Page 85 of Nocturn

I clenched my jaw to stop the urge to defend him.

“Come inside for some tea. We will explain all of this,” Tabby said, motioning around us. The last remnants of dusklight faded.

Wailing ripped through the forest, causing nearby birds to take flight.

I had no choice but to stay with these people until I was retrieved.

“Very well,” I finally said. “But we will not have long.” Lord Draven would be here soon. They both seemed skeptical, but they did not deny my words. I followed them to the steps of the entrance to the long carriage.

Upon entering, there was the initial section where a slim table stretched out. I took the first seat while Archer sat across from me. Candles lit the entire carriage, casting warm light across the space. Tabby went to the metal container of water where steam wafted from the top. Each one of her movements was graceful.

“I just set a pot to boil on the fire outside.” Tabby grabbed a few teacups and placed one in front of me and one in front of Archer. Behind him, at the furthest part of the carriage, was a section that was clearly their sleeping area. A thick mat covered the ground, with piles of fur and pillows strewn around and artfully placed.

“Please keep an open mind, because none of this will be easy to accept.” She took a deep breath. “Everything we know about redbloods is a lie.” I kept quiet, waiting for more information. Her eyebrows furrowed. “You knew?”

“No, but nothing surprises me.” I let the words sit, offering nothing more.

“Do you know about the injections?”

I straightened my shoulders, shaking my head.

She leaned in, voice dropping. “The one all redbloods are mandated to take is not a preventative. We are being injected with ‘suppressors’.”

My pulse jumped, a nervous tingling spreading. Similar to all redbloods, I had received the injections at the clinic every fall under the supervision of Lord Bjorn as was mandated.

The sennight that followed resulted in a nasty cold my body fought off. The agony . . . only a shade of what I had experienced when Al injected me. Had that been the very liquid he placed into me? Impossible, the agony was much more acute . . . Then again, normally, they were a smaller volume.

“What does that mean? What are they suppressing?” My words almost ran into each other.

They exchanged a look.

“Our abilities. We only knew because of me,” Tabby said. “It has been two annums since I stopped taking it.”

“How? Unregistered redbloods are slaughtered.”

“We staged her death,” Archer said, his hand cupping her waist.

“Are you also a redblood?”

“Blueblood.”

I scrunched my eyebrows together.

“I was registered to him,” she said, worrying her lip. “We fell in love.”

All redbloods must be registered to bluebloods, but usually we were in a servitude role . . . We were not assigned for love, nor were we truly seen as equals by bluebloods.

“And you have not been injected for two annums?”

“I have not. The manner in which my body reacted.” She shook her head. “Once I stopped taking the dosage, I became terribly ill.”

Archer frowned, squeezing her hip and rubbing his thumb along her simple gown.

“Archer!” The shout came from outside, frantic.

My spine went ramrod straight.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE