I still wasn’t sure how I’d arrived here. But that was rather normal when it came to my parents—they often took me places without any explanation at all. I’d fall asleep in my bed, just to wake up in the middle of a burning field.
As far as random field trips went, this one seemed okay thus far.
Everyone we passed nodded a hello, the glittering wings at their backs confirming their inhuman status. I studied some of the feathers, a memory nagging at the edge of my mind. One of white plumes tinged with gold.
But before I could grasp it, we turned a corner to admire a large fountain surrounding a feminine statue. She stood in the middle with her arms high, praising the skies.
I… I’d seen something like this before. A statue of intensity, only masculine in nature with scars instead of wings.
I frowned.Why?—
“I’m so sorry about your father, dear,” my mother said, causing me to blink.
“My father?” I repeated as a gray shadow fell across the fountain, making it appear sooty and burned for a fragment of a second.
But when I blinked again, the vision returned to all white.
Strange.
My mother cleared her throat. “Well, yes. His death. But you have to understand that it was needed.”
“Dad’s dead?” I asked, confused as to how we’d reached this topic.
Did I already know about his death?
Had we been speaking about it earlier?
I… I wasn’t sure. I couldn’t remember most things right now.Like how I got here,I thought for the millionth time.Where am I? What’s utopia? Why do I feel so lost?
“Have you not heard a word I’ve said?” my mother demanded, her tone one I knew all too well.
“I’m sorry,” I immediately replied, lowering my gaze. “I… I’m not feeling like myself.”
None of this made any sense. I wasn’t even sure how I’d arrived here.Or why…?
My brow furrowed, my gaze scanning my mother’s white dress and… “Why do you have wings?” I blurted out.
She pursed her lips, her expression the epitome of disappointment. “I’m a Virtuous Fae, Camillia. Honestly, how you’ve survived this long with your naïveté is beyond me.”
I frowned.Virtuous Fae. That was familiar. Angelic beings. Original fae. Something about a light and the shattering of a Source…
And a Virtuous Fae falling…
I looked at the statue in the fountain again. The feminine lines were all wrong. They should be masculine. Agonized. Bent over, muscles taut, and showcasing bloody tears where the wings used to be.
It again bled to shades of gray, the visage darkening before brightening once more.
What is that?I wondered, glancing up again. The clear sky couldn’t be casting any shadows. And yet?—
My mother snapped her fingers in front of me. “If I’m going to explain this, then you’re going to listen.”
An apology lingered on my lips. But I didn’t voice it because my jaw was clenched too tight. It was like my body refused to issue the words while my mind screamed them.
However, a small voice whispered,Something isn’t right.
I clung to that small voice, curious as to what it meant.
“As I already said, your father was a means to an end. I seduced him to create you. He made the deal at my request. Then he helped me train you. After that, well, there was no need to keep him anymore.” She shrugged like everything she’d said made perfect sense, whereas I didn’t understand a word of it. “It wasn’t like he would be allowed here.”
