Page 101 of Kingdom of Today
It did no good.
Tug.Another several feet. Mere inches away. The next haul could be my last. “Try to save yourself,” I pleaded, accepting my fate. “Help Cyrus. Don’t give up on him. Look out for my mom and Mykal. Thank you for everything.”
“I’m here foryou,” the librarian snapped. “Always you.”
“Survive,” I commanded him, wrenching free of his hold, hoping against hope. Momentum carried me to the finish line. Maybe he could recover. I braced—
And slipped through the dome without difficulty.
Astonished, I whooshed across the land, moving so quickly the terrain blurred. Then I was inside the castle, going through ceilings and walls. Into my suite. My eyelids popped open, and I gasped, jolting upright in bed. The thudding of my heart filled every inch of my body.Buh-bum. Buh-bum. Buh-bum.A war drum.
Though I threw myself against the pillows and squeezed my eyes shut, I didn’t return to Cyrus and Domino. The librarian didn’t follow me or appear.
“Arden Dawn Roosa.” Briar Rose called to me once more, a clear summons.
I jolted upright again. Panting from exertion, I wrestled with the compulsion to visit her. If I could get to the garage, I could steal a vehicle and return to the dome in my physical form.
And do what?
Tears seared my eyes.
“Arden Dawn Roosa. Come to me. Now.”
No more whispers or kind requests. The goddess shouted a directive that reverberated through my cells.
My limbs acted of their own accord, propelling me onto my feet. Though I resisted from the inside, my outside paid me no heed, padding into the hall, just as I was.
The guards hadn’t abandoned their post. Nor had 999, the meta Cyrus had summoned before the field trip. At my appearance, the men snapped to attention, one rushing ahead to lead the way, the other following me. As we motored onward, the meta kept pace at my side.
I’d always secretly longed for a pet of my own, but I had barely been able to afford cheap, awful meal bars for my mother and myself. This meta, I’d never have to feed, yet I couldn’t ditch it soon enough. Its metal frame and multitude of weapons were anything but adorable.
No one had to be told where to go; somehow, they already knew. Along the way, other trainees exited their rooms, heading in the same direction. We didn’t speak. In fact, everyone else appeared entranced, staring straight ahead.
Dread pricked my nape as we navigated the maze of hallways, taking an unfamiliar-to-me route. And yet, we ended up in a very familiar place: the temple of gods. Guards stationed at the open doors allowed us to sail inside without issue. I tripped over myself when the statues came into view. They looked to be flesh and blood now, full of color and life, the stone gone as if it had never been. Yet, none had moved from their perches.
I pressed a fist against my thudding heart. Trainees spread out without prompting, approaching different deities. No one neared Astan, I noted with a shudder. The king of gods was a stunner in multicolored detail, his horns the deepest black, his wings the whitest white.
As his glittering eyes tracked my every move, he smiled, his teeth as sharp as blades. I shuddered.
“Finally, the day has come.” Glee emanated from Briar Rose as she shifted, slowly extending her arm toward me. Vibrant-green vines coiled around her fingers, spreading to her elbow. Flowers of varying colors bloomed with lovely petals, unleashing a sweet floral bouquet.
A berry grew from the center of one of the flowers, reminding me of those produced by Tsuri. It glowed, though not with the same brightness. I witnessed the progression of it all, astonished.
“Go ahead. Taste,” she urged. “Let me make all your dreams come true.”
My chest clenched. For as long as I could remember, I’d yearned to be a grower, working alongside Ourland’s agricultural giants. I’d taken special gardening courses, took extra jobs to afford the proper tools, and poured all my energy into learning my craft. I’d done my part, paying taxes on the money I made, while also paying taxes on the money I spent, while also paying taxes on everything I supposedly owned, which I’d purchased with already taxed money. Yet CURED had other plans for me and demanded more. Demanded everything, including my life.
When I was recruited for military service to pay off my mother’s back taxes—money she shouldn’t have owed—my aspirations died. Itwas then that I’d begun to wake to the truth that CURED wasn’t a remedy but a disease, corrupt at its very core. So join them once again?
“No,” I grated.
The berry evaporated. “My casing is gone, but I require a host to shed what remains of my prison. I choose you, Arden,” she grated back.
My legs threatened to buckle under the weight of her tone. “I don’t care.”
“Say yes,” she continued, “and I will grant you a power beyond imagining. You’ll own this world and the other. Create a garden oasis as you’ve always yearned. Feed the entire population. Live a life you’ve only dared crave in secret, with Cyrus at your side. He is Astan, and Astan is Cyrus. It’s already done.”
Lies and bribery. It was such a human thing to do. In fact, she struck me as a woman desperate to live again, willing to promise anything to get it done. But I knew better than to accept a deal with a lying cheater.
