Page 40 of Cold-Blooded Creatures

“Can’t say exactly. But not right now.” Ezra picked off the golden flakes from his crimson shirt. “Sometime in the future.”

I couldn’t wait that long. I had my sights set on the Head of Ilasall since I understood how our society functioned. I was not allowing one extra unnecessary second of Alora’s suffering to continue. There were too many like her, who had to endure pain for no other reason than the wishes of those at the top of the food chain.

“Why not now?” I picked up another bite from my plate.

“We are not ready yet,” Gedeon stated.

“What the fuck does that mean?”

“Watch your mouth.”

“What did you just say?” I dropped my fork and rose as air paused its circulation in my lungs. No one spoke to me like I was below them. If he did so again, I was going to nail his tongue to the table, using the throngs of his fork as screws and his head as a hammer.

“Sit down. We have a deal. We will answer your questions as long as you eat, but I have not agreed to have you cuss us out in the process. As much as I find your dirty mouth cute, I will not restrain myself if you continue down this road.”

“This is amazing.” Ezra shoved three potato wedges into his mouth at once. “Sorry, please, continue. It’s just that the potatoes are really good.” His words jumbled as spoke around the food.

Zion tugged on my hip. “Finish your plate and I’ll repay you for it.”

His hand was going to repay for it. It’d make a pretty crown for me. Five fingers, five spikes. Not bad.

“Do it,” he eagerly encouraged.

“What?” I shoved him away and lowered back into my seat.

He shifted. “Whatever you’re thinking right now.”

“I will not repeat myself. Eat or our deal is off.” Gedeon’s composure turned out to be barely contained as his jaw looked like it was going to break in half.

The man had clear anger issues. Maybe a kick to his balls could help him take it down a notch.

I stuffed another bite of what was probably chicken. “What is this place? Why are you smuggling citizens out of the city?”

“Our compound is kind of a sanctuary for refugees. Well, it started like that. Now it’s something like our own city,” Eislyn explained, lacing her chocolate strands into a braid. “We kind of live here.”

She didn’t say more, and Eli continued. “You know the history. Or what they teach in Ilasall’s schools. Humans ruled the world, destroying our planet with their greed until nature found a way to annihilate them by taking away the ability to reproduce. The population dwindled, civilization collapsed, and the few remaining major cities in the continent walled themselves up. Ilasall, Ardaton, Coriattus. The three that we know of. In them, they spread propaganda that everyone else had become savages hunting for scraps in the woods. But it’s not true. We’re proof of that.”

I gobbled down food, not paying attention to taste anymore. I’d heard a rumor that there were people living scattered across the land around Ilasall, wild barbarians who ate each other for food. But I hadn’t encountered a single one during my midnight runs out of the city and marked it as a legend. Could it be the city had created the tale to deter its residents from risking an escape?

Chewing on a wedge of roasted potato, I pressed, “So you all grew up in the cities? And built your own version of them?”

If true, my life was about to become more fucked up than it was up to this point. I’d slipped through the gaps in one city’s system, only to be dragged into the depths of another. Yay.

“Not exactly. Some of us did, some were raised here. Outside the cities’ walls.” Ryder loaded spoonfuls of grilled carrots on his plate. “We’re not the monsters here.”

“Yet you kidnapped me. So sure, maybe not the monsters, but thieves for sure.” I conjured a fake smile. “Every woman’s dream, right?”

“They did.” Ezra waved his fork toward Gedeon and Zion. “We didn’t. And I thought you wanted to know what this place is, not start a debate about whether we’re good or evil.”

“Semantics. You didn’t do anything to stop them.” I chewed on a piece of chicken to placate my gurgling stomach and narrowed in on Ryder. “Carry on.”

Ryder placed his fork on the edge of his plate. “Contrary to what the cities teach, people haven’t stopped fleeing. They reinforced security measures in hopes of preventing it, but at that point, enough had escaped to form their own communities. The largest one settled here, in the ruins of the city we’re in right now.”

Gedeon held up his hand to stop Ryder from continuing, and it took me a minute to figure out why. Gritting my teeth at the bastard, I shoveled food down my throat as fast as I could.

Smirking, Gedeon took over from Ryder. “About thirty years ago, my parents got elected as the leaders of our compound. They planned long-term and set up covert ways to go in and out of Ilasall, and began taking citizens from right under their noses. Even with the brainwashing they had been subjected to throughout their lives, many citizens took us upon our offer—a safe place to live. No oppression. No social classes. A single rule—no population control measures. We were not becoming another Ilasall or the other two cities.” He straightened the utensils on the right of his plate so they were perfectly aligned. “You asked what this compound is. It’s a place where you are free to come and leave as you please. To live your days in freedom. Unlike the cities, we do not need a physical wall to keep us together. The will of our people does that for us.”

It sounded dreamlike, much too good to be true. “Ilasall or the others didn’t wipe you out?”