Page 333 of Of Sins and Sacrifice

“What’s…wrong with me?” I ask, tension knotting in my muscles.

“Your body is still adapting to your new circumstances. The pain should fade soon.”

“What circumstances? What the hell is going on? And who the fuck are you?”

He doesn’t answer.

“You know what? Fuck you and fuck this. I’m leaving.”

“You are welcome to try.”

I give him a hard glare as I swing my legs over the bed and plant them firmly on the ground. But as I stand up, I wobble forward, crashing to the floor.

The fall knocks the air out of my lungs and I let out a harsh curse.

He walks around me, giving me a pitiful stare.

“I need to get to Minnie,” I grit out. “He’s going to kill her. He’s going to…” I squeeze my eyes shut.

“You cannot do anything right now. Not in this condition.”

“I need…” I ball my hands into fists and drag myself forward. I only manage to move a few feet before my body betrays me. Out of breath and ravaged by pain, I let out a loud wail.

He crouches in front of me, his expression marred by a great sadness.

“You must be strong enough if you want to get to your female,” he tells me. The fact that he calls her ‘female’ tells me he’s likely not human.

“Who are you?”

“You will remember soon enough,” he says. Reaching out, he stops himself just as he’s about to touch me. “You have no idea how lucky you are to even be here,” he murmurs cryptically.

“What are you talking about?”

He smiles sadly. “You must be the only one of your kind to not only have survived that illness for so long but also make it to the other side of it.”

My brows knit in confusion. What the hell is he talking about?

“My kind?”

“A hybrid that neither Tartareia nor Aperion will ever recognize…or accept.”

My eyes widen. “What?”

“Is it not hypocritical that Aperites preach fairness and balance, but they behave just as immorally as Tartareians?” he asks, almost to himself. “If it had not been for your female personally getting you out of the depths of Psyche, you would have languished there for an eternity.”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying?—”

“Of course you do not.” He sighs. “You will, soon. But you must remember how lucky you are, whereas anyone else withthe blood of Tartareian elites canneverescape Psyche, never reincarnate.” He pauses. “There is a special place in that hell reserved only for us.”

Us. He said us. More confusion swirls in my mind.

“You’re…a Son of Tenebreis?” I croak.

He nods. “Though it has been a long time since I identified with my kind. Nonetheless, the blood in my veins and my stained soul brand me as one of their own.”

There’s something so familiar about him, that a strange thought suddenly crosses my mind.

“Are we related?” I ask carefully.

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