“Why aren’t you marked? All gifted hybrids have sparrow tattoos to warn others of their talents,” I interject.
“I don’t know,” he lies, his eyes shifting away from my glare.
Brazen and I exchange a look, and then I sit up a little better in Brazen’s lap to speak to the scared hybrid.
“No one here is going to get you into trouble,” I offer genuinely, and his eyes flash to Brazen to advertise his mistrust for the full blood still clinging to me.
“You’re United officials. You have to divulge any and all information pertaining to hybrids.”
He’s a runaway. That’s the only reason he would be so scared.
“I’m not here to get you in trouble. I’m here to help just like Araya. I only uphold the laws I agree with, and I use my own personal morals for everything else. As you can see, I’m not opposed to the company of hybrids,” Brazen kindly states while kissing my shoulder, and I can’t stifle my foolish grin that follows his deliciously chilled touch.
“The last full blood I let my guard down around tried to have me arrested for blood rape. Then another full blood went against Araya’s instructions to bring me to safety. He told me he’d make sure justice was served one way or another,” Grayson mumbles, and Angelica’s hand takes his.
“They’re just bad people. It wasn’t their blood that made them that way. Why are you so judgmental about full bloods?” she asks so innocently, and Brazen leans back when my body tenses.
He begins running his fingers up and down my back to try and calm the storm within, and Grayson looks at her as if she has lost her damn mind.
“Is that a rhetorical question?” he muses, and she tilts her head curiously.
“She doesn’t know the world the way we do. It’s another story for another time. Brazen is good though, and you can trust me on that. You know I wouldn’t put you in jeopardy. Tell me where you ran away from and how old you were,” I say divertingly, and Brazen’s lips stroll over my shoulder again to thank me for my kind words.
He sighs out, and then he leans back as Angelica scoots in closer to wrap her leg around his waist. He smirks at her, and his hand falls to rest on her knee as he finally gives in.
“Heddlebrook. It’s not a United compound, but they still have to follow the hybrid laws of schooling, training, and turning in gifted students. It was absolute hell. I received thirteen lashings in one day, and I finally decided I had suffered enough when I was ten. I hated to leave the others behind, but everyone else was too scared to go. I escaped despite the odds. I ran until my body couldn’t stand any longer. I lived off of insects and edible plants for weeks until I ran across a couple of hybrid loners living far outside all United walls and unaligned walls. They fed me, bathed me, and then they found me a place to hide in secrecy. Since it’s against the law to adopt hybrids, they could have lost their lives for just knowing about my existence - let alone harboring a hybrid fugitive.
“They would bring me tons of food once a week, and they would check me over really well each time to make sure I wasn’t ill or getting ill. The food stopped suddenly when I was fifteen or sixteen. I went to check on them, and I realized their house was no longer standing. I ran and hid for a couple of years, and then suddenly I’m hitting my change. The first attack I encountered during my change, I accidentally incinerated the men. After that, it all goes blank for a while,” he murmurs shamefully.
“Your savage state took over, and you had to come down on your own. Be thankful it didn’t get worse. Heddlebrook burned to the ground, but all the hybrid children made it out safely if it makes you…”
My voice trails off as he stares at the ground, and I realize why Heddlebrook burned. He really, really lost control. Fuck.
“I see,” I continue, and Brazen’s eyes are widened in disbelief. “It happens every time you use your gift, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah. Is it that way with you? How did I come down this time?”
“It’s different with me. I’m emotionally bound to my savage, but there are others like you.” Hale. “We can usually stop it when we feel it or even if we know it’s coming. There’s a medicine used to sedate newly transformed and changed full bloods. I’ll teach you more about it. You ended up here after another blackout, didn’t you?”
“Yeah. I don’t know how long, but when I came to, I was close to here. I signed in under my old hybrid caretakers’ last name, and then I went to the visitor section just to breathe for a while in the safety of walls. I felt like this was a good place to be for some reason, and then that girl followed me into the bathroom. She threw herself at me, and I got carried away. I should have known better when she wanted her blood taken from her throat. No one likes that big of a mess,” he grumbles, and Angelica’s leg slides off him.
She crosses her arms in front of her chest, and she looks as though she’s just taken a bite of something disgustingly sour. He’s a little confused by her reaction, but he melts her icy shield when he pulls her over to be in his lap. She can’t suppress her grin, and then his lips fold over hers.
“What’s happening to us?” he asks while holding onto her.
“It’s a long story, so I’ll start at the beginning. You’ll need to be careful with her until she changes though. Right now she’s still much too fragile for you to blood-”
“You can’t do anything with her in that sense without her father’s blessing,” Brazen quickly interjects with a stifled grin.
I feel as though he’s somewhat making fun of me, but I’m not sure why.
“Her father?”
“Yeah. Angelica was raised by her full blood father. Sit back. There’s a lot you need to know, and there’s something we’ll have to do in the morning.”
My phone buzzes, and I lean over to grab it.
“Nicholas?”
