Page 116 of The Souls Harvest
“Roden still has the power to infiltrate our minds, even from a distance. We could take down hundreds of his soldiers. Those who want Horigeans to believe we are the real threat. He will always be moving our strings, whether we realise it or not. But this ends now.”
Tabs slaps a hand on her thigh, making Mack jump.
“We’ve been fighting a years-long battle - never a war - trying to contain Roden and those who are happy to follow his cruel dream of superiority. To make their actions just a fraction less disruptive for Horigos and for what remains of its people. At what cost and with what results?” Tabs seems to ask everyone, but nobody speaks.
“Exactly,” she continues, “We’ve done nothing but delay the worst from happening.”
Merya bolts upright, confusion and a hint of panic in her eyes, making her brother jump again. “But what about the people wekept safe? All those villages and towns we rebuilt from scratch? They must count for something.”
“What about stopping scaring Mack to death?” he pleads, raising his hands, palms up.
“Dramatic,” Merya snaps.
“Boring soul,” Mack mumbles.
“Stating the truth is not really an insult, brother. You’d better work on that,” Merya comments, taking a step back to give him a judgemental look.
“How do you do that?” July asks, and when six heads turn to her at the same time, she looks down at the table. “I mean, since I’ve been here, I’ve witnessed all of you jumping from tales of terrible events to arguing, in the middle of a serious conversation, about ridiculous matters. How do you not crush under the weight of what’s happening?”
“Because we don’t have the privilege to have our memories reset like yours.”
“Mack!” Merya, Galen, Jyn and Tabitha shout at once.
For the third time, Mack jumps, but this time, he pushes his chair, sending it toppling to the floor against the wall. “Enough. Give me a script next time.”
“No, please. It’s…okay. Mack is right.” July’s voice carries a sense of want, a desire for answers so intense I want to take her hand and tell her that everything is going to be okay.
But Galen gets there before me. His fingers are already closed around hers.
“I know it must be hard pretending. You don’t need to and I hate this feelingof having something right in front of me, but that I can’t grasp.” Her words linger betweenuseven if her eyes are trained on my brother.
“This is why I wanted all of us to have this conversation,” Tabitha finally speaks again, her leader’s voice and stubborn gaze slowly making a comeback.
“Are you sure about this?” Jyn asks.
Tabitha nods, gently squeezing Jyn’s arm. “I received news from Libera that I can no longer ignore.”
“How? When?” Galen asks without letting go of July. He silently reads Tabitha’s face, slowly tilting his head. “Evelyn?”
Tabitha hums in response, bracing her hands on the table. “She used one of Mack’s kestrels. Those grumpy birds know the way here, so Evelyn could send a quick message, even if ignoring our coordinates. But it was enough to explain the extent of Roden’s madness. His plan this time was never to give July another chance to succeed at what he had tried for years. He doesn’t care about Kris anymore because that beautiful, special soul Roden desired for so long is now but a weak flame. Kris helped us save many souls that were about to turn red, but that came at a cost…and Roden figured it out.”
“...there was always a stubborn, last kernel missing…That’s what Roden said to me.” July’s hand slips from under Galen’s. She sighs, looking at me with watery eyes. “Roden always used me like a tracker. He would have ended this if he had the power to find Krison his own otherwise. But he needed me to bring him to Libera, where he is at his full potential. Before that last spark of soul…”
“And Roden can’t leave Libera; he’s tethered to the island. With Roden gone, Libera will implode.” Mack completes July’s words, pinching his lips and seeking confirmation from Tabitha, with growing panic in his eyes.
Her shoulders rise and fall. “That’s true, but Roden has apparently grown tired of his exile and decided that it is time to father a new generation of Harvesters.”
“Tabitha?” Merya backs against the kitchen counter, bracing a hand on its edge. “What else did Evelyn’s message say?”
We all hold our breaths. Tabitha runs her hand over her face, inhaling deeply, her chest expanding.
“Liberais on fire.”
Chapter 41 - Nobody's Child
July
The faces of all the people I met in Libera flip before my eyes like the pages of a book I’ll never finish reading.
