Changeling Winds: Episode Two (The Bachelor Battles Book 2) by Angela White Page A

their relief and obvious confusion as they went, and then I was sucking air into lungs that had none.
    There had been 5 bachelors I hadn't seen yet - the redheaded replacement for pristine male, and now four more moved into the room with such a harmony that I scarcely breathed for fear of seeing it broken. So beautiful!
    Lean bodies sent to please me…
    I swallowed, closed my eyes as they sat. Breathe. Control.
    When the Mothers brought out the sweet-smelling steaks, I finally glanced up to see some of the men viewing the plates with anticipation. My guess had been right - they weren't usually fed this way. I thought of my next interview and waved a hand. "Eat.”
    The silence wasn't quite as thick as during my first visit. I felt more in control, but I desperately longed to touch them. I let my pink vision roam their perfect skin instead. One of these might be mine!
    I lingered on the last male to come out. Even compared to the others, he was impressive with those thick arms and perfectly pale skin. Long blond hair flowed in a ponytail down his back and matched the yellow outline of a neat beard I instantly wanted to feel against my fingers.
    “Are you a breeder?”
    He flushed, shaking his golden head. The color sent heat flaring into my gut without even the sound of his voice. Nice . I mentally moved him into first place.
    “I'd hear how long each of you have been here and of your life before.” I didn't say, ‘ and if you do this willingly’ , but it was clear to my ears.
    “We'll start on the right.”
    It took most of my hour and their hesitant answers bothered me. Since birth was the most common, but sold by their family was a close second. One had been only 9, torn from his family’s murdered bodies. Another had been stolen from a farm near an old city that he didn't remember well enough to name. A third, with a voice that cut me in half, claimed he'd been won in a card game before being sold to the Network. He'd been so young, 5, that he had no other memories. I sensed that part was a lie, but his pain had been clear enough. Enslaving men had been done for the good of all humankind. I agreed that the riots made protecting the men necessary, but was all this?
    “Can we ask you a question now?”
    Again, their voices together distracted me from the heat.
    “Yes.” What was it that they were most concerned about?
    “Have you ever snapped?”
    “No. My cousin did - the one who was here last month. When it was my turn to... Change, she taught me how to control it.”
    “And does it work well?”
    The last to come out asked me the question cautiously, knowing I'd react to his voice alone.
    I slammed my eyes shut. Definitely on the top of my list. “Yes.”
    They couldn't argue. If it wasn't true, I'd already have snapped. “Any more?”
    “Who do you battle next?”
    This was from one of the faces I'd mostly overlooked, the chin-lifter from my first visit, and I took his measure as I answered. “I never know until the match.”
    This one was between two more rippling-locked blonds, and that was what had made me pass him by, I realized. He'd been hidden by beauty. His rugged face grew torn with indecision. Almost unpleasant to look at right then, my stomach growled and I dug deeper.
    Overlooked wasn’t as widely built or as tall as the others, and the half a sneer was a deterrent I suspected he used intentionally to avoid being picked. It gave him a cruel appearance, but I wondered what he would be like with a smile or a laugh to light up his darkness. Then, he hit me with a full blast of his voice.
    “I could probably tell you.”
    Implying the matches were fixed? It was only a confirmation for me, but the sound of his voice! That tone of intimacy!
    There were surprised mutters from the others at the table and I sensed that if anyone could have heard us right now, the violet-striped male on my left wouldn't have spoken.
    “What are you doing?!”
    Purple stripe was the leader among this lot, it was