I look up at him, expecting to see something different, to see something human in him, but no, there’s nothing.
“I go to meet my mother,” I say to him, assuming he won’t be listening. Just because I can, I repeat the words she used to say to us when we amused her. “Waning, waxing, and aglow.”
Walker stops his horse, his hands tight on the reins. He looks sideways, and his gaze lands just in front of me.
“Why didn’t you run?” he hisses. “Why would you stay?”
I stare at him, but he doesn’t wait for an answer; he just kicks his heels into the horse and leaves us there, staring at his dust.
Chapter 59
Welcome back
Foreen looms ahead, all sharp buildings and bringing the smell of blood and death. We are awkwardly herded over the collapsed wall of metal, the wall I so proudly escaped over such a short time ago. Once on the other side, we’re met by the force of the Beta’s Path, staring at us in hate and rage. The news has spread that the Beta’s Fang is dead, and they are livid.
“Welcome back,” a feminine voice shouts above the snarls and hisses of enraged betas.
The woman huffs and turns, her body jerking in that alien way of hers.
“I am the Beta Goddess!”
Mordecai presses against me from behind, the warmth of his body a comfort.
They tried to burn it. Foreen has singed and charred, but it’s still standing. What does that say about us? Is it a good omen or a bad one?
“Now, as so many of you are aware, you have escaped and ruined our fun. But this is a special year, so we’ve brought you back. A,” she tilts her head to the side with a demented smile, “two point oh, if you will.”
She looks around and then leans down to talk to her executioner.
“You killed my Fang?” She scowls, her beautiful face displaying her irritation before she shrugs it off. “Fine, choose another.”
A masked man is dragged out of the line and put before her.
“Who is he?”
“Serial killer, loves to work with fire and water. He’s particularly cruel to women.” The Claw intones with complete boredom. “We have high hopes for him.”
“Perfect. You are my new Fang.” She clicks her fingers, and a wooden box is rushed towards her. They open it, and she takes her time looking into it. I am not curious; whatever is in there will be foul.
After a couple of minutes, she nods her head and pulls one out.
“Come here, my child.”
The man comes and kneels at her feet, his head tilted back with rapture. I can’t see his face.
She puts the mask in a fire that is brought before her. She hums, waiting, and then pulls it out, ignoring her burning hand, and places it on the skin of her chosen.
He doesn’t make a sound, not even when we can all smell his face cooking. Several people vomit, but I just look away, refusing to react.
I glance out of the corner of my eye and see Cadel and Jarek just behind Mordecai.
“Good. Now, release the alphas and omegas. We need a good hunt. There’s no joy if we don’t get to play before we kill them.”
I stare at this new host of the mad goddess. Is that what it’s all come to now? We’re simply a way for her to amuse herself. Rage makes my insides roil.
Can gods go insane? Is that a thing?
I stand as still as I can while a beta comes and unlocks us all. We can’t move; they’ve got crossbows trained on us, but as soon as we’re all unlocked, the Beta’s Voice waves her hands, shooing us away.
