Page 34 of Broken Fate
I stood still, processing that information. Kiel had been trying tosavethem?
“Why?” I asked softly.
His eyebrows lowered, partially obscuring his eyes. “Because we know how they operate, Jada. The Alphas, the Betas, this is standard in their playbook. Eliminateanyonewho opposes their rule. They move quickly, and they make it look like an accident so that nobody else realizes it was an execution, all in the name of keeping the peace.”
“This isn’t the first time?”
Kiel’s eyes darted to Andi briefly, then back to me. I met the other woman’s gaze. She didn’t flinch, but the haunted echo of pain could be seen in the corners of her eyes. Now, I understood why she’d been the one to come to my room.
“It’s my fault,” Kiel replied, moving on. “And for that, I’m sorry. Clive’s parents are already on the move, so that won’t happen again, but I wish we could have acted sooner, for your sake, Jada.”
I blinked away tears. Now was not the time to cry. I was far from the only orphan in the empire. Others had suffered, as I had. If they could continue, like Andi, then so could I.
For the moment. Tears would come, but right now, as I’d told Andi, I needed answers.
“This wasn’t your fault,” I said, watching Kiel relax as I forgave him, though, in my eyes, he didn’t need it. “You didn’t kill them. Andracis and his men did. He set the fire. He’s the one at fault. If there’s a score to settle, it’s with him.”
Kiel nodded evenly. “Yes. And we will help you with that.”
“First, I need some answers,” I said.
“Have a seat,” Kiel said, waving me to a chair.
We sat, and he popped a hunk of cheese into his mouth, chewing slowly while I waited for him to say more.
“What do you know about Fate?” he asked eventually.
I frowned. “The same thing everyone does,” I said. “Centuries ago, Fate was dying. The nine Alphas forged the Fate Stones, each one holding a sliver of Fate herself within to protect her. To keep her alive and guard her. In return, she granted them immortality.”
“And the Callis?” he prompted.
“They betrayed the others,” I said dutifully, reciting the history of the Canis Empire from memory. “Their leader, Callistus the Betrayer, wanted the stones all for himself. The remaining eight Alphas banded together, killed Callistus, and destroyed the Callis entirely.”
Kiel nodded slowly.
“Why?” I asked. “Everyone knows that.”
“And what,” Kiel said calmly, “if I told you it was all a lie? That none of what you just regurgitated was actually true?”
I opened my mouth to scoff, then closed it and trulythoughtabout his question. Thinking it over, along with everything I’d seen, heard, and experienced in the past few days.
“A week ago,” I said quietly, “I would have laughed and said you were crazy. That you were full of it and a Calli-lover.”
“Good. You’re using your brain,” Kiel rumbled. “Tell me, what would you say in response to that today?”
“Today?” I echoed slowly. “Today, I would listen to what you have to say.”
Kiel nodded his approval. “What you said is, in a way, accurate to the events. It is not, however, the truth. The Alphasdidforge the Fate Stones. But not to protect Fate. They did it toenslaveher. They bound her, splitting her into pieces and harnessing that power to make themselves immortal. Locking her away for centuries and using her power to further their own.”
“How?” I asked, stunned. I’d never heard anyone even hint about that.
“Through the Fate Stones, the Alphas control who mates who,” Kiel explained. “They keep themselves and their loyal followers in power. Ensuring that good ‘proper’ bonds are made. Not the ones Fate says, but whattheysay. They remove dissenters this way and reward those who help them. There is no chance anymore. It was all a power move by the Alphas. Over time, they twisted the truth of it all, making themselves out to be benevolent gods. Hiding their power-hungry greediness behind a curtain of lies.”
I sat back heavily into the chair.
“You’re saying that this, thateverything, is—”
“Built on a lie,” Clive said coldly, interjecting. “Yes, Jada, that is it exactly. Our entire society is built upon lie after lie from the Alphas.”
