Zthane’s skin flushes dark green. “It wouldn’t matter what they thought if they were kept safe.”
“Because you Guard are so good at keeping your own kind safe,” Evgeni sneers. “There have never been Magical deaths at the hands of the Elders, have there?”
I fear Zthane might strike the Russian down with a lightning bolt right here in the apartment.
“Arguing isn’t going to get us anywhere.” As quiet as it is, Cameron’s no nonsense tone dares somebody, anybody to contradict him. “Neither is blame. What’s done is done. We must look to the future now and how we can protect the other colonies from just such an attack.”
Karl says, “He’s right, though. It’s hard for us to formulate plans to keep Métis safe outside of Annar; nons, too, if we can’t guarantee the safety of Magicals, either.”
“Do we know yet what the Elders are gaining from Métis deaths?” Jonah asks.
Kate Blackthorn, sitting side by side with Astrid, shakes her head. “So far, from what I can tell, it doesn’t appear what we term,”—she flashes air quotes—“life essences or crafts are being drained out from the bodies we’ve found and examined. Métis simply don’t have enough to warrant an extraction.”
“Wait,” Will says. “What do you mean have enough?”
Erik wraps his hands around the neck of a beer bottle he’s been nursing for a half hour and he leans forward. “Kate and I have been working in tandem, alongside other medical professionals, for the last few weeks trying to study the physiological differences between the Métis and Magicals.”
I had no idea about this.
“Technically, we’re biologically the same,” Kate says. “Métis blood cells are altered, just as ours are. They are resistant to many of the same diseases we are, vulnerable to the ones that affect us the most. Plus, many Métis are prone to lengthened life spans just as Magicals are. While we have much more experimentation and observation to do, the only difference we find is within craft possession and usage. Even nons who have ... uh ...” She glances over at Cameron. “Mated, for lack of a better word, with a Métis have altered blood cells. It could be due to body fluid exchanges. For example, Cameron here is no longer simply Human. He’s more Métis than non nowadays even if he doesn’t have a Magical bloodline in his past.”
“Also, it turns out,” Erik adds, “some Métis have hints of crafts within them.” He turns to Will. “It’s why you’re so good with metals.”
Will’s taken aback. “I’m not good with metals, mate.”
“And yet you are,” Erik continues. “The sword Chloe made you, the one you use while Elders hunting—”
“I’m Scottish,” Will smirks. “It’s in our blood. And wielding a sword is quite different from being good with metals.”
Erik smiles grimly. “That’s the thing, though, Will—while you are Scottish, when had you ever picked one up before the day Chloe made one for you?”
Will’s mouth snaps shut, confusion flashing in his dark eyes.
“That sword, while made of a lightweight material for swords, is still incredibly unwieldy for many others. Yet, you never tire when you use it—”
“It’s like you said, mate. Chloe made it lightweight.”
“True,” Erik admits. “But even strong people tire over time using it. You never have.”
Will laughs. “I most certainly have. Have you ever seen me after one of those skirmishes? I’m bloody exhausted.”
“You’re exhausted because you’ve just fought somebody,” Kate pipes in. “And most likely because you’ve been injured. But not from the sword. The metals in it speak to you. Metal strengthens you, not weakens you.”
Will asks slowly, “Are you saying that I’m a Smith, like my mum?”
“No,” Erik says. “From what we can tell, Métis never exhibit developed crafts. But we have discovered some of the first generation Métis have hints of their ancestral crafts within them.”
“Just not enough that the Elders drain them dry,” Kate tells us. “I’ve been looking over the data some of the Métis leaders have brought with them concerning past deaths.” She pulls a file out of a briefcase sitting at her feet. “Initially, the Elders did try to drain their Métis victims dry. It stopped after a few years, though; I can’t say for sure, but I’m assuming it’s because they deemed whatever they got from these victims wasn’t enough to warrant further efforts.”
Evgeni takes the folder from her, flipping through it. Jonah asks, “Then why continue targeting Métis? If they have nothing to offer the Elders in terms of craft expansions, then why bother killing them at all? What do they get out of it?”
“That’s the question, isn’t it?” Cameron muses.
“Question or no,” Zthane says, “we cannot stand by and allow it to continue to happen.” He turns to Erik. “My team and I have discussed some options recently, but you may not like them.”