Page 108 of The Souls Harvest
He starts torturing the neck of his shirt with his teeth, and his eyes dart to me. “And we know this because…?”
I scratch my neck, looking past his face to the building. “Merya was there and had somefunwith them. They’re still alive - if you were wondering - sent back to The Mother, where they started—but a few levels below their old rooms.”
When his shirt becomes useless to his thinking process, Galen starts chewing on his lower lip. “Why Corlea? There is nothing on that island worth their energy. It’s only a port to—” His gears click and fall into the right - worrying - places.
“Brenath and our base.” I steal the words from him to ease his increasing nervousness and to stop him from drawing blood from his lip. “They had a ship ready on the other side of the island, carrying unstable Reds. Like the one who caused the accident in Brenath a month ago—”
And—goodbye to the attempt at saving his lip. “You…didn’t know,” I state, already confident in his answer, when his eyes widen and his jaw locks.
He looks at the sky, struggling to hide the exasperation caused by my revelation. “Nobody cared to keep me updated.”
“You had other matters to be worried about. Me. July. The Chapter. Surely your hair wasn’t one of them…”
“Just be serious for once.” His fingers curl into fists before he plunges them into his pockets.
“Sorry, I…Apparently, Roden has decided to make good use of the more unstable Reds he can find. A man in his forties reached Brenath’s shores on a raft and asked to be fed and to rest. He also said he had some urgent news to deliver to Tabitha Lorne, but didn’t know how to find her.”
Galen nods, quickly putting all the pieces of the puzzle together. “Roden knows Brenath recently opened its gate and showed interest towards the New Hera. But his citizens may also betray our location if he plays his cards well before they’re completely sold to our cause.” He starts pacing left and right, chewing again at his shirt. Some things never change.
I step before him, holding my hands up to stop him. “That’s not all. Forget about Roden for a second. The man I told you about—he never made it to Ventiol because his blood was so poisoned, overloaded by tons of scrapped souls that he exploded in the local Town Hall.”
There is no softer way to deliver the news, but Galen’s eyes bulge as if I’ve punched him in the stomach.
“Casualties?”
“The poor bastard, of course, and some villagers who brought him warm clothes and food. They were killed almost immediately. His blood melted them like acid. But from the inside, as if they had inhaled toxic fumes. I was there with Jyn when it happened.” I shiver, trying to chase away the memory of their screams.
I fall silent, lost for words—I don’t want to find those words again in my head.
Galen’s hand lands heavily on my shoulder.
“That explains a lot. Do the others know?”
I replay his words in my head quickly. “Explainswhat?”
“Kris, just answer me. Do the others know?” He grabs me by the collar of my faded green shirt.
I wriggle free, giving him a puzzled look. “I told Tabitha, and she shared with the others a summary but left the more gruesome details out of it.”
Galen ponders my words, lost in thought for a moment. “That must be him,” he mumbles.
“Him?”
“The man in the video that Lucretia and her friends were watching in the library. July thinks that was you during one of the many times Roden tried to erase your memories.”
“Who’s Lucretia? Galen, remember, you hit me. I didn’t touch you, but you are the one talking nonsense.” I flick his forehead.
“I need to speak with everyone. Whether Tabitha is willing or not, this can’t wait.”
He pats twice on my shoulder and runs away towards the building, leaving me agape and with a massive bruise blooming on my otherwise perfectstomach.
Chapter 39 - Chasing Monsters
July
Why are my stupid legs shaking? And why have all my thoughts gone quiet, but my mind keeps playinghisvoice in a loop?
The distance between me and the building stretches like an elastic band without a breaking point until the kitchen’s back door appears from nowhere in front of me.
