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As my eyes scudded over the table’s surface, I saw it. Not rough and ready like the other stocks they had downstairs, here instead, the polished mahogany surface was broken by finely wrought wolf’s heads at four points. One of the men’s hands moved, the crystal glowing as it did, and the jaws snapped open. I could see then the sharp metal teeth that would no doubt clamp down hard on the wrists of the captured. Their hollow throats would be useful, capturing the blood that would flow and funnelling it off to god knows where. I tried to slow and deepen my breath, but it kept coming in faster and faster.
“Too blowsy for my tastes. I prefer something a little more…streamlined.”
“The boys come after, Gerald, you know that.”
“Well, have at the little piece if you wish, but by the smell of her, she’s already had a seeing to by some of the men. Fairly stinks of Tirian.”
“Hmm, perhaps not then. Girl, return to the kitchens and ask Maud to send…what was her name? The slight one with the delightfully tiny tits? I want to say Agatha.”
“Arden, I think is the one you’re looking for, Lian. Though you’re sure? She was quite fun the last time we played. Be a shame to end that.”
“Only the best for our lord,” Lian replied, and a rumble from the earth came, as if in agreement.
“Very good, m’lords,” I said, and bobbed a curtsey before turning on my heel and walking back.
I focussed on the heavy weight of the trays, welcoming the way the large ovals of metal felt almost like shields as I went, though they would have done little to help me. The crystals began to hum as I went, lights flaring in each of them as the sound grew louder. I skittered back as Volken throughout the hall got to their feet, holding out their cups and their tankards, their voices joining with the sound.
It was like some motherfucking men’s choir, but this had way too many notes of pain and abuse and subjugation to be pretty. Instead, it was the music of sheer fucking horror. They stood and sang, completely oblivious to all around them, perfectly unified in their mistreatment of others, glorying in it, no less. This was a call to arms, to commit more atrocities, to indulge in any kind of self-serving violent act they pleased, as a sign of solidarity with their brothers. They hadn’t come for Sanctuary before because they hadn’t needed to. They’d stuck together, rained down hell, and no one raised a hand to them, with only the faltering in their number enough to finally make a dent in that. Red light shot around the room, connecting each crystal to the other, then fanning out to lock on those that the men wore. It was this massive web, and I’d been stupid enough to walk into it.
When the door appeared, I was almost sobbing with relief. I ran past the servery, straight into the kitchen, past a bemused Adam, and into the spit room.
“Jules, what the fuck?!” Finn said, rushing to my side.
“Where the hell have you been?” Aaron said. “We took our eyes off you for one minute!”
I couldn’t answer them as I fought to take a breath, but my lungs wouldn’t cooperate. Their questions sounded like they were coming from underwater, muffled and from a long way away. My eyes stared blankly at the room, the view of the women being raped playing over and over now that I wasn’t actively trying to shut it out. Their brutality and my lack of action hammered at me like blows. When I finally did focus, I saw only one set of eyes—Sylvan’s. His stared into mine, and then once he was convinced by what he saw there, he nodded.
There was no solace to be had there. He knew this was what it would be like, and from the memories I’d caught from him, he’d been on the receiving end.
“Gimme a bucket,” I groaned. “I’m gonna be sick.”
25
Once I’d sat down and got my breath back, I recounted my experiences. The guys went white, then red, and I watched their bodies tense and their fists ball, and I worried. While what I’d seen was horrible to someone who’d grown up in the human world, for matriarchal Sanctuary, it was an anathema. I watched them pace the floor, my voice getting quieter and flatter as the tension built.
“We can’t do anything about it,” I said.
“The fuck we can’t,” Slade snapped.
“We can report back, then bring the troops. Develop a real battle strategy,” Aaron said. “We can use some of the gold and get some serious hardware and take the fucks out once and for all, but that’s not gonna happen with just us and some handguns. It fucking kills me to say it, but we need to focus on the mission and get the fuck out. The matriarchs need to know about this, and about the White Wolf and Branwen. We’ve got to protect our families, or they’re next.”
“But what about those women?” Hawk said. My heart broke to hear the ragged rasp in his voice as he forced the words out. “We’re just going to leave them to get fucked to death?”
“Not just women,” I said.
“No, not just the women,” Sylvan said. “The thing you need to remember is this place doesn’t run on sex, it runs on power. That’s what this is, all a demonstration of power.”
He wove his hand and revealed the crystal burning bright there.
“What the fuck is that?” Jack said. “You’ve shown us a few times. It looks like the crystals from the ruins, like the one Jules and the Volken fucks are all wearing.”
“Your link with the White Wolf is tenuous. She just turns up sometimes and does her thing. Like, you couldn’t summon her now to lay waste to this place?” A note of hope crept into his voice, unbidden by the look on his face.
I shook my head. I could reach for my Tirian, but the Great Wolf? I let my eyes go unfocussed and saw the green lines tying my pack together, but that didn’t summon any wolf gods.
“Well, the Volken have no such problem. The crystals are their conduits to Lonan’s power. The elites get the bigger or purer crystals and more power, which comes with the greater ability to inflict your will on those around you, including other Volken. That’s the dream, to get the biggest crystal. There’s been assassinations and all the other shit you’d expect, trying to get access to it.”
“Why not waltz into the dining room and grab one of those?” I asked.
