“Why not here? What’s so special about America?”
“It belongs to Paul. And he was cast out. He made abominations back in the Old World. Sick things. And he was punished for it.”
“Is that what he wants me to make with Ryet? Sick things?”
Tristin shrugs. “I don’t know. I am not privy to the ambitions of Paul. I doubt it, since the last time resulted in a very severe banishment. But the important thing here is that whatever happens next, it must not happen in the presence of the Obscurati. They must not get a hold of you, or any children you have. They must not get Ryet, either. He’s under our protection too.”
“Sincewhen?”
“Always. He’s always been under our protection.”
“So you were lying to me the whole time. You were never trying to keep me safe.”
“I was lying.” He shrugs with his hands.
And this throws me. Because I was really expecting him to tell me no, he didn’t know. He was lied to as well. We were all lied to. That we’re still a team. Still on the same side.
But instead, he gave me the truth.
It’s a big letdown.
Tristin continues. “Paul and the Guild have a deal.”
“Me.”
“You’re only a small part of it, Syrsee.”
“He said I would be the mother of demons. I don’t want to be the mother of demons, Tristin. I don’t want to do any of this.”
“Well,” Tristin sighs—it’s nearly a scoff—“that’s like me saying I don’t want to be a rogue. But here I am.”
“What the hell is a rogue?”
“It’s a type of vampire.”
I blink at him. “You’rea vampire?”
“No. I’m a rogue.”
“What’s the difference?”
“I was cut when I was born. More accurately, I was burned. They cauterized my wing buds so they never formed. Then they took out my heart and put it back in.”
“What?” Just when I think this world cannot get any more horrifying, there’s more. “Why would they do something like that?”
“This stops the blood thirst because it interrupts the maturation process of the filtering in my lungs. It makes me ‘other’. They consider me… a eunuch. But…” He closes his eyes, sighing. “Not the way you think.”
I look down between his legs, but then quickly look back up again.
Tristin smiles. “All of that is still very much intact. I’m just missing wings and the blood thirst. I am a low creature to the Obscurati. A… servant. They send the rogues to the Guild as representatives.”
“Representatives of…?”
“They rule the world, Syrsee. The Guild and the Obscurati. With the Darkness, of course, which acts like a judge.”
“I don’t understand. If the Guild and the Obscurati are working together?—”
“Since when do two hands of a three-handed government work together?”
