Page 224 of Kneel Before Me

She flinched at the fury in his eyes.

“The humans do not care about us, Daphne.”

It was a difficult thing to hear. Daphne was human, and she cared very much. “I care,” she whispered.

“You are not like the others.”

It was something Daphne had often thought about Kronos.

“When did it start? The…?”

“Bloodletting.”

The word sent a chill down her spine. “When did the bloodletting start?”

“Some time after the truce.”

“But why haven’t I heard about this? Why hasn’t anyone tried to stop it?”

“Our blood provides wealth for the royals. Why would they stop it?”

“I understand why they would want to continue. Why don’t the basilisks stop it?”

“If we storm the castle, it would violate the truce. War would immediately follow.”

Daphne didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t imagine such cruelty—such atrocity. Would Maximus truly allow something like this to happen? Daphne knew there were a great many things she did not understand about the basilisks and the humans. But this seemed too horrible to accept. She reached under her hair, unclasping the necklace. Then she stood, crossed to the fire, and held it out to Kronos, who tossed it into the flames. They both watched as it gleamed brightly in the ashes.

But even that small gesture was too much for Daphne. The room was spinning; she needed to sit down.

“Kronos,” she whispered. “I…really don’t feel well.”

He looked down at her with obvious concern. “Are you sick?”

“I don’t know.”

“When did it begin?”

Daphne thought back to when she’d begun to feel weak. She’d gotten dizzy just after the horseback ride. “On my date with the prince.”

A brief flash of jealousy appeared in Kronos’s eyes.

“But it’s been getting worse lately,” she whispered. “Doing…anything is difficult.”

He slipped his arm around her waist, holding her against him. “It will get better, Daphne.”

Daphne didn’t believe him. Something was wrong. It felt as if she were sliding toward something inevitable, as if her body was giving up. She was decaying from the inside out.

“It’s getting worse,” Daphne said again.

She didn’t know how else to convey it to him.

Kronos brushed his fingers under her chin before pressing his lips to her forehead the way he had done so many times before.

Daphne leaned into his touch. “That’s better,” she whispered.

“What is?”

“When you touch me.”