the Bermuda Triangle on which their ancestors, both human and god, had lived. Before the two gods and the angel that made up the Tryah instigated a war that ultimately sank the island hundreds of years earlier.
âSo when I saw him outside my school, I was wary but not afraid. He told me what I wantedâneededâto hear, that he missed me and wanted to spend time with me. His devastation at losing touch with me had inspired him to take in homeless children. He assured me that my mother had given him permission to bring me for a visit.
âThe secluded estate was beautiful, but something felt off. I met you and another Caido our age named Silva. The first night I spent there, I sneaked into the wing my father had forbade me to enter and found several non-Caido Crescent kids locked in rooms. They told me theyâd been kidnapped. Then my father discovered me and thatâs when he explained that they were part of an important program to find a way to break the Caido curse. And now I would be, too.â
âHe was experimenting with kids just so you all could get off?â Kyeâs outrage sang through him. At Haydenâs surprised expression, she explained how she knew about desire causing Caidos pain.
âIt wasnât just about sexual desire,â Kasabian said. âIt was about freeing us from the effect of all emotions, so we could be a part of society. He made it sound altruistic and promised that no one would be harmed in the process. But that was a lie. It hurt the Caidos, who were channeling the kidsâ essence to some kind of vessel.â He rubbed the place where the scar resided, now remembering the searing heat. âAnd it drained the non-Caidos. All the kids were too young to be Awakened to their powers. My father believed our untapped magick was purer, therefore stronger.â
âWhy were they filling a vessel?â Kye asked.
âI donât know the exact mechanism, but an angel told my father that filling this vessel would free them from their ties to this plane. And that would break our curse.â Kasabian turned to Hayden. âThe reason you and I crave emotions is because we were flooded by them during our captivity. We could feel everything without pain. But after our escape, we no longer had the protection of the Essex that we got every day. And we wanted to feel again.â
Hayden gripped the back of the chair he was standing near. âWhat happened to the kids?â
âMy father said he returned them to the parents heâd âborrowedâ them from when they started to weaken. Weâd wake up and one or more would be gone. I regularly crept into their wing to check on them. One Deuce girl was fading fast. I gathered her in my arms and meant to beg my father to send her home.â
Such a small girl, looking at him with hope in her glazed blue eyes. âShe died in my arms. I couldnât help her, couldnâtâ¦â The grief and helplessness washed over him anew. He cleared his throat. âTo test my father, I laid her back in her bed. The next day when I saw her empty room, I asked where she was. He told me sheâd gone home to recover. I started making an escape plan right then.â
Kyeâs eyes glittered with tears. Could she feel his pain at that memory? She swiped them away. âHe just let them die?â
âHe kept saying our suffering was a small price to pay for releasing the pain of a whole race of Crescents. Wasnât that, after all, what wars were about? Sacrificing our soldiersâ lives to win freedom? He didnât want to hear my point that todayâs soldiers voluntarily sign up for the dangers when theyâre of legal adult age. He believed that what he was doing was justified.â
He tore his gaze from her to Hayden. âYou and I conspired to escape. I didnât trust Silva. He was sucking up to my father as well as to me. You were the only Caido I could trust. We took
Louis - Sackett's 08 L'amour