Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 53656 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 268(@200wpm)___ 215(@250wpm)___ 179(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53656 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 268(@200wpm)___ 215(@250wpm)___ 179(@300wpm)
CHAPTER 6
Cassandra
“Cassandra, are you even listening to me?” My mother's voice broke through my thoughts, and I blinked a couple times, reorienting myself in the present.
I had not been listening to her.
I'd been reliving my training session with Talon last night. I'd been feeling his lips on my skin, his body against mine, pinning me to the floor. I'd been feeling the rush that was actually and finally beating him. Yes, I'd had to stoop to a different kind of surprise attack, but it’d worked, and either way, I’d really needed a win.
What I had not needed was the distraction be so good I tuned out what could’ve been vital information.
“I apologize,” I said, adjusting my posture to make sure it was perfect where we sat facing each other at a little table that’d been set up by Joffrey on the veranda. It overlooked the gorgeous, lush jungle below the estate, the stars sparkling like diamonds in the midnight sky.
I could hear the waves crashing from the beach not too far from here, and if I was sitting with literally anybody else, it would have been peaceful.
“It's been so long since I've returned home,” I continued, drawing up my most apologetic mask. “I'm distracted by the beauty of this place.” I motioned to the area surrounding us, and my mother's eyes softened.
“Quite understandable,” she said. “If you came home more often, you wouldn't be so distracted.” She snapped her fingers, giving Joffrey some sort of practiced looked, and he disappeared for a moment.
“I will ensure that the length of time is never as long again between visits.” The lie didn't even taste bad in my mouth. I had no guilt when it came to the female before me, despite the way I may be acting. Despite playing the role of the simpering, submissive, and dutiful daughter.
“I was just saying how wonderful you’re looking compared to the first day that you came. The island is doing wonders for you. Your skin is practically glowing in the moonlight.”
I was about to open my mouth to say thank you, but was stopped as Joffrey returned with a human in tow.
This human was not unlike the one we’d sampled the first night. He was young, gorgeous, and looked practically catatonic as Joffrey led him to our table. He unsheathed a blade from his inner pocket, holding the human's wrist over Mother's empty crystal coupe, the blade dragging across the human’s skin so easily it was like a knife cutting through butter.
His blood flowed into the coupe, and Joffrey reached for mine, filling it before filling a crystal decanter to the brim and setting it in the middle of the table. He wrapped a napkin around the human’s wrist, but the poor thing could barely stand at this point. In fact, he looked quite green.
Joffrey hoisted the human over his shoulder like he was nothing more than a pile of trash to be cleared, and waltzed back into the house, no doubt to the kitchens where the rest of his blood would be used and his body discarded later.
My heart clenched, empathy and guilt sloshing together at the way my parents still operated. There was no need for the way they treated humans, but speaking out now or doing something silly like trying to save the doomed creature would only blow our cover. And put thousands of innocent lives at stake.
I swallowed down the hate and the shame and raised my glass as my mother did, clinking them together before taking a sip. The blood was still warm, filling my mouth with its sweet taste.
“Almonds,” I said, nodding to my mother in what I hoped she would perceive as a respectful show of gratitude.
“Quite delicious, isn't it?”
“Quite,” I said, taking another sip, every swallow feeling like some sort of damning sentence. It didn’t matter that I knew the humans who came to the island came of their own free will. Hell, there were many desperate souls who practically fought for the position to be selected as one of my parents’ harvested.
They were well-compensated, the money going to the families of those who volunteered. It was as much of a business transaction as any, and the agreeing parties’ participation definitely kept the king and his assassins away from their door for centuries.
Alek would never condone something as heinous as cold-blooded murder just to feed. But my family had found a way around that, like they so often did. Vipers indeed.
I took another mouthful, knowing that not doing so would raise more suspicion than anything. And that's the last thing I wanted. We’d already been here three days but it felt like three months. Every second spent in my mother's presence was one of harsh critique and conflicting ideologies that I couldn't even express.
No. I had to sit here, back ramrod straight and hands delicately placed in my lap if I wasn't raising a glass. Had to sit here silently and nod at any archaic shit that rolled from her tongue.