Page 74 of Born for Silk
“That I can leave,” I spit out. “And be a Silk Girl somewhere else? Far, far away.”
Far away from him. So far away the distance wipes his memory. So far away I forget the warmth of his touch. So, so far, that I forget that he once promised to keep me.
My throat tightens, and a single tear slides down my temple, pooling in my ear. I hate him. I hate him.
Channelling all that loathing, I make it loud and deafening. No other emotions can filter through. Not affection. Not sorrow. Not melancholy or desire.
As I rest my hands on my stomach, I feel Master Cairo push my knees apart. He says, “You're a confident little thing. I knew the girl who birthed you to The Cradle. She spoke with adamance and confidence, also. I hope you don’t make the same mistakes she did.”
I peer down my naked body to where he sits between my thighs, the sight rising hairs all over my skin. “You knew my mother?”
“Your mother is the queen,” he states, his voice smooth and even, dangerously so. “But, yes. I knew the girl who birthed you.”
“What happened to her?”
“She ran away.”
“Pardon? I thought she was kidnapped.”
Fingers part my lips. I drop my head back to the firm cushioning and fight my innate response to whimper.
“She fell in love with a lord, and when he rejected her, she let her emotions in and ran,” he talks while touching me, barely, but enough for me to know where his fingers are. “She met a Common man and had two daughters and two sons with him. Perfect babies. Clean births. She was an exceptional breeder, after all, The Trade invested much time and resources in her. Unfortunately her babes were not born for The Cradle but for a Fur community. You were one of those babes.
“We got you back. You will be a wonderful breeder, too. Unlike her, you understand that love is not a virtue. Which is why you are choosing to leave him. You’re choosing The Cradle. She lost her life to an Endigo raid. She died without Meaningful Purpose.” His hands leave that special place, cool air sweeping over me as he leans backward. “That's not what you want, is it, Aster?”
“No.”
“No, what?”
“No, Master.”
“Good girl. Sit up.”
Chapter Thirteen
Rome
“Where is my Silk Girl?” I roar, backing her Watcher into the brick wall of the corridor, seeing the girl tremble so hard her teeth clatter in her jaw.
“Iris?” she asks.
“Who the fuck is Iris? You fucking imbecile!” I punch my fists into the brick on either side of her head, the clay fracturing inward. “Aster!”
Her gaze flickers from side to side, frantic with confusion. How does she not know? How well has she been ‘Watching?’
“She fainted, Sire. Wh- When we told her about Lord Darwin and then?—"
“Where. The fuck. Is she?” My words hit her hard, making her flinch again.
I have searched The Circle, her room, the Silk Girl Dining Hall, and the courtyard. She is nowhere to be found. She’s fucking gone.
My skin crawls along my muscles like it’s desperate to unleash them, grant them freedom to reap hell.
“Master Cair—” she stammers and starts to hiccup her words, laced with fear and panic.
When I snap my head toward his chambers, Aster’s Watcher slides down the wall to the floor.
Steeled, my shoulders turn, and my deadly gaze pierces his closed door. I charge down the corridor toward it. Memories of my broken sister—of her bandaged abdomen, trembling thighs, slim, naked body, broken fucking gaze—carve sanity from my mind and plant rage into the bloody slit.