coming. “I’m stronger and faster than you, stupid girl. Want to bet I’ll make you drink? Of course, there is also a better alternative that might teach you the right lesson. How about we slap some iron cuffs on you and your uncle, too? If you refuse to drink from the blood slaves, if you’re so fond of them, why not become blood slaves yourselves, huh?”
“Let go of me!” Jacinda tried to free herself, but his grip was merciless, his gloved fingers digging into her arm.
“Did you really think the empire would let you live this way?” The gold guard laughed, mocking her as he watched her struggle. But his amusement was premature, and I watched as black veins burst around Jacinda’s eyes.
The darkness erupted in a devastating pulse, and it threw him back. He landed with a painful thud, his insides already liquefied as the Black Fever took hold of him. Jacinda froze, unable to control herself. The Aeternae slaves watched in horror as the silver guards tried to immobilize her.
They all died the moment they stepped toward her. She couldn’t hold back.
“I didn’t understand what was happening, but I felt awful. I didn’t want any of them dead. I’d only asked to be left alone,” Valaine said, her eyes still closed. Her voice began to change, dropping to a low murmur that sent chills rushing through my body. “I’d only asked to live the way I wanted.”
The worst part was that the slaves were getting sick as well, and fast. Left on her own in the middle of a terrified and infected village, Jacinda couldn’t cope with what she’d unwittingly done. She ran away up the coast, her bare feet sinking into the wet sand. She tripped and fell a few times, but she kept going, sobbing as she searched for her uncle.
The image moved until it found Galle, who was happily collecting a shell the size of his head, covered in pink-and-green striations. “Oh, this will make a fine instrument,” he muttered to himself.
“Uncle!” Jacinda cried out in the distance. “Uncle, I need help!”
Galle stilled, frowning as he watched her run toward him. “Jace… what’s wrong?”
“They came for us!” She threw her arms around him. He held her tight, pushing his worries back as he tried to calm her down. It took Galle a couple of minutes to get her to breathe properly.
“That’s it, honey. In and out,” he said. “Now, tell me what happened. Who came for us?”
“The silver guards. Someone from the slave villages farther inland must’ve seen us here,” Jacinda explained. “They came for us. They were going to force us to drink Aeternae blood. The people were scared. I was scared. I didn’t know what to do. I… I lost control.”
“You need to tell me more. What do you mean you lost control?” he asked.
Jacinda’s eyes were glazed with tears, and the black veins returned. My stomach tightened as I realized what was about to happen. “No…” I whispered. She was losing control again. The grief and the guilt were taking a toll, much like the fear and the anger she’d felt earlier.
“I hurt him. Them. I hurt them all… I didn’t even realize it,” Valaine said.
“Uncle, what… what’s happening to me?” Jacinda sobbed.
Galle couldn’t answer. Black blood dripped from his nose, and he fell to his knees, no longer able to stand. The Black Fever took hold of him, merciless and painful. Jacinda tried to help him back up, but he stopped breathing. His skin darkened, covered in broken blood vessels. He gave his last breath in her arms, and Jacinda was devastated.
“Uncle, no…”
“It was my fault,” Valaine continued, opening her eyes to look at me. I felt her agony inside me, rippling and simmering and tearing me apart. “I couldn’t explain it, but I knew I was to blame. It wasn’t something I could live with. I refused to exist because I’d taken so many lives. Maybe the guards had had it coming, but the others… no. My uncle was innocent, and I killed him.”
The four of us watched as Jacinda wandered farther up the beach, having left Galle behind. I lost track of time, unable to take my eyes off the poor woman. She cried and walked until her legs could no longer hold her. She’d been drinking animal blood for a long time, and her Aeternae body was not as strong as the others in her species—much like the Orvisians.
Eventually, she reached a patrol. Two silver guards emerged from