Page 102 of Tortured Soul
Ihadn’t felt that awkward for a long time.
Arc and I were both seated at opposite ends of the kitchen counter—yes, that same kitchen counter—and eating in silence. The food was good. The silence was deafening.
I didn’t take the time to properly look at the room this morning. Unlike the cramped but cozy apartment I’d been sharing with Aymeric, Marcus, Savi, and Francesca until now, this house was huge and kind of cold.
The kitchen alone was the size of the whole apartment’s first floor. The cabinets were dark wood, topped with rough stone countertops. The island was enormous, and the appliances a bit more modern.
Like the entrance of the house and all the corridors, the floor looked and felt like old marble, and the walls—at least the ones that were neither wood nor stone—were painted black.
“Why is this house so…different?” I asked, breaking the silence.
Arc lifted his eyes, chewing on his food, and grabbed his glass of wine slowly.
“Are you insulting my house, now?”
Unbelievable. I rolled my eyes. “I’m notinsultinganything. I’m just saying it’s a far cry from the apartment I was stashed in until now.”
He lifted a brow. “The apartments were built on the existing buildings. The city hall, this house, and most of the shops were already here before. When we settled here and our population grew, we had to add some space for people to live in. So we builtupto avoid having to change the barrier perimeter.”
So this place already existed and it was more than just the City Hall and the archives.
“I’m guessing you’re thinking about before we got here?”
“I am.”
He nodded, taking a sip before placing the glass back where it was.
“The Arizona desert was already a place people didn’t want to live in much,” he said.
“Then why the lone town in the middle of nowhere? With such a grand building like the City hall?”
The corner of his lips tilted up in a small smile.
“It was kind of a cult. I’m not familiar with the specifics, but I’ve heard about it. A human man settled here, presenting himself as some sort of god to his hundreds of followers. They lived here for about thirty years, secluded, serving this corrupted man.
“When the war started and people began to freak out about angels and demons alike, they had no idea about what was truly going on, as the only access to the outside world was the TV and Radio in his house. They managed to live through the first two years of the war in complete ignorance.
“He then proceeded to tell them that outside these walls, the apocalypse was happening. That he was punishing humanity for their sins, but chose to spare them, his faithful followers. That by obeying him, they were saving their kind.
“He was killed by his followers when a group of Divine landed there, seeking refuge. Then, they were so freaked out they killed themselves.”
I looked around the room. Yeah, those dumb humans definitely turned into ghosts and were haunting this place. Maybe Maggie was one of those dumb humans…
No. Not Maggie. She was too smart for that.
“So…” Arc broke the silence. “Care to explain what happened in my living room?”
I groaned and gave him an angry look, taking a sip of my own drink to avoid answering.
“I mean, I asked him to go and get you for a nice dinner, only to find you two, once again, fighting on the floor, breaking some of my stuff in the process.” He paused, eyes throwing daggers. “Now, I don’t have any more of my favorite scotch, and cleaning that sticky mess will be a nightmare.”
I arched a brow at him. “Maybe you shouldn’t send assholes to fetch me like you would a child. I have a phone, you know?”
He shrugged.The audacity.
“The reception gets spotty at times and Carter was nearby anyway.”
Now I felt bad for the guy.
