8
He draped his outer robe over my shoulders and swept me up into his arms.
A corpse still lay in the hall behind us.
As we stepped out of the gloomy palace, the waiting maids bowed their heads and filed inside. It was clear from their practiced efficiency that they were all too familiar with cleaning up dead bodies.
The head maid’s eyes met mine as she passed. Her pupils constricted in shock, and she quickly lowered her head.
My heart twisted with a complex mix of emotions, and I looked away.
But Eric’s hand was there, forcing my head back. He wanted me to watch them dispose of the body.
“Guess how many that makes?” he whispered.
theld my breath.
Now that we were out of the inner chamber, I noticed it. The dead woman looked at least 50% like me. It was like looking in a disto Mated mirror
12
Now that we were out of the inner chamber, I noticed it. The dead woman looked at least 50% like me. It was like looking in a disto-
rted mirror.
Half of me was in Eric’s arms,
The other half was on the floor, being bundled up for disposal.
I didn’t answer.
Eric didn’t need me to.
“Ninety–eight. You’re number ninety–nine.” He gently stroked my brow, a faint smile playing on his lips. “You transmigrators all seem to love using this face.”
My breath hitched.
“You people“?
Was
the dead woman on the floor a transmigrator too?
“When a gift presents itself at my door, it would be rude not to accept.”
My heart hammered against my ribs the entire way, every nerve on high alert, tracking his expressions, his movements, the world around us. In no time at all, he carried me back to the courtyard with the apricot tree.
The place where we once lived together.
He strode into the hall. The furnishings were almost exactly as I remembered them. In this slow–moving ancient world, one year and ten were virtually the same.
My back hit the soft mattress of the bed.
Eric stood beside it and began to untie the sash of his robes.
My eyes flew open. “What are you doing?!”
Don’t take it off, don’t take it off!
His upper body was completely bare. Chest, abs, the V–line tapering down. everything was perfectly defined.
I stared for a second, then my eyes widened further.
It’s pink.
I’d heard that on a person, all the colors match.
I swallowed hard, my pupils constricting in fear.
Eric plucked the cake pot from my grasp with one hand, a smirk on his face. “Greedy little thing. Can’t bear to part with your food
for a second.”
I instinctively retorted, “That’s not it!”
He opened the lid. He dipped his finger into the cream, smudging it onto…
“Come. Eat the entire thing, and I’ll let you be for tonight.”
