Page 102 of The Souls Harvest
Galen tilts his head, looking at me sideways, hiding his hands in his pockets. “Have I overestimated your little brain, Crimson?”
I drop my smile and slap his arm, but he doesn’t flinch or move. Instead, he leans his back against the tree. Waiting.
“It’s not that easy,” I begin. “How am I supposed to pick a side when everything around me seems to change every time I blink? I was a nobody until a moment ago, and now you’re telling me that my birth-father is someone I’d gladly throw off a cliff,and that your brother is very much alive and very much in danger because of meandmy lunatic father. And let’s not forget the little detail that I’ve been living the same pathetic attempt to destroy part of your family for who knows how many times— ”
“About ten times,” Galen states, counting on his fingers.
“Ten? Are you sure?”
“Pretty sure,” he bobs his chin twice. “I was there every single painful time.”
His last words snap something between us. The last thread that so desperately tried to connect us—broken.
His eyes linger on my face, searching for a reaction. They’re the only moving part of his body, confirming that he is still alive and is not slowly merging with the tree.
As Tabitha did with me earlier, I feel like he’s treating me like I’m some feral animal ready to jump at the slightest sign of threat. But he’s feeding me minuscule pieces of truth one at a time—the more I chew, the hungrier I get.
“So, where’s the rest of you? It can’t only be you, Tabitha, and the others fighting this war. Fighting Roden…” I point at the building that gleams in the sunlight.
A flash of pride sparks in his eyes, and he smirks. “I did teach you well. I could probably stay here, just looking at you, until you get to the bottom of the story on your own.”
“No digressions,” I warn him.
He throws his arms out before crossing them over his chest. “Fine—The Horigos you know it’s only a small part of a bigger continent. Theapprovedsection. Let’s think about it as a vasttraining ground.”
“Approved by Roden and the Chapter?”
“Chapters.” Galen’s features are carved in stone; only his eyes betray the relentless tempest of thoughts in his mind. “We are not the first risking our lives to stop Roden’s insane plan. We were only lucky to keep our heads down enough for him to trust us all these years.”
“And by we, you mean Evelyn as well?”
“Amongst others, yes. Look, July, I know deep inside you’re still deciding if I’m trustworthy, but Kris is only the tip of the iceberg. We were always told that the Herionos stayed behind to work against Roden, but the power they seek today is no less dangerous than Roden’s. And he knows.”
Finally, that opening I’d been wanting for days. I start to feel at ease again, even if there is a side of Galen I’ve never been part of. The questions pile up. But I force myself to stay focused, pacing up and down, pinching my lips to keep them shut.
“What is it? Spit it out?” Galen sighs and lowers to the ground, sitting cross-legged.
“Roden showed me the screens-room, or whatever it’s called. Well…” A bitter laugh escapes at the memory, “Daddykept me hostage there. What do you really know of the Horigeans he sent me to harvest all these years?”
I look down at Galen and then towards the walls surrounding the building. The sun is at its peak, and in the distance, it glistens over what seems to be a lake.
Galen seems to ponder his answer. He plucks a blade of grass and lifts it to his eyes, bending it between his fingers.“Some of them are real debtors, as wrong as that sounds now that you know the truth. As for the Rogues…” he drops the piece of grass and jumps back onto his feet. “Those are Roden’s failures. His forever stain. Some of them will crave souls if not stopped. But only because of what Roden is trying to do with them.”
“Which is?” I get closer, almost pinning him between me and the tree at his back.
“Creating indestructible souls that solely obey his orders. Nothing like us. They have no conscience, no feelings. And the more they live, the more their soul changes colour—and becomesred.” Straight to the point.
I cover my mouth, shaking my head in denial. “Like that young woman, I harvested before this shitshow fell upon us. Well. Uponme. You were kind of already drowning in it.” I smirk.
But Galen remains serious, rubbing at his chin, pondering something until his eyes dart to mine. “We’ve never seen so many all at the same time. Roden is powerful, but he can’t be everywhere. We believe he decides to find allegiance in those he used to hate and that wanted to destroy him—us.”
I move closer. “The Herionos we feared as children are still out there then. The man who tried to kill us on the Blind was one of them. You didn’t lie…”
Galen’s eyes close with the weight of that night’s image. “I never lied to you. I was trying to protect you—and stay alive in themeantime.” When he reopens his eyes, the brown one shines bright with hundreds of silver specks.
“That man was sentnotto kill you - we believe - but tokidnapyou. If his plan was successful, Roden probably wanted to use that to explain your sudden disappearance and blame it on Tabitha and her rebels. But Evelyn had a suspicion. Mostly caused by the amount of red souls we spotted lately. Roden knows they’re marching towards Kris because they sense his power…”
“Oh…” I nod. Then, I shake my head. “Is he like me? Can he—”
