Mixed Blood

Chapter 7

Rhia felt as if the world had been ripped out from under her. Entity. That's what Kate called herself. The same thing that the Organization called her. She thought... they'd all thought... "There are... others?" she asked in barely a whisper.

"Did you think you were the only one?" Kate snorted derisively.

"I... I knew I wasn't the only one they were running experiments on, but..."

"But you really thought you were so special that you were the only one they called entity."

"That is not necessary," Bastian snapped. "We are working with the information we have available to us. It is not her fault nor ours that Rhia cannot remember."

"You're right," Kate scowled. "It's theirs. They let you forget."

"S-slow down," Rhia shook her head and ran her hands through her hair. "Just... start from the beginning, please. I don't understand."

Kate looked away, picking a spot on the wall and refusing to make eye contact again while she spoke. "The Entity Project is the central to the Organization's plan. No, I don't know what the plan is, but I know it's what we were made for. We were supposed to be their weapons. Their... pets. The 'experiments' they ran on us were as much for their research as it was for our brainwashing. If we behaved, it wouldn't hurt. The more we behaved, the more we were rewarded. If we ever slipped even a toe out of line, we were punished."

"Weapons? How were we supposed to be their weapons?"

"Come on, weren't you raised as a human? You're telling me you've never met someone who, given our magic, wouldn't have used it to do whatever they wanted?"

And just like that, everything slammed right back into her. "You asked me to come, and I'm here," Rhia spat, her fear and shock turning seamlessly into indignation. "You don't have to be such a hostile bitch just because I choose to see the good in the world!"

Kate scoffed and raised her hand again. Another two dozen pairs of golden eyes came to life in the walls, and the shadows somehow grew even darker. "I am the spawn of the High Sins of Wrath and Lust. I am a creature that not even they thought was possible. I can command an army of demons with a thought and influence the minds of weak-willed creatures with a drop of my blood. That was what they created me for."

Her eyes started glowing fiercely in the dim light again, as did the eyes of the demons around them.

"The last time demons marched across the land, millions of humans and ancients died. That was before the archangels were recreated to be a hivemind of soldiers to protect the legions. Under the command of people who know how to utilize an army, they could destroy this world as we know it. I don't get to see the 'good' in the world, because all I see are people who would kill for this power or kill me for having this power. You should be able to understand that. You have the same kind of power."

"You're talking about hellfire?" Bastian asked, looking warily around at the menacing eyes watching them.

"Yes, I suppose that's something they would want. But the Organization had no idea if she would have hellfire when they took her. They only knew you were a dragon. Think bigger. What is the quintessential ability that all dragons have that is something the Organization would want to take advantage of?"

Rhia's brow furrowed. "The dragon bond?"

"Someone can get lucky enough to survive an attack from a dragonkin. Someone might get lucky enough to survive a demon attack. But both? That's not happening."