Page 44 of Tears of Tungsten
Jared sighed. “I’m not sure if you’re aware, but chimeras don’t naturally feed on fossil fuels. They need blood to continue to function. They might be metallic creatures now, but they’re still carnivorous. During The Apsid Wars, it wasn’t a problem, because they just ate the Heliads who were unfortunate enough to get caught. I won’t go into the gory details right now, but suffice to say, The Grand Judiciary went through a lot of trouble to make sure they kept their metal beasts in perfect condition. But the chimeras alive today are weakened since they’ve had a Heliad-free diet for decades. The Grand Judiciary had to turn to other methods. The combination between fossil fuels and human meat is the most efficient one.
“I doubt the incident you witnessed is the first one of its kind. There’s always been some kind of terrorist group they were able to sacrifice, and the Terrans in that village were just additional targets on their list.
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. I don’t like the Grand Chimera Unit. I never did. But I never wanted you to go through that experience and that betrayal.”
I’d have liked to defend my lovers, but I couldn’t. Brendan and the others had mentioned in passing that the terrorists who’d tried to steal Sphinx were already dead, and they’d seemed to think this was completely normal. I hadn’t given the issue much thought either, too worried about the innocents who’d been collateral damage in that battle. But I’d missed the bigger picture of that incident. The Grand Judiciary had used a dormant chimera to lure a group of users of Gaia’s Gift and neutralize them as a threat. It might have seemed like a good idea, and I couldn’t deny that the extremists had been dangerous. They hadn’t cared all that much about the damage they were doing either. But still, I didn’t have a lot of information on the terrorists, so I couldn’t say for sure they’d deserved to die.
And then, there were those other dreams, the images and flashes I’d had before. I still didn’t understand them, but they had to mean something.
I bit the inside of my cheek so hard I tasted blood. The chances of me having hallucinated the whole thing in Gaia’s Haven weren’t very high. Where did that leave me?
I took a deep breath, forcing myself to calm down, at least a little. “What happened with the village? My mother? The rest of the Terrans?”
“I’m afraid I don’t know,” Jared replied. “As far as I’m aware, your mother survived the incident. Beyond that, I can’t tell you more.”
“Can’t or won’t?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.
Jared pursed his lips, but didn’t look offended. “It’s not that easy for us to gather information about what is going on in Terran lands. It’s part of the reason why I had to go to Chimera Academy. I can try to ask, but there’s no guarantee my superiors will know, and I can’t go to my leader for something like this.”
His superiors. His leader. As he spoke, I realized I didn’t know a thing about the apsids—or Heliads, as they called themselves. I’d always seen them as my enemies and hadn’t given too much thought about the society they had. That left me at a clear disadvantage now.
“I don’t suppose there’s any chance of me receiving an audience with your ruler, is there?”
Jared shook his head. “The Great Mother will summon you if she wants to see you. It never works the other way around. Besides, it’s not a good idea for you to spend too much time in her presence. You’ve only just arrived here and you need to adapt to the energies of our world if you want to survive.”
“Jared, I don’t want to adapt or anything like that. I already have a home. I appreciate you helping me when we were on Terra, but I don’t understand why you brought me here.”
For a few seconds, Jared hesitated, seemingly considering his next words. When he spoke again, his answer took me aback. “What I’m about to tell you will likely shock and upset you. You’re nowhere near ready for it and I accept that. But I think you’ve been lied to enough.
“I brought you here because the Great Mother deemed you an appropriate reward for my service. She wants you to be my mate and carry my children. She’s already removed the toxin that kept you from conceiving and we can start our family at any time.”
Wait, what? Mate? Children? Family?
I’d barely interacted with him at Chimera Academy and most of our exchanges had been hostile. I didn’t hate him or anything, but that was a far cry from wanting to start a family with him. “You’ve lost your mind.”
“I haven’t,” he replied. “I know it sounds like it, because as a Terran, you don’t really understand our world. But you will, in time.”
I clenched my hands into fists, feeling awfully tempted to use my powers against him. Something told me it wouldn’t go over well and until I had more information, I couldn’t be reckless about this. “What if I say no?”
“I never expected you to say ‘yes’ outright,” he answered, “but I’m hoping I’ll be able to change your mind. Selene, you have no reason to trust me. I know I treated you poorly. But the truth is a deep, terrible power lives inside you, and it’s just not something Terrans can handle. I won’t force you into anything. All I ask is for you to keep an open mind. I was a human once too, you know. Things change, and that’s not a bad thing.”
A part of me wanted to address his incomprehensible optimism and bite his head off for presuming I’d ever fall for any of his schemes. The other couldn’t help but be intrigued by his strange comment about his previous humanity. “I don’t understand. You’re a Heliad now. You can’t just change your species.”
“Not normally, no, but Heliads aren’t exactly normal.” He grimaced and stared at his hands. “It’s a very long and painful story and I’m not sure you’ll believe me at all if I tell you.”
“Try me.”
Jared Glass, as I’d known him, had had a human family. His cousin had grieved him when we’d still been at the academy. Where did they fit into this story? Were they Heliads too?
It was a mystery, and for all I knew, whatever Jared told me now would be another lie or an attempt to manipulate me. But it was better than nothing and it would give me some kind of starting point in my attempt to get out of here.
Jared shot me a knowing look, but complied. “Selene, you’ve been lied to all your life. The Heliads were never the ones who started The Apsid Wars. It was The Grand Judiciary who attacked us first—and it was all because of the chimeras.”
* * *
August
Following Sphinx’s revelation, everyone fell silent. We stared at one another, not knowing what to say or do. Brendan had already determined that sending an expedition into apsid territory was a fool’s errand. But at the same time, we couldn’t just abandon Selene to those things. Tartarus only knew what they were doing to her. There had to be a way to save her.
