a hideout, a safe room, and to spy on people,” he explains.
“How did they spy?” I press, deciding I might as well get information out of him while he’s talking. It’s rare for him to be speaking, never mind to offer anything.
“Through that mirror, it shows the private council chambers where meetings are held,” he replies without looking at me.
“So why bring me here? Why tell me that? These secrets are dangerous.”
“So are you.” He shrugs.
“Who are you?” I question. He’s a mystery, he knows about the rooms and tunnels not even the council does. He’s powerful yet doesn’t show off, and I’m not sure Titus is even his real name.
Most importantly, is he friend or foe?
“A friend,” he offers.
“I don’t have any,” I growl back, but then that’s a lie, isn’t it? Dawn flashes through my mind, as does Nos.
“Fine, I’m not an enemy, Griffin, so stop looking for ulterior motives.” He exhales wearily.
“No one helps someone without a reason, especially not council members, so what’s your reason, Titus? What’s your story? Where did you come from?” I counter, throwing back my drink and letting the glass drop to the table with a thud.
He sits up, sipping his drink and watching me. “Knowledge is power, haven’t you ever heard that?”
“Yes, so, what, you’re going to use this against me?”
“No, I don’t need to. But I needed you alive, for now at least,” he admits.
“At least that’s the fucking truth. Fine, what for?”
“You’ll see.” He grins. “To answer your question, Titus is my name...now. It wasn’t always, I had another given to me by the man who made me.”
He nods then.
“Yes, like you. We have more in common than you could ever imagine, Griffin. I know everyone wonders what I am, but the truth is I am not one thing. I am so much more, a mix, a powerful one. I’m here because it is where I need to be, because I have things that need to be done. And you come into that plan, Griffin.”
“You were made? How? By who?” I ask, interested now. I feel my strength slowly returning, and every minute that passes relaxes me. He’s not here to attack me. I might not understand his reasons, but that’s clear.
“By a human many, many years ago. He created me out of fear and need, but I wasn’t the original, I was simply the first that went well. I didn’t try to kill him and had my own mind and soul, which is a tricky thing to create. But he bore me out of hate, Griffin, and fear and hate are strong emotions. It made me into a cold monster, as did the way I was brought up. I wasn’t a child, no, I was born into a man’s body and thrust into a world of pain and war. So let me assure you, I understand what it means to be called an abomination, an experiment. They will never know that I am one as well, but just think…” He grins. “A monster, a fucking experimentation on their own council, the thing they fear and hate most. Brilliant, isn’t it? Anyway, we have to stick together, so believe me when I say I mean you no harm.”
He turns his wrist then, looking at his watch and sighing. He drains the glass and adds it to the table with mine as he stands and tugs his shirt back into place, it doesn’t dare defy him. I sit watching him. “Council meeting time. Why don’t you stay? You might find it...illuminating.” He winks and then heads to a painting on the other wall. “Oh, and Griffin? Don’t worry about those men, they are nothing. You? You have a destiny.” He opens the painting, steps out, and closes it again with a click.
The room is silent, and I debate his words before standing and peering through the mirror he said was a spying aid. It must be a two-way mirror, but only able to be seen one way? Smart, really. I wonder who made this. He said the original council...the sleeping council? Why would they need to spy on their own officials? Unless they trust them as little as the rest of us do.
Like Titus mentioned, it shows the inside of the council chambers. The four walls are soundproof, so no one can hear in, and the giant golden door is locked from the inside, so I’ve never even glimpsed it before, but I can tell from the table. A massive,