Page 42 of Caelum

His mouth curved with disgust. “Seriously?”

“Most seriously. Even better,” I told him, turning back so I could reachup and press a hot hand against the cool metal of the armor’s breastplate, “my parents were incredibly happy that he had picked me.”

“Why?”

The question waswhywas I telling him this? I didn’t really know, but there was no need not to share this kind of information with anyone. But the others hadn’t asked. Not that I blamed them.

I usually kept them occupied by having them translate the random things they said. I was determined to speak like a normal seventeen-year-old before the end of the year.

“Because my father had a temper. He’d beat us from time to time, and while that wasn’t an issue, he was indiscreet. The bruises would show. He was punished forthat, not the beating. Every time he did it, it lowered our status in the compound.”

“And marrying the old bastard would have improved how the family appeared?”

Nodding, I murmured, “It would have done more than that.”

“Like what?”

“It doesn’t matter anymore, does it?”

“Do you miss it?”

I snorted. “No.” Shooting him a look that had his mouth twitching, I retorted, “Would you?”

“No.” He hesitated. “But I’m not you, and I wasn’t stuck in my own personal hell for as long as you were.”

“True, but I was different, wasn’t I? The souls always kept me apart from everything. I never imagined that being different at the compound would save me in the outside world.”

“Did they beat you often?”

“No. I was good. I didn’t misbehave. I did everything within my power to keep under the radar,” I told him, proud at being able to use the slang words in the proper context.

“Makes sense.”

Did it? I wasn’t sure anything made sense anymore. That didn’t mean I wasn’t happy with the status quo, but if sense was what I’d been taught since I was a young girl, then Caelum was the New Order’s definition of insanity.

“Thank you for telling me about the suit of armor.”

He shrugged. “I’m a Hell Hound. Guarding Sin Eaters’ backs is what I do best.”

“Will your friend wear something like this when you graduate?” Iwasn’t sure what happened then, but Eren said we policed our people and that made sense.

My question had his lips curving, and I’d be damned if it didn’t make those green eyes sparkle. “That would be like riding a horse and cart when you could take a high-speed bullet train to work.”

A high-speed bullet train?

I knew what each individual word meant so I figured it out. Sort of, but I made a mental note to Google that later.

“Meaning there are more efficient armors now?”

He nodded. “Yes. Back then, creatures didn’t trust one another. We worked alone.”

“Why?”

“This was before Caelum. Imagine being raised the way you were, except without Merry coming and saving you. Creatures learned of their abilities in an…” He winced. “I guess you could sayorganicmanner. It was fucked up, and everyone finally got their heads out of their asses and figured out that someplace like Caelum was necessary if we were going to survive.

“That’s when souls started working together. You find most creatures now either run in Packs or in teams. Sin Eaters, for example, always work with a Hell Hound. Always. And usually a Vampire too.” He shrugged. “It’s just how it works now.”

“And having a Hell Hound and a Vampire on your side is better than a heavy suit of armor?”

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