How to Make a Sinner Sleep

29 | experiments; an anger that scares

The only way to survive in the filth was to have a burning desire to live, or to have somebody you wanted to protect. Otherwise, it was easier to succumb to the sweet embrace of death in the basking daylight, or the evening moonlit streets.

Kaden heard the conversation in the corner, and Noah's arrogant flow of words that made it hard to resist answering. However, there was no need for him to provide backup.

His pale green eyes were the mark of a murderer; with hundreds of lives in his hands. He didn't need to pretend.

And the woman who lived on the same dirty streets plagued with rats, infestations and horrors that a member of nobility would never face, knew how to value her life.

She spilled everything easily, including the little-known facts that she'd stumbled across. Noah's expression under the mask distorted under Kaden's calm gaze—perhaps horrified at the idea of experimentation.

Kaden would've laughed at such an innocent face in the past. Humans experimenting on the other species?

That was nothing new—cruel and terrible as it was.

But that was wrong in itself, the way he considered it normal and nothing to be in disbelief about. Because common didn't mean normal, and what he saw everywhere didn't mean it was something that he should see.

Thankfully, the groups that did experimentations were often caught quickly, and amounted to nothing serious. In the eyes of the public, they were disguised as serial murder cases.

He considered stepping his foot in that business, but Noah and Niklas weren't used to such a dark history. Or perhaps that was exactly why he should involve them.

He sighed to himself, wanting to go back to sleep... on his own bed, of course.

A shadow appeared over his head, and the seat beside was pulled out with a heavy air. Kaden glanced at Noah's somber face and asked, "What did she say?"

"There's somebody trying to collect the blood of rare species. Dragons, fairies and the like. The pay is high, and many have been seeking it out now."

Niklas' lips curled into a displeased frown. "That's dangerous, and also terrible. The students of the Academy might be in trouble, we'd ought to alarm the Headmaster. Although mingling with mixed bloods seems normal to us, the Academy is unique."

In the Academy, there were various students from fairy bloodlines, or dragon, such as Noah himself. The main thing that connected them were their blessings by the Watchers.

However, one shouldn't assume that was a normal thing. Most species remained divided, with the Fairy Festival and several other instances a special circumstance.

Even at the festival, fairies remained cautious to gather too close to humans.

"There has been nobody who succeeded in handing in the blood as of yet." said Noah, narrowing his eyes. "We can make it so that there won't be one."

"Don't be hasty." Kaden interrupted, feeling the surprised and deep stares of his two companions. His face remained a mask of indifference, a sleepy sort of laziness that matched the mask he wore.

"Hasty?" growled Noah darkly. "There are living people at risk."

"And I don't claim to not care, but you're rushing to your death. The only thing that awaits an ignorant hero is a grave."

Niklas interjected, smiling nervously. "Let's not argue here."

Kaden scoffed. "Am I the one in the wrong, preventing him from chasing death?"