Dino rubs his face. “My God.”
“He’s dead,” I say. “I saw him die.”
“And his lizard army?”
“Them as well, but there are likely more of them out there.”
“Then we’ll need to find them.”
“I don’t think we should. Hector told me they can’t live for more than a few years. I think they deserve to die in peace. They were people before all of this.”
Dino nods. “I’ll consider it. Go check on Caden. We have a long day ahead of us.”
Chapter 28
Caden
“How am I here?”
In the distance, Denver is burning, but the thick smoke doesn’t reach as far as the cliff I’m sitting on.
“You sound surprised,” Hector says from the other side of the table. “Did you think you’d get rid of me so easily?”
I’m reminded of the unrelenting pain I’ve experienced for hours, until all I wanted was to die. “Nothing about getting rid of you was easy.”
“Should I apologize to make you feel better?”
“I need you out of my blood, Hector. If you’re still there, I’ll—”
“—kill yourself?”
“Yes.” And I mean it. I can’t go back to how I was when I wasn’t myself, when I washis.
Hector rolls his eyes. “Enough with the drama. I’m almost fully out of your system, but there is still a bit of me left—a drop in the ocean compared to what we used to share. Be kind and let me have these final moments.”
I feel nothing but contempt toward this man, but I can’t ignore the fact that the oldest man on earth is holding on to life through our connection. “Was all of this worth it?”
“No.”
I’m taken aback by his honesty.
“It almost was,” he says as he watches his city burn, “but there were too many anomalies toward the end that I couldn’t prepare for. Humans will need to wait a bit longer for someone to reshape the world. It’s only a matter of time.”
“Good thing you don’t have to worry about that.”
He nods. “True, and soon you will see firsthand how cruel the world is to those who are different.”
For a moment, I don’t understand his meaning, but then I look down at my arms. Scales decorate my skin, and when I touch my face, I feel them too. “How can I make them go away?”
“You can’t. What’s done is done.”
“You’re lying.”
He watches me with pity. “I’ve got no reason to lie. You could have held the world in the palms of your hands as my champion, but now you will be an outcast for the rest of your life.”
I don’t want to give him any more power over me, but his words cut deep.
“I’m ready to wake up now.”
