Page 98 of Glass Wings

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Djoser shook his head.

“Grandchildren, of course,” Sheng laughed, throwing his hands back.

“If we are on the same team, then who will the Vrae hunt for sustenance?” Arryn took a few steps forward, now nose-to-nose with Sheng.

“Your lovely Kinnari Amis has been farming half-breeds for us since that first attack. See, we are quite civilized.” Sheng winked.

All eyes turned to Amis, who appeared to shrink before them, eyes glued to the floor.

Djoser’s memory flashed back to the breeding, the culling of the village. His heart dropped from the horrific realization of what it was all for.

“How could you,” he whispered to Amis.

The hooded group of Vrae behind Sheng was getting restless with every passing moment of silence, cheeks that were human skin began to reflect a dark sheen, revealing the demons inside.

“I think we should just kill them all,” Reign said, tapping her foot. “They kidnapped your daughter and killed me. I honestly just don’t give a fuck about their story.”

“Ah, yes, little one,” Sheng cooed. “You just showed up too early. We needed your leader to be here, to agree to support our cause.”

“I think we should at least kill Amis,” Djoser said, his eyes sharp, flickering to the Kinnari traitor.

“No, no, no one is killing anyone today. This is a peaceful gathering. A true meeting of the minds,” Sheng said. “To prove it, take the girl. Leave here with my wife, your daughter. Bring her forward.”

Sheng snapped his fingers, the Vrae behind him parting as the sound of a girl’s frantic grunts filled the foyer. A blonde, small body was carried to the front, her hands and feet bound by rope.

“Just a precaution—she tried to run the other day,” Sheng explained. “Once you’ve had your family reunion, please bring her back. We have an Earth to save, a sun to defuse, a mother’s resentment to dismantle.”

Djoser looked at Arryn’s daughter, barely old enough to be a woman. He noticed her wings along with the bite marks on her neck. She did not want to be here.

“Hailey, this is your father. He has come to get you out of here. We all are here, actually, to bring you home,” Reign said, stepping forward.

Djoser watched the girl’s face as she took in Reign, her eyes widening as if not understanding what was in front of her.

“Oh, right, it’s me, Reign. Your fairy godmother. I’m not dead. Our body type regenerates back to our youth. A new discovery, apparently. We don’t die all that often . . .”

“My name isn’t Hailey,” she said quietly.

“True, that’s true,” Sheng said supportively, his hand on the girl’s shoulder. She jerked away, staring up at Arryn, who only looked at her like a mild inconvenience.

Was he fucking kidding?

“Let’s go,” Arryn said to her, his voice kind but his eyes dismissive. Reign walked up to her, holding her hand out for support.

“I’m not going anywhere with any of you,” she said flatly. “I’m going to my home, back to the only family that has always been there for me.”

Why does everyone have to be so dramatic?

“I promise you’ll warm up to him. Let us get you to safety,” Reign’s childish voice cut through a thick blanket of intensity that hung in the air.

Hailey, or whatever the fuck her name was, shook her head no at Reign and took a step back towards Sheng. The Vrae smiled at her, absolutely delighted, and Djoser wanted to rip him to shreds for it.

“It might be a situation of sending a puppy off to a new owner,” Sheng mused, “though I have to say, this puppy might be one of the most impressive I’ve seen . . . ever in my life.”

The girl shot him a look at that, her face hard to decipher, but Djoser thought he sensed gratitude.

She was fucking grateful. Unbelievable.

“What is our next step, diffusing the sun and all?” Djoser asked. “I can’t imagine you would sit here and wait a full year to have a child that Ayurveda would likely just want to kill. How do we even trust that anything that you are saying is fact? How do you know of the goddess’ contempt?”