finally perched on my shoulder as Shadow returned. Her tiny paw rubbed my cheek before she sent visions she knew I found to be calming. The tap, tap, tap of her creepy finger on my collarbone became a grounding rhythm as I sucked in a breath and met Master Akai's cold black eyes.
“I believe it's time we had a discussion,” he announced, and an ominous weight settled in my chest.
Chapter Seven
Did I want to hear what he had to say? Not really. Yes. Did it matter what I wanted? Absolutely not.
“I had hoped this would never need to be brought into the light, but recent events have made it necessary,” Master Akai said before pausing to sip on the drink Kian must have brought him.
He hoped I would never be brought to the King's attention? No, otherwise we would have talked when they had me listed as a potential bride for the Prince.
Tap, tap, tap.
“Where do I begin? I suppose I should start with your mother. It is true that she began her life in Anilia, but you've been led to believe that I only met her after she came to the Office. That's not correct. I've known your family long before the war. When things settled, I requested that your mother, along with others, work under me to keep them from their original designations.”
The way he said those final two words gave me an idea of what that meant. While the schools made the destruction of everything Anilian seem pleasant, plenty of the older Soulless had far different stories to tell. They spoke of the annihilation of a culture, an erasing of lives, and the perversion of truth. Those Anilians unfortunate enough to survive the war died in the eyes of history. Their will was worn away until only a whisper remained, and no matter how hard that whisper struggled to scream or pray, no one listened.
I jerked when Master cleared his throat, yanked away from the visions of broken bodies and scarred souls that paraded through my mind. Who were my grandparents? The errant thought flashed before disappearing as I gobbled up any information about my mother.
“She proved to be a quick study and rose through the ranks rather rapidly. I had high hopes for her. Then she became pregnant. At that time, they hadn't developed the inhibitor that is currently in our devices. She refused to tell me who the father was. Life went on, as it does. You were born, and I knew that you weren't fully Reaper when you opened your eyes. I just couldn't decide what the rest of you was. Too many possibilities lead to brown eyes, and you showed no other obvious signs as your Kian does.” Master Akai leaned back, steepling his bony fingers beneath his chin as he became lost in his thoughts.
My monster pricked at me, and I took the moment of silence to peek inside. The dark figure, my parasite, pulled itself onto the edge of the well. As I watched, it wrapped a clawed hand in the vines and lifted the other. When I didn't grab it, the creature opened and closed its fingers in a pulsing motion, beseeching me.
I heard a muffled version of Master Akai's voice and began to pull away, but before I left, I caught something that stuck with me. The monster that generally appeared to be so sinister seemed sad.
I missed some of what Master Akai said, and with my mind turning over the look in the monster's eyes, I didn't catch up until Master uttered something that demanded my attention.
“Before the day she disappeared, things seemed,” he paused, pressing his thin lips together. “They seemed off. She started logging a lot of time off-planet and grew paranoid, even to the point of leaving a note for me to find if anything happened to her. No, it didn't tell me anything beyond her wish for me to look after you. And instructions to help you suppress something that your father might have given you. She claimed that if you weren't strong enough for it, something would control you, devouring your essence before wearing your husk as a cloak.”
“What?” I jumped up from my seat, forgetting for a moment who I spoke to.
Tap, tap, tap.
My brain hurt. My stomach boiled. I couldn't breathe. Devouring? My gasps for air didn't stop him from demanding that I sit back down and refrain from interrupting him. His cold delivery and my fuzzy, grey vision had me