Page 24 of Fated

“He had the gift before he was turned; becoming a ripper just amplified it.”

Rippers.That was what they called themselves.

I swallowed hard, next asking the one thing I really wanted to know. “Why am I a threat to your kind?”

Calyx looked to Ash as if seeking permission to answer. Ash nodded.

“You are a healer, possessing a rare magic. Our king found out early on that your kind could cure us … or kill us.”

My eyes fell to the black gloves on my hands.

“What happened to them, the others like me?” I was fairly sure of the answer already.

“The king hunted them down and killed them,” Calyx said.

It shouldn’t have been possible for my heart to break any more, but it did. It crumpled for my people, ones I’d never met or hadn’t even known existed before now.

Had Everleigh ever really been sick or had the king murdered her, too? My legs began to tremble, but I clenched my fists hard, fighting to keep control.

“How did you find me?”

“Someone went to great lengths to hide you in the human world. As a child, you would have been invisible among them, but as you neared your settling, Ash was able to track you down.”

Calyx nodded his head toward Ash. “Ash has many tricks up his sleeve, and one of them is the ability to track down certain types of people. Before he turned, my boy here was known as thehuntsman.” He clapped Ash on the shoulder, but Ash ignored him. “And the king knew he could use him to hunt you down.”

A shiver ran down my spine, and I desperately tried to think of something else to ask, but my brain felt assaulted by all this new and horrific information. My throat tightened, and there again was the sting of tears threatening to fall. I inhaled deeply, willing my body to calm, begging my emotions to stay in check. “Would it be so bad?” I whispered, before realizing what I was saying.

“What?” Calyx furrowed his forehead.

“To be cured?”

Both of them stiffened. “A fate worse than death,” Ash muttered.

“Why did you guys even bother answering my questions?”

Calyx met my eyes in the mirror, his expression serious now. “Because you won’t live to see your twenty-first birthday.”

I leaned back into my seat, pressing my head against the window, unsure of what I’d been hoping to learn, what kind of answers I had expected to find.

“I would have taken them off,” I said. “If it meant keeping my mom alive, I would have taken off the bracelets and willingly followed you to hell. All you had to do was ask.”

I closed my eyes, searching deep inside for any hint of magic—any spark of power. But there was nothing.

At least it would all be over soon.

The rest of the car ride passed in silence. We must have been driving for hours but the time blurred. My head rested against the window, my eyes shut tight. I didn’t really feel anything.

Eventually, we turned down a deserted road and pulled into the parking lot of a shabby white building with a sign readingVeterinarian Clinic. The lot was empty, and a closed sign hung on the door. There weren’t any other buildings in sight.

It wasn’t until Ash opened my door and motioned for me to get out that I snapped out of whatever trance I’d been in. Was this really happening?

Was I really about to walk through a magical door to another world, or would they suddenly laugh and reveal this had all been some terrible joke, then take me home to my mom?

Ash raised a brow, as if asking if I was going to get out of the car sometime today. With legs threatening to give out at any moment, I forced myself to crawl out of the vehicle.

Dread weighed heavily in my stomach, each step feeling as though it could be my last.

For a foolish moment, I contemplated running, though I was certain I wouldn’t make it far before Ash grabbed me or commanded me to return.

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