Ablaze by Emma L. Adams

Author:Emma L. Adams [Adams, Emma L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: BA
Published: 2016-04-03T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

I follow. It’s not like I have a choice. I’m no closer to finding a way out with Cas which won’t leave the world to the mercy of Jared’s Transcendent slaves. The real question is, why now? If Jared will do anything to win against the fiends, then leaving it this long to turn himself suggests he wasn’t sure of his plan working. After the Transcendents, I guess he figured it was worth the risk. That, or the fiends really are on the brink of invading.

I just wish there was a way to get a message to Murray. To warn the others.

Jared leads the way down the corridor towards the fiends’ prison. The hairs rise on my arms, and it’s all I can do not to run. But the other Transcendents walk behind and to either side of me, blocking all escape.

“Wonderful, aren’t they?” he asks. “Total obedience.”

“What do you want, a round of applause?” I glare at the Transcendent on my right. His face is as impassive as the others. “Brainwashing isn’t exactly a new concept, you know.”

“Oh, I know that. It’s taken me so long to fine-tune the process. The problem with the tattoos is that they’re dependent on resistance to pain. Cas gave me a lot of trouble, I confess, but that’ll all change soon.”

My heart sinks, but I’ve no idea what he means by that. “What, is he resistant to your control? Are you pissed off because you can’t mind-control him?”

No answer. So it’s true. Which means he must have more torture in mind.

My fist clenches. “Where are we going?” I ask, instead of striking him, like I want to.

“A show,” says Jared. “I think you’ll find it instructive, though you did a great job of disabling one of my Transcendents already.”

When I stabbed the tattoo. It caused pain, but didn’t release him from Jared’s control. If I did that to Val, though… would it work?

And Cas?

“Did you use my blood in the tattoos as well?” I ask. “Seems a bit pointless, if they obey you anyway.”

“That’s the beauty of it,” says Jared. “You’ve never seen the fiends in action, have you? Their coordination is perfect. I believe the Fiordans use some kind of blood control, though I may be mistaken. When I send my Transcendents further afield, I’ll be interested in exploring other options. The Fiordans don’t give up their secrets easily, but with their blood, anything is possible.”

I gape at him. He can’t seriously be implying that he intends to copy the Fiordans? Or—use them in some way? He’s mad. Worse, could he be right? The Fiordans dominate the fiends through blood control?

Like the tattoos. Oh, God. He got the idea from them. How could he have found out something like that? Did the fiends tell him somehow, or…?

“I thought you planned to kill them,” I say.

“Certainly, if they pose a threat,” says Jared. “But that need not be the case. There is much to learn from the Fiordans, especially with our world in such a sorry state.

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