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.“A thousand years ago, at the dawn of my bloodline, the Ptolemy devised collars that prevented the Cait Sith from shifting back into human form.Back then, we were used as little more than intelligent vampire cats, guards and hunters whose only human trait was that we could listen and understand, think and obey.Many went mad from being bound that way—so many that the practice eventually stopped.”“For a time.No longer,” Jaden interjected.“The perimeter guards are all collared and chained now, Ty.The only ones left standing on two feet are those who need their hands to serve.” His voice hardened.“I know what you’re thinking.You can’t save them.You can’t change her mind.Things have come full circle in the court, and there’s nothing to be done about it.There’s only highblood and gutterblood to the Ptolemy.No exceptions.You go back, you’re going to find out the hard way.Let them die.”“Then many of our own die as well.” Ty blew out a breath and ran a hand through his hair.“I don’t know, Jaden.I never expected things would be so far gone.”“Well, they are,” Jaden replied flatly.“She’s not what you thought.Or what I thought, for that matter.She never was.Just another highblood bitch, lording it over the unwashed masses.”Ty shook his head slowly, sadly.“No.There was more there once.”“There is nothing there!”The raw fury in Jaden’s voice, written plainly across his face, was a shock to Lily’s system.There were layers to Jaden, she saw, and not all of them were pleasant.The one she saw now was all killer.Even Ty seemed startled by the flash of temper, staring silently while Jaden continued shouting into his face.“What do they have to do to make you lose faith in them, Ty? They kill our kind.They make the rest of us into pathetic shadows of ourselves.And still you defend her, telling me and everyone who’ll listen to trust in the system, that things will get better.And sometimes they do, Ty, but not for long.And then they get worse.Every goddamned time.”Ty seemed to get over his momentary surprise quickly enough, stepping into Jaden, so close the two were nearly touching.Lily could feel the violence crackling in the air and hoped, desperately, that these two would let each other be.“They all spit on us! All of them!” Ty snarled.“Arsinöe at least has found a use for us, instead of leaving us to rot, destitute, in some squalid gutter.”“It would be better—”Ty had Jaden by the front of the shirt in a flash, lifting him off the ground, his feet dangling a couple of inches above it.Lily’s mouth dropped open in horror.She had never seen Ty like this, so full of blind rage.“Ty,” she said urgently, “no!” But he seemed not to hear her.“I have been in that gutter, brother,” Ty hissed into Jaden’s face, his teeth bared, incisors long and deadly.“I was born there.I died there.My entire bloody family died there.Don’t you ever tell me that the way we live is worse than that, when you’ve never had to live among people drowning in the worst sort of filth with no hope.None.If I have to live, I’ll take this.” He dropped Jaden to the floor, where the furious vampire managed to land on his feet despite the force with which he was let down.“Go, then.I hope you find what you’re looking for.” Ty spat the words at Jaden before turning on one heel and stalking back through the doorway.Lily tried to catch his arm as he passed, but he evaded her touch.She did, however, catch the quickest glimpse of his eyes.The pain in them took her breath away.The door between rooms slammed shut, leaving Lily and Jaden looking at each other.His expression was wary, guarded, the way it had been when she’d met him.She looked helplessly at him, wishing she could fix all that was tearing him and Ty apart.That would tear her and Ty apart before all was said and done, she realized.“I’m sorry,” she said softly, stepping backward toward the door.“I need to—”“Don’t be,” Jaden said, his voice cool.“He’ll figure it out someday
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