Skyler’s brows furrow, and she gestures to her forehead, swirling her finger, indicating a Mark. “People like you.”
“The Given?”
She hisses, her eyes widening in fear and anger. My spine straightens, and I wonder what I said wrong. Grabbing my arm, Skyler pulls me aside and lowers her voice. “We don’t use that word here. It’scursed.”
“Because of... I see.” I shudder, the hairs on the back of my neck rising as an onslaught of memories flashes through my mind.
A silver knife. Screams. Blood. A flash of pink light. Amelia’s body falling to the floor. The horror that held me in its grasp as the priestesses laughed.
My throat dries. “That . . . makes sense.”
Skyler nods, and a long moment passes before we start walking again.
“They really didn’t teach you anything, did they?” she asks after a few minutes.
The question doesn’t strike me as cruel, but matter of fact. An acknowledgment of the shitty life I had before. Not just me, but all the others like me as well.
“No.” I shake my head, gripping the basket as if it’s the only thing keeping me grounded. And maybe it is. Suddenly, all I want to do is get back to my room. To Gabriel. “Not really.”
All they teach us is how to serve the gods, and clearly, that didn’t turn out well.
“I’m so sorry, that must’ve been so hard. I grew up here, in the mountain, and I’ve always known about the Blessed, since my great-grandparents were touched by the gods.”
Were.
The word stands out among everything else. There are so many things Skyler is saying that will need to be picked apart and studied later, but this is one I’m familiar with.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” I say. “Losing people you’re close to is devastating.”
“It is.” Skyler turns back to the shale, running a hand down the gem-studded wall. “Every time I walk these halls and see the way they glow, I remember my grandfather.”
I trace a ruby. “It seems like an awful lot of work for lights that barely function.”
Skyler laughs, and the melodious sound reminds me so much of Amelia that for a moment, my chest seizes.
“Oh goodness, these aren’t lights,” she says, unaware of where my mind has gone. “The glow is a side effect.”
“They’re . . . not?”
“Nope.”
We pass a door with shrieking children behind it, and Skyler smiles fondly.
“What’s their purpose, then?” I ask as we turn the next corner.
“They form a web.” Skyler trails a hand across the stones, her voice low. Reverent, almost. “Together, they protect us, hiding us from the king. It’s how we’ve stayed undetected for so long.”
Skyler had gone on to explain that the rubies were topped up with new magic every now and again. Like blessed salve, they held on to magic once it was fed into them.
Opening my eyes, I stare at the nearby gem-studded wall. Reaching out, careful not to disturb Gabriel, I touch the nearest jewel. It’s the size of my thumbnail, and even in the dark, it glows.
I trace the stone, a shiver running through me. The gem is cool, and I hear a quiet hum. It’s low, and at first, I think it’s a trick of my mind. But when I squeeze my eyes shut, closing myself off from other distractions, I’m sure it’s there.
I open my eyes and trace the next jewel. Sure enough, that one is humming, too. It sounds a bit deeper than the first, almost as if they’re harmonizing.
In fact, all the gems are humming. The more I focus on them, the louder they get.
“What are you doing, Wren?” Gabriel’s fingers spread across my stomach, the tip of his thumb brushing across the underside of my breasts.
