Wrath of the Forgotten: Descendants of the Fall Book II by Hodges, Aaron (best romance books of all time txt) 📕

free of Lukys and retreated. Before he had a chance to question her, a hand of iron grasped him by the arm and dragged him away. He stumbled, almost falling, before straightening to find himself face-to-face with Sophia.

What are you doing? her voice hissed into his mind.

Seeing her anger, Lukys tried to shrink away. She held him fast, looking for all the world like she was about to take the revenge he had been anticipating these last days.

“She’s…human!” he gasped, panic forcing the words from his mouth before he could stop them.

Sophia hesitated, a frown furrowing her brow. Behind her, Dale was struggling with one of the other Tangatan guards, but he froze at Lukys’s words.

“What?” he gasped, twisting to try and see past Lukys and Sophia.

But the woman and the Tangata that had been with her had already fled. Lukys’s heart pounded in his ears as he locked eyes with Sophia.

“What was she doing here?” he hissed, yanking at the arm that held him. To his surprise, she released him. He paused, drawing in a breath. “What are we doing here?”

Dale looked confused by the outburst, but Lukys paid him no attention. Glancing beyond his fellow recruit, he scanned the other Tangata moving about the streets, squeezing their way past the roadblock their group had formed across half the avenue. With the sun now streaming down between the rooftops, it was easy to see their eyes, to recognise the eerie greyness—

There!

A man walked by, hazel eyes focused on the path ahead. Then another, this one a woman with brown eyes. Humans. There were humans in New Nihelm, in a city of Tangata. And suddenly he thought he knew why he and Dale were there.

“They’re slaves,” he croaked.

“Wha—” Dale broke off as the other guards gripped him by the arms and started dragging him down the street.

Lukys turned his gaze on Sophia, waiting for her to do the same with him. But she made no move to grab him again, only gestured in the direction the others had taken Dale.

Come, Lukys, she said. You will not find your answers here.

Swallowing, Lukys considered trying to run. But even if he could evade Sophia’s lightning reactions, where would he go? The Tangata were everywhere; they would catch him before he made it a block. Finally he let out a long breath and nodded. Sophia took hold of his arm again and led him along the street.

They soon caught up with Dale and the other guards. His friend had given up his struggles, though a look of relief appeared in his eyes when he saw Lukys. Released from their guards, they fell into step together, though now Sophia and the others hardly gave them a foot of breathing space.

They must have covered another half a mile after that. Lukys paid more attention to the faces of those they passed this time, and soon spotted more of the strange, human citizens of the city. He didn’t try to contact any of these others, and for their part, the humans kept their eyes downcast, averted from the fresh prisoners being marched past.

Finally they found themselves at the edge of the island again, though this time in the western reaches. There they passed beyond a low flood wall, out into a broad plaza of ash-stained tiles. The river bordered the opened space to north and south, while directly across the plaza from where they had entered stood a single building in the shape of a pyramid.

Lukys’s heart throbbed as he recognised it as a Basilica to The Fall. Stretching from the swirling waters to either side, the sloped granite walls loomed over the plaza, seeming to have a presence of their own. Most older cities had at least one of the structures, built in the early days of civilisation as appeasement to the Gods that had brought the darkness down upon them. Today few believed the temples had placated anything, and so it was surprising to find one in a city as young as New Nihelm. He supposed that living in the shadow of the Mountains of the Gods, the Calafe might have erred on the side of caution when it came to inciting Divine Wrath.

Regardless, the Tangata seemed to have found a use for the structure, for a large group waited outside the polished gold and brass doors. The rest of their party was already halfway across the plaza, Adonis in the lead, and at a push from Sophia, Dale and Lukys started after them.

As they neared the basilica, Lukys saw that the group standing outside the doors was similarly streaked in mud and filth. He frowned, wondering whether another group of Tangata had also returned from the wilderness. The gentle buzz of conversation carried to them on the breeze…

Lukys’s heart lurched as he realised the group was speaking out loud. They were humans, others captured by the Tangata and brought to the city as prisoners. But where would the Tangata have found so many humans this side of the river…

…he glimpsed a face in the group. His mouth fell open—then he was rushing forward, leaping past Sophia, Dale only a step behind. He recognised that face, these people, those filthy blue uniforms.

“Travis!” he bellowed.

Travis’s eyes widened in shock, before a grin split his face. Stepping away from the rest of the Perfugians, he opened his arms and dragged Lukys into a hug. Lukys gasped as the bigger man crushed the air from his lungs, but there was laughter on his lips as they broke apart.

“What are you doing here?” he gasped, still gaping at the sight of his friend alive.

The rest of the Perfugian recruits gathered nearby, though they were not so bold as to approach Lukys as Travis had. Their numbers had been reduced to just fifteen including Lukys and Dale, just a fraction of the fifty men and women that had arrived on the frontier just a few short months ago. But still a far cry more than he’d feared.

“Where else would