DNA

When Titan returned, he was all business and took me on a tour of Varden's immense innards, winding us through the most elaborate structure. Like the inside of an anthill or a beehive, everything was precise and pristine. When we finally reached the bottom level, I sensed a change in the air, like the crackle of electricity right before a lightning storm. There was a vibe, a droning energy. It made me nervous.

"What's this level for?" I asked, moving after him into a tunnel. A reddish glow pulsated to some unknown rhythm, and a coppery smell inflamed my nose.

Titan turned back and smiled, the light bouncing off his teeth with a menacing radiance. "Down here, we extract, study, and discover the delicacies of each creature."

I stopped. "You what?" What did he mean by delicacies?

Snow shivered.

"This is our lab. It's fascinating all we've uncovered about each species."

Tentatively I hurried after him. The farther along the corridor I went, the worse the smell. If Snow could've run, she wo