Page 117 of Revealing Fate

Railah made a gasping sound, her voice coming out in choked astonishment. Imogen couldn’t look. She squeezed her eyes shut. Her whole body shook, curling in on itself. Tears, hot, angry, and traitorous, seeped through her lids and lashes. Karrick growled again. The thud of a body hitting the mattress dragged along the edges of Imogen’s tattered soul. Her hand clawed at her throat as though to stop the sob that threatened to escape.

The male she loved had been commanded to impregnate another woman. A young, misled woman who welcomed it. And Imogen would be obligated to attend her, to watch her belly swell with Karrick’s child when Imogen hadn’t even had the chance to know her own sweet baby. Her fingers dug into the flesh at the sides of her throat. Choking. She was choking on despair and had half a mind to let it kill her.

Fuck the gods and their cruelty. Fuck this wretched, terrible world.

The clawed hand that touched her arm drew a shriek of alarm. Imogen whirled. It took longer than it should have for her grief-addled mind to understand what she was seeing.

Karrick stood before her on padded feet with a strange look on his predator’s face. Railah’s naked body lay unmoving on the bed, her Fate’s cloak thrown haphazardly over her.

“Oh my gods, Karrick,” Imogen croaked. “You killed her.”

He huffed. “Would that I had and saved us all the trouble. She’s not dead. Just unconscious.”

Imogen struggled for words. “She passed out?”

Karrick’s reply was sardonic. “With encouragement, yes.”

“But…I…”

“Did you honestly think I’d bed the girl?”

Words escaped her. Yes. She had.

Karrick dipped to her height. “I know you’ve got herbs with you. I can smell the nettleleaf. It’s used to suppress fertility, yes?”

Imogen’s hand flew to the inner pocket of her vestments. The infertility capsule that Mender Alcuin had instructed her to prepare was safely tucked inside. Just one. The one that she’d meant to trick Railah into consuming.

“Can you make her swallow it?”

It suddenly made sense what Karrick had intended. “You knocked her out on purpose? So that I could drug her?”

“Would you rather I fucked her like a good slave?”

Imogen reared back. He may as well have slapped her for how his words stung. “Fuck you, Karrick,” she said, though her tone was devoid of intended barbs.

Karrick didn’t balk. “Gen. She won’t be out for long. If you can get that herb into her, it’ll buy us some time.”

Time enough to escape in three weeks? She withdrew the capsule. “Mender Alcuin said it would delay a female’s cycle. I don’t know what effect it’ll have on a female who is already fertile.” If it affected her at all.

“Do you have a better idea?”

Imogen shook her head. She supposed she didn’t. Together, they rolled Railah onto her side. Karrick retrieved water from the adjacent washroom. Imogen opened Railah’s mouth and pushed the medicinal pellet into the back of her throat. Karrick tipped water between her lips while Imogen prayed they didn’t accidentally suffocate her.

Railah’s brow furrowed as she struggled toward consciousness. She sputtered. Imogen forced her jaw shut. Relief swept through her as Railah’s throat bobbed with a swallow. After a quick check inside the young Fate’s mouth to confirm she did, in fact, consume the capsule, Imogen sank onto the bed.

Karrick sat back on his haunches, tail flicking behind him. His glossy charcoal-colored fur gleamed in the glow of firelight.

“How did you resist her?” Imogen asked against her better judgment. The scent of Railah’s fertility must have been overwhelming. Even she could identify the lingering pheromones that permeated the restrictive chamber.

Karrick raised a heavy brow. “Come on, Gen. I’m not a fucking monster.”

Imogen hugged her knees. “The others were.” When Karrick gave her a curious look, she continued. “The other males Vulgren used. They were locked in this room with their Fates, and many of those women didn’t survive.”

Karrick blew a frustrated breath out of his nostrils. He gestured to himself with a clawed hand. “You forget I am not from Asteros. I do not share their religious ideologies. I didn’t grow up suppressing this form.” Then, almost to himself, he said with an air of disgust, “These Faithful Cursed and their idiotic practices. Just because you refuse to look in the mirror doesn’t mean your reflection doesn’t exist.” He paused, and Imogen processed his words. “Those males can’t control themselves because they grew up ignoring the instincts of their second forms instead of learning how to navigate them.”

Fucking gods. “Why did you never tell me this?”

Karrick shrugged, the gesture man-like. “I wasn’t sure you’d appreciate such blasphemy. Our time together was limited. By the time I trusted you, I wanted to spend it in other ways.” The hint of a smile lit his features, and Imogen felt her face warm.