“It depends if they were selected for breeding or not,” he said. “Elion makes the final call, but most of them are killed.”
“So are all the bonds done?”
He shook his head. “I convinced Elion to give them more time.”
I watched as he tipped his head back, finishing his drink in nearly one sip. I got the suspicion that the favor didn’t come without a cost.
“That’s a good thing,” I drawled, speaking the words slowly. Something was off about him. His demeanor had shifted since yesterday morning.
He nodded.
I studied his movements. Everything about him was too stiff. His back was ramrod straight, his shoulders tense. He wasn’t leaning into the cushions.
“Did Elion find out I was gone?”
No answer.
“Does he know I’m gone?” I repeated, my eyes narrowing.
Hael stood. “I’m getting another drink.”
He walked back toward the kitchen—this one was larger, the counter extending into the main floor as it wrapped around. He set hisglass on it, but didn’t fill it up. Instead, he brought the bottle back to the sofa.
“He punished you,” I said, realizing it was true.
Hael’s gaze met mine as he sat back down, but he still wouldn’t answer me.
“Show me.”
“There’s nothing to see, Nollie. Just a few scratches.”
My eyes narrowed. I had a sinking feeling we had very different definitions of what a scratch was. He wouldn’t even lean into the cushions. His back was hunched as he rested his hands over his knees.
“Why are you helping me?” I asked. “If you knew bringing me here was going to result in a punishment, why did you do it?” I’d seen Hael go through two of them in the single week I’d been at the castle and both times were because of me, and now whatever he wasn’t showing me, had to be just as bad.
“If you stayed there, Nollie—if Elion kept you, or worse, sent you back to the Dead King—that would have been my punishment.”
My mouth parted at his words, at the fact that one of those things was inevitable. “Why?” I whispered, not realizing I was half holding my breath. I forced myself to let it out, forced myself to wait for his answer.
He was quiet for a moment, his gaze shifting, searching my eyes, as I watched bits of gold dance through his irises from the glow of the fire.
“Because you’re the first person that’s gotten a rise out of me,” he finally admitted, this time leaning slightly into the sofa. “I don’t care about anyone and Elion knows it.”
“What about your family?” I asked, ignoring the insinuation that he might care about me.
“I don’t have one. I was raised solely by the Drakin Army, and it’s better that way.”
“And that’s not normal?” I guessed.
He shook his head. “Offspring are calculated. Planned. Everyone knows exactly where they came from.”
“And you don’t?”
He shook his head. “I’m the only orphan in the army. Jaxs took me into his family, and he’s as close to a brother as I’ll get, but I never knew my real parents.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, knowing what that was like. My first memory was on the streets in Moriann. I never knew my parents either.
“I’m not.” His voice was steady. “I don’t mind being alone. It means one less thing Elion can use against me. But you—” He paused. “If you stayed, he would have been able to get me to do anything he wanted, just to keep you safe.”
