give it to me, instead.” I lifted my eyes to Hel’s reluctantly, waiting for the disgust to fill them.
“I—I couldn’t let him take Luke,” I said, turning away from Hel and curling in on myself. “It was the only thing I could think to do, the only thing I could think of that might save him. He’d never even had sex, as far as I know. He was a fucking eighteen-year-old virgin, and his own brother paid—”
