Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 144277 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 721(@200wpm)___ 577(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144277 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 721(@200wpm)___ 577(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
“What needs to be said?”
“It’s survival, Finn. And yeah, it’s selfish. But if we’re not looking out for us, then who is? I guess, if you come from a good family like you did—”
“Like I did?” Finn laughs. His smile back in place. “Are you fucking with me now? Jasina, my mother was one of those cult Matrons. Worst-case scenario, she was harvesting Little Sisters to feed Donal Oslin and turn him into a god so she could travel to another world—while leaving me behind! Best case, she was a brainwashed minion who literally went crazy. Could you imagine a worse god than Donal?”
I shake my head, laughing despite the seriousness of the topic. “No. He was the absolute worst. You don’t even know the half of it. He was my partner all growing up in Pledges. But my point was—you had your father. He was looking out for you.”
Finn presses his lips together, agreeing with a nod of his head. “He did. I think he really tried. I think he knew some things, but then he must’ve learned something new. Maybe the stuff about Donal? And then he went rogue.”
“And they killed him.”
“My mother killed him.”
“Yeah, that’s terrible. I take it back, your family sucks.”
He laughs again. “Let’s talk about something else. Let’s talk about… your dress. Your nap. How was it? I like your boots.”
“You mean let’s forget, for just one night?”
“Yeah. We’re gonna walk through the God’s tower door and be in another world. This is the future, Jasina. From now on, let’s just think about the future.”
I give his hand a squeeze. “Agreed. Let’s go.”
And that’s what we do. We walk down the murky-black canal—trying not to notice all the things, all around us, that are going wrong in this city—and head towards the God’s Tower stairs.
It’s a quick climb—much quicker than I remember those two nights when I stood on the God’s Tower stage while Haryet and Clara were being Extracted. And before I know it, we’re standing right in front of the big, black doors.
“What do we do now?” I’m asking this question when the doors slowly begin to open. And then, there’s a force tugging at me. Pulling me in!
“Finn!” I squeal. “Is this supposed to happen?”
He’s being pulled in too, and I think this makes him calm. Separates this Extraction from the ones he was responsible for. Because he was left behind for those two, and this time he’s coming too.
“Stay calm,” Finn says. “This is how it happens. This is just how it works.”
He doesn’t know that any more than I do, but it’s literally only a few seconds of tugging, and then… it stops, everything goes black, the world behind us—the sounds of those workers and whatever they’re doing, gone now.
Just silence and darkness.
And then, just as quickly, there’s a small point of light directly in front of us and a feeling of being put down. Settled. A sense of heaviness.
A man’s face appears. He’s smiling. “Welcome! Miss Jasina and Mr. Finn, right?”
“Uh…” I begin, but cannot finish. Because I’m so startled by this… man? He’s not a man. He’s got the face of a man, but the body of one of those worker things.
And he can talk. And smile. And—
“What the hell are you?” Finn just blurts this out, no hesitation at all.
The man-machine thing bows, apologizing profusely, “Oh, I am very sorry. Very, very sorry. Xi didn’t tell me that you’d never met one of my kind before. I’m sure it just slipped his mind. I apologize. I would’ve covered up had I known.”
And then, just like that, he transforms into a regular man. A man as real looking as Finn. He’s human, white body gone now. His mechanical joints too. And he’s wearing clothes.
“What kind of magic is that?” Finn asks. Again, just blurting it out.
The man-machine sighs. Which just kinda blows my mind. “Oh, wow. OK. You two are from somewhere very traditional!” He nods, agreeing with himself. “I wasn’t told that either. So again, apologies. Let’s start over. Hello!” He extends a hand towards Finn. “I am Cormac, Xi’s personal servant. I’m here to escort you to the God’s Tower lobby where you will learn how to access your dinner reservations and your room.”
“Room?” I ask.
“Yeah,” Finn adds. “What room? I thought this was a date and we’d go back tonight?”
“Nonsense!” Cormac laughs. “One evening is not a date.” He winks at Finn. “One must take the place for a test drive.”
“A what?” Finn asks.
Corban waves a hand in the air. “Never mind. You’ve got a reservation and it’s quite a climb back up to the surface, so we’d better get hoofin’ it.”
“A climb?” I ask. Feeling weary just thinking about it.
“Oh, don’t worry, Miss Jasina. There’s an escalator.”
I have no idea what that is, but I find out soon enough. Because after a short walk down a dark hallway, we turn a corner and come face to face with it.