Page 157 of Remnants: Disruption
“Are you like him?” I ask.
Varun shakes his head in the negative.
“Christ,” I hiss. “Are you working with Darkrend or whoever Gareth’s king was?”
Varun studies me like the question didn’t make sense.
Are all dhampirs like this?
“In the light of the day, it is easier to believe the ghosts were simply figments of your imagination. These monsters, though, are real and they are boundless.”
My jaw sags as I study the trembling, pale dhampir.
“The fuck?” I ask and he sort of shrugs.
Like they hadn’t been his words.
“No,” I hiss, hearing footsteps behind me. “No, you’re going to fucking answer me. And don’t you dare explode. I’ll figure out a way to use your body—”
Strong hands pull at my back. Cass’ face is in mine again. She looks petrified. Like I’m the problem here and not the infiltrators who can wear our skin. She’s saying words but I don’t hear them.
Probably “hey stop!” and “don’t hurt anyone!”
“Who the fuck do you work for?” I scream, shaking Varun like a ragdoll.
He sort of croaks before what I imagine was his spine snaps like a dry twig. His body falls loosely in my shadowy grip, and I toss him to the ground.
“Fuck!” I yell out, moving to his corpse to Commune. “Not yet you—”
This time whatever grabs me is a lot stronger. Too strong. It tosses me to the ground and I roll painfully, shattering another rib. I land on my ass and stare up into the gleaming teeth of the wolf-bat.
“Get off of me,” I grunt, trying to push at her claws but she doesn’t relent.
“Hiraeth!” Azazel’s voice comes from beside me and I glance over to see the mage kneeling at my side.
“He was a shape shifter,” I shriek. “And not the kind that you can sense. He wasn’t a Remnant. He wasn’t afuckingRemnant!"
Because Remnant shape shifters like Harlot weren’t infallible. You can tell. You can sense it. I, at least, can sense it.
I had known it was Cass. Gareth had felt like her. He had radiated like her.
“Stop,” they hiss and I snap my teeth at their hand.
Definitely not beating the wild animal allegations.
With a heave, I manage to get my hand out from between Cass’ claws. A shadowy tendril spikes itself into Varun’s corpse and my world fades to black.
Rather than the last few seconds before Varun’s death, this feels like the moments after Percy had died.
The black surface ripples again as I stomp towards where Varun sits cross-legged. His back is to me, but I see him startle before he turns to face me.
“What was he?” I hiss and Varun gives me that dull expression again.
I let out another scream of frustration. Why the fuck can’t this be easier?
“Fine,” I breathe out, “just nod or shake your head, okay?”
He nods.
