Page 41 of The Souls Harvest
I clench my fists so furiously that my nails dig into my palms. “So, you lied. All these years…I wasted weeks crying over the fate of Rogues, which I thought you missed. I shared their pain…And you just, what? Played with them?”
“I do what I do best. I give souls a chance.” He. Fucking. Smiles.
“You could save them all!” Understanding burns my tongue, as my words spit out like venom.
A wicked grin blooms on his face. “One doesn’t use his best resources to cure an infected dog and I don’t work withflaws.” His eyes narrow to two cruel mirrors, reflecting the disgust spreading across my face.
My eyes widen, and something acrid and bitter sticks in my throat, stealing my breath.
“I killed every single one of them, is this what you’re saying? And now you want me to do it again, to that boy?! Why can you not just leave him be, like the other Rogues. With one kernel left I’m sure he doesn't have the strength to hurt anyone.” The longer I stare at Roden, the more the other faces fade into a dark fog.
Roden moves a few steady steps towards me until he stopsbetween Popplewish and me. He leans back against the table, crosses his ankles, and lowers the cane onto the back of his neck, letting his wrists rest on the wooden shaft.
He huffs a dark laugh, studying his nails, “Now, now, my child. No need to run to such a desperate conclusion; I’m not asking you to turn the Rogue into a pile of black powder, which is not even good enough to fertilise my flowers.”
After a quick look at the Chapter behind him, Roden adds, “See, he holds a special talent, a bit like yours, and I can’t allow him to use it without my supervision. The ideal solution would be to eradicate his power from the roots. But that little weed always seems to remember everything and every face he crossed path with while our Writers worked on him.”
“Then, why don’t you just bring him to Libera like you did for the rest of us? Train him, make him…good.” The word tastes awful on my tongue.
Roden slides the cane off his shoulders and rests it on the table, “Because he refuses the offer. Every. Single. Time,” he says, tilting his head left and right and leaning towards me with every word until our faces are eye-level, rage and impatience burning behind his pale irises.
I hold my breath until Roden stands up, grabs his cane and walks away.
Everyone in the room follows his movements until he stops and sits beside Lily Drestall. She elegantly bows her head, and he softly kisses her cheek.
“Lily has tried her best for years, rewriting his memories, filling his mind with marvellous alternatives. Gifting him with some incredible, fictitious images of past lives. Anything her pretty, little head could think of, if only to distract that stubborn soul from his true nature.” He lets out a dramatic sigh before casting a hard look at Lily, who is still staring at Roden in adoration. “Nothing worked. Nothing.”
Blood rushes under Lily’s porcelain face, and she lowers her eyes.
“How many times?” I ask, already fearing the answer. If nobody but me can harvest Rogues, I’m sure that didn’t stop Roden from trying alternative methods to break that man’s will power.
Roden counts on his right hand as if mentally writing a grocery list. “I’d say enough times to give him the opportunity to come to Libera willingly.”
It’s already too late to control my tears, but I don’t care. “How could you?” I turn to face the rest of the Chapter, my lips trembling. “How could you let this happen to one of us?”
“He isnothing, by his own choice.” Roden sounds distant. Cold.
“But he’s only known the choices you gave him!” My voice comes from a dark place I didn’t know I had in me. I shout so desperately that I don’t hear the chair toppling to the floor when I stand up.
Pushing away from the table, Roden stands, seemingly strangling the neck of his cane, his knuckles turning whiter by the second, and saunters towards me. “You know, my dear, the worst way childrencan hurt their father is by refusing his legacy, the power he built for their future, sweating blood and tears.”
He keeps walking, tracing a path on the shiny table with his index finger. “This Rogue is not only rejecting the legacy I created for all my children to enjoy when I’ll be gone. But he is also stealing my souls…”
He stops and crosses his arms over his chest, waiting for my reaction.
I instinctively retreat a couple of steps, shaking my head.
Popplewish lowers her head, pushing up from her chair with such heaviness that my stomach churns.
“Roden believes he’s working with a group of rebels who wish to cut ties with Harvesters and stop the Horigeans from bargaining their souls.”
“Dirty, ungrateful, ignorant scum. Egoistic, little brains full of dangerous ideals—this is what they are,” Roden scrunches up his nose as if a whiff of stench just hit his nostrils.
I don’t remember starting fidgeting, but the skin around my nails feels raw and tender.
“Have you tried talking to them? What if these people are using him and he doesn’t know how to ask for help? He’s probably just confused, scared…”
“Careful, girl. You make it looks like you care for a Rogue you don’t even know.” Nikrah says, stretching out his arms with a big yawn.
