Page 59 of Breaking Ties

He sighed and opened his wings, letting in a chill. She shivered and looked down at herself. “What the hell? My pigment is missing.”

He smirked and went to gather some fabric from a nearby stool. He arranged the shirt. “Arms up.”

She lifted her arms, and the tunic slithered down her body to end at her ankles. He handed her trousers and said, “I will support you while you get dressed.”

She stepped into the trousers and pushed the tunic out of the way as she tied the drawstring. When that was done, she stepped into the shoes, and he said, “We will get you boots at the academy.”

He wrapped a thin tie around her waist. “When you go through entry trials, you will get a sash that matches your level, and it will change colour as you gain control.”

“So I can’t decline the position of acolyte?”

“No, you either go to the academy or are destroyed. Those are your only path.”

“Well, hell.”

He offered his hand, and she put her fingers on his. They walked, and she felt a little light-headed and grabbed at Nerigot. “Why am I hovering?”

He grinned and held her with an arm around her waist. “Because you are an acolyte, and acolytes belong to the academy.”

“I didn’t hover before.”

“Didn’t you? Were there never moments when you needed not to leave footprints?”

She remembered. High avalanche possibility, she glided over the surface of the snow and hauled wood back in the same way. “Well, hell.”

He laughed, and they walked up the steps.

Whisper looked around. “Where is everyone?”

“The human women with Aubrey were taken to their relatives around Aten. Three of them had family here of one sort or another. Defenders arrived with skimmers to take them to their people.”

“Aubrey?”

“Has her hair done to Vress’s preference. Oh, the ladies that Aubrey brought with her all have latent assessor genes. That explains why she insisted on those particular ladies.”

“Yeah. It did. Mind you, she could probably see it.”

“I believe she is as surprised as the ladies are, but she could not see their futures until they awakened their genes.”

She chuckled. “Wow. What the hell is going on with the human race?”

“You are functionally over. It is unsurprising that the assessor genes are in the survivors. They would be the ones most likely to make it. They are simply sturdier.”

“Me, too?”

“No. You are human. No extra genetics at play.”

“Hooray. Wait, how did I get taller?”

“Ah, well, there were some extra genes at play but not yours.”

“Then...”

Nerigot grinned. “Mine. But to be frank, you have been receiving that since I took you to my ship. It was the only way to get you strong enough to reach Aten.”

They were still moving up the stairs.

“So what exactly was in those drips?”