Page 213 of Children of Fallen Gods

It took a few long seconds to come back to myself. I felt unmoored, drifting somewhere between the past and the present, between Nura’s memories and my own. The visions settled deep in my gut, like I had eaten something rancid.

Nura was looking at me the way I never thought she would look at me again — with such vulnerability.

My eyes fell past her. To the single, thick door.

“What is in there.”

Barely louder than a whisper. A demand, not a question. I didn’t know if I wanted to know.

Without another word, Nura opened it.

The interior of the room was so starkly white and bright that it hurt my eyes. It was a narrow room, closer to a short hallway. There was a desk here, scattered with piles of parchment, and a few chairs.

But then I turned, and my mouth went dry.

The room had one glass wall. Beyond the glass were iron bars. And beyond those bars were people.

No… not people. Nothumans, anyway.Fey.

There were six of them. Two were in the same enclosure. Some lay on small cots, covered by thin white blankets. Others sat on the floor, leaning against the wall. One lay on the ground, on her stomach, not moving. None of them reacted when we entered. Was that because the glass was so thick they couldn’t hear us? Or was it because they were no longer able to?

Some didn’t even look like they were alive.

Tisaanah whispered a curse beneath her breath.

“They invaded us,” Nura said. “The first one came into our territory in Threll, only days after the Mikovs fell. But others came here. They came toour shores. Some of them have killed here. That one skewered a couple that found him hiding in their barn. Just innocent farmers.”

Tisaanah had stepped forward, her fingers pressed to the glass. She was silent. I followed her gaze to one of the Fey, who lifted his head just enough to look at us over his shoulder. Matted fair hair. Tan skin. And a glimpse of a bright gold eye.

Ishqa’s words echoed:My son is among the Fey who were taken.

Tisaanah’s gaze slid to me, and I knew we were thinking the same thing.

“Why are they here, Nura?” I asked, quietly.

I hoped I was wrong. Prayed I was wrong. But the pieces fit too well — for these creatures to behere, beneath the Towers, with Vardir. Here, in this room of white and white.

“There are things we can do with Fey blood,” Nura said. “Fey magic. Things we can create, with access to all the different threads of magic. Things that might be powerful enough to save us.”

Fuckno.

“You want to create more Reshayes.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tisaanah back against the desk, sinking into the chair — as if utterly overwhelmed.

Despite everything, a part of me still hoped Nura would correct me.

But she just said, “We don’t have a choice.”

“Of course we have a fucking choice.”

“You saw what I saw,” she shot back. “You saw what has already started coming for us. How do we defeat that, if not with the greatest weapons we can create?”

There was a silent plea beneath the hard edge of her words, as if to silently add,You of all people believe me, don’t you?

“Nura, look at this. Look at what you’re doing. This is— this isinsane. You think this is the right thing? Torturing them so you can create more monsters to go slaughter someone else’s family?”

A flicker of hurt crossed Nura’s face.

---