Survival of the fittest, she said.
And those who survived would be powerful and insane . Can you imagine the upheaval? For the most part, our kind blends with the human population. You have, havent you?
For years.
Do you think our relative anonymity would last if we started killing each other in the streets? Or bringing innocent humans into the fray?
The jab of guilt made Tallis look away. Hed led the Asters to his nieces home. Just for questioning , theyd claimed. Only, Tallis had watched in horror as her unassuming life had been shattered by the Asters men and a few of his warped Cage warriorsthose Dragon Kings who fought to clear debts or, for some, to earn the right to conceive children. Dr. Heath Aster, son of the cartels patriarch, was the only person in the world to have discovered a method of circumventing the barrier that had hampered natural conception for a generation. Fighting for the survival of ones bloodline had driven some Dragon Kings to the underground world of the Cages.
Then how had Nynn been able to conceive a natural-born Dragon King son?
Just for questioning .
Hed never wanted them to invade Nynns home and murder her human husband with a shotgun blast to the chest.
Its happened already, he said. I know of at least one human whos died because of this increasing need to consolidate power.
You thought by discrediting me and keeping the Indranan split into factions, that power would never come to pass?
Yes. He paused, glanced at a very grim-faced Chandrani, and decided to tell the truth. And because I genuinely hated you. I wanted revenge for twenty years of having been manipulated toward a goal that held no more substance than my dreams.
Kavya was a strong woman. Any other would have railed and cussed and blamed himrightfully so, it seemed. Layers of guilt. Soon he would be buried beneath them, with only a life of berserker mindlessness to swirl free of the cloying dirt.
She was strong because she nodded. You hated the wrong person.
Seems that way.
Are you crazy?
I dont know. And believe me, twenty years is a long time to ask the same question.
She drew back and did that odd thing with her fingers. Hands clasped at her stomach. Some particular adjustment to the alignment of her fingers. What followed was an expression of serenity and steady calm that Tallis envied. He coveted it more than hed ever coveted anything.
What would it be like to go through life again with a sense of rightness and certainty? Hed known that feeling once, but he would never trust it again. Too much damage had been done when hed relinquished free will in favor of blind faith.
I dont think youre crazy, she said simply. But I do think we need to go. A telepath mustve driven you to these extremes. If sheor even hehas been feeding you these lies for two decades, then it must be someone with a great deal of power. She paused. Her gaze darted all around, as if the trees might come alive. Two decades . . . My brother killed our sister almost exactly twenty years ago.
Tallis swallowed, his throat clogged with bile. In those dreams, hed experienced some of the most erotic moments of his life, waking up in a flush of sweat and infuriatingly dissatisfied. Sometimes hed wanted to stroke himself, with the image of golden flesh behind closed eyes. But the morning always brought the same nauseating doubts. Was he insane? Had he killed for no reason? Those questions cooled his ardor within moments of waking. More frustration. More mounting anger.
I . . .
He stopped himself. He clamped his lips shut and shook his head. Some shames should never be admitted. This was one. Hurt, revulsion, betrayalhe couldnt separate his emotions. They welled up in him and tempted the animal. The berserker dwelling in his marrow, sinews, and the deepest recesses of his
mind had known the truth as soon as Kavya, the real Kavya , had lain beneath his body.
I hope that isnt the case, he finished, knowing his words wouldnt gratify either of them. But I cant deny its a possibility.
Then we may have found ourselves a common enemy, Tallis of Pendray. Kavya offered a smile. Too bad it was tinged with sadness and fear. Until we have the answers you seek, nothing will come of my attempts to heal the wound Pashkah inflicted on my people. If he catches me, he will kill me. And if you insist on revealing the tricks played on you in dreamscape, hell kill you, too.
They didnt resume camp, although Kavya was weary. So weary. But fear of Pashkahs retaliation propelled her onward. They trudged south. Although humans had built a highway that extended down from the Himalayas, following the deadly Rohtang Pass through the Valley of the Gods, past where her followers had encamped outside of Manali, the Beas River was Kavyas guide. She knew these foothills like she knew the sound of her breath. What she didnt know was whether Pashkah had remained in the Pir Panjal after killing Baile. Had he traveled, or had he stayed to learn these mountains as well as she did?