Page 18 of Kingdom of Ashes & Bone
Before I could blink, the last body was disappearing into the wet, black abyss, and I was covered in blood and shaking.
“What … what do you mean by experiments? What were you going to do?” I asked. I was afraid of knowing, and yet … I had to know.
Zephyr sighed, wiping his hands together as though we’d just completed a hard day’s work together and not covered up brutal murders of good men who’d just been doing their jobs. He put a hand gently on my shoulder, looking so unlike the deranged killer from ten minutes ago that I wondered if I had imagined it.
“I grew up in the Seat, studying at the sides of great thinkers. There were historians who studied the past and healers who were looking toward the future. Do you know where the future of humanity resides?”
I shook my head dumbly, tense as his fingers dug into the muscles of my shoulder.
“Magick, dear. Your dragon princes and the queen rule not because they are the most wise or deserving, but because they have magick. Magick grants power. Power grants …everything.”
His voice was soothing and dark, and it was as if his words were a black lullaby trying to lull me to sleep or complacency. I hardened my heart and shook off his hand.
“You can’t torture and kill people. Any magick that comes from that is evil, and you’ll be cursed.”
Zephyr laughed at me.
“Cursed? You mean how your little princes are cursed? Yes, it must be so terrible to have the ability to turn into a giant beast and destroy all your enemies in one fell swoop.” He beat his fist into the palm of his hand for emphasis, his teeth grit together. His neck swiveled toward me, eyes glittering.
“How do you think medicines and treatments are developed, Mari? By simply theorizing? Or by human experimentation?”
My mouth went dry, and I had to lick my lips to get anything out. “I … I wouldn’t know. Mud girls don’t get medical treatment.”
A twisted grin curled at the corners of his mouth. “Touché. However, you’re not stupid despite our shared background. You know I’m right. All knowledge and advancement comes at a cost. Would you really save one soldier if it meant one hundred others wouldn’t die? Children, even?”
He gestured dramatically toward the rushing rapids. I couldn’t help but wonder where all the bodies ended up. Did they eventually wash away to another kingdom, with the people who found them horrified and shocked? Were they given proper burials then or left to rot in the shallows? My stomach twisted. I didn’t want to acknowledge what he implied, but in my heart it made sense.
Zephyr scoffed. “Next time, don’t interfere. Maybe you’ll learn something.” He turned and walked back into the darkness of the tunnels.
I found myself with no choice but to follow him.
We did the same to the other two men. When it was done, I was covered in blood and shaking. I was an accomplice trapped underground with a madman, and I only had a few more answers than when I’d left the castle balcony. One place had a queen determined to see me put under the ground, and yet under the ground, my soul lay cracked and bleeding. Which despot was worse?
Horrified, I realized I wasn’t sure.
ChapterFive
“Hurry up, Mari. Wouldn’t want to linger.”
Zephyr’s voice carried in the darkness ahead of me. Even though a sense of unease still tingled at the back of my neck, I rolled my eyes. He was the most dangerous thing in these tunnels, as far as I was concerned.
A sudden thought flipped my stomach. Did Shava know what he got up to? Maybe she could talk some sense into him! I had to put distance between us. I had to tell Shava.
Pushing my way past his shoulder, I led. He waited a few moments before stalking behind me. Neither of us said a word as we passed the new camp mothers and children . . . and the Nobles. I walked until I met the great stone wall with its tunnel to the dark nowhere: the dark pit where he sacrificed countless others.
“Nowhere to go, flower. You can’t run from this.”
I turned and Zephyr was only a few steps away, blood crusting over his blade as he wiped it on his pants.
“It’s unnecessary. It’s cruel,” I pleaded desperately, my hands fluttering uselessly like two dying birds. Like the last two dead guards we’d plunged into the abyss.
He rolled his eyes. “Death is all around us. Don’t get squeamish now. My work will help humanity as a whole.”
“Does Shava know?” I demanded. I still doubted she’d be with him if she knew the depths of his savagery.
He fucking laughed at me, like I was a child who didn’t understand.
“Mari, don’t you see that if I’m able to study magick and understand it, then we could use it to find a cure and end all of this. That’s what you want, right?”
