Total pages in book: 214
Estimated words: 195876 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 979(@200wpm)___ 784(@250wpm)___ 653(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 195876 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 979(@200wpm)___ 784(@250wpm)___ 653(@300wpm)
"I hereby ban you from speaking about mating rituals or me being entered, Typhon."
"The angry human thinks she has the power to ban me from sharing my wisdom. This amuses me greatly."
He's not kidding. A strong pang of amusement passes through the tether. Despite my annoyance with him, I can't help shaking my head and smiling.
"I'm going to my room. To sleep. Maybe you need to go find an elemental to mate so you can get your mind out of the gutters."
"I am a skilled mate, and performing the ritual with another elemental would require several days. When you are less likely to get yourself killed in my absence, I may do exactly that. For now, I must remain watchful and vigilant."
I know I don't have to tell him I'm glad he's here. He'll feel it through the tether.
I'm especially grateful as I walk through the chilly halls on my way back to the water tower. Every time I learn more about siphons, I feel more terrified by the idea that one of them is lurking on campus, searching for something.
But what the hell is it they're looking for?
22
"Um... Beck? What exactly is this?"
Beck smiles wide as he gestures to a group of five first-year waters he has paraded into the common room. It's late, but our promotion to aspirant privileges means we have a light day of classes on weekends, so we're all less exhausted than usual. At least most of us are. Some seem to be using the extra time to sleep with everyone they can.
The fear that every day could be our last has a lot of students acting without reserve. Who is sleeping with whom doesn't even qualify as an interesting rumor at this point. If anything, my lack of sexual activity is more rumor worthy than someone bedding a different partner every night.
I eye Beck and his small parade of pretty girls. A prickle of foreboding crawls up my spine—whatever he's doing, I'm sure it's going to be stupid.
"Agreed," Typhon says. "His elemental, Uther, also lacks deep intelligence. And he's rather promiscuous, from what I hear."
"Elementals gossip about sex, too?"
"We do not gossip. We simply exchange facts, suspicions, and bits of news."
"So you gossip."
Typhon blows out a puff of steam from his nostrils and turns his head slightly from me, his reptilian pride clearly wounded. "In any case. It seems the yellow-haired human is displaying his mating conquests. Impressive. I can deduce he has a preference for large milk glands in sexual partners. Curious. Would those not prove a hindrance in combat?"
"These," Beck says, sweeping his arm with a flourish, "are my suggestions for our fifth Crucible member. Each woman here was carefully vetted.”
One of the girls—a redhead with a curvy figure and, as Typhon noted, large "milk glands," cocks her head. "You said you had a surprise for me."
"Right, Misti!" Beck says, moving to touch both her arms and bend down to her height. "You've got a one in five chance of being added to our group. That's the surprise."
"But who are these other girls?" She asks, pointing at the others, who all look equally confused. "You told me you didn't talk to Havi anymore."
"Excuse me?" Havi asks. She's a dark-skinned girl with upturned eyes and cat-like features. "You said Misti was 'old news.'"
"Old news?" Misti asks, stepping out of line to face off with Havi. A dagger of water forms in her hand and the temperature in the room drops like a stone. "You want to see old news? Because I can show you—"
"Ladies, ladies," Beck says, stepping between them. "We can all be friends here. But... only one of you can be our fifth. So who is it going to be?"
"In a way, it's almost impressive," Mireen says out of the side of her mouth. We're both sitting on the safety of a comfortable couch as we watch the tensions rise among Beck's girls. "How does someone so dumb manage to string along so many people?"
"Hold on," a black-haired girl named Poltrice cuts in. "Are you still sleeping with all these whores, too?"
"Hah," Brunhild says. She's taller than all the other girls by at least a head and nearly Beck's size with broad shoulders and muscular arms. "She admits she is whore. This is funny."
"What did you say?" Misti says, raising her water dagger, her eyes flashing dangerously.
"Real man sleeps with who he likes. Just like real woman does. Weak woman calls names." Brunhild spreads her wide arms. "We should fight for him."
I raise my eyebrows and look to Ambrose. He has a small handful of nuts he smuggled from the dining room and he's snacking on them eagerly, eyes wide as he watches the unfolding chaos.
"We don't need to fight," Beck says. "I was hoping we'd just—"
But all hells break loose.
Misti gets disarmed and pinned to the ground by Poltrice, who is tackled by Brunhild.