“Who? Who could possibly be better than Dusty and Matt?”
Those were her two weakest? Fuck.
“It’ll only be temporary.”I hoped.“We’ll put Dusty and Matt in the Devils as first and second.”
She snorted. “So, you’re going to demote Danny and Lou?”
Demoting Danny would piss him off for sure, and Lou followed him like a shadow. Did I care about their ranks or hurting their feelings? No. Suffering was part of their daily punishment. This was Hell, after all. But he held a grudge against me for replacing the last general who treated him like a spoiled prince. Well, not replace—I killed him and took his spot during challenge week. So, I understood Danny’s grudge.
But I had no other options unless I wanted to go back and beg the king to reconsider. The higher-level squadrons were set at a number limit for management and training purposes.
“Yes. Maybe it’ll teach them a lesson.”
She rattled the swords on my walls, her temper seizing control of her Dominion powers. “Don’t do this, Ronen.”
“Go tell them now. Your two recruits start tomorrow.”
She stormed out of my room, slamming the door shut.
I released a sharp breath, changed into my uniform, and went out to find Danny and Lou.
After searching the enclosed arena and asking a few patrols, the sounds of yelling finally led me to their squadron.
They were at the edge of Verdant Forest, circling a small frozen pond. Two warriors from their squadron faced off on the ice, pummeling each other. Squadmates booed and cheered in equal measure as one sent the other to the ground and smashed in his face, while others shifted uncomfortably on their feet.
Danny and Lou stood with their backs to me, collecting Hellmarks from their booing members.
We didn’t have many rules in our military. But currently, they were breaking two.
I slid out from behind a tree and stalked toward the pond. They didn’t hear me coming, and I made sure to blend in with the shadows of the evergreens so they didn’t see me either.
A couple yards away, I unleashed my shadows, absorbing the blood from the warrior’s knuckles and immobilizing him before he murdered their unconscious squadmate. Danny and Lou whipped their heads around, searching for me, and everyone else stilled.
“Kneel,” I commanded, stepping into view.
Every single warrior sank to their knees—except Danny.
Oh, how I loved disrespect. Always enticed the bloodthirsty beast within.
I smiled, wrapping my shadows around his neck and forcing him down. He fought me the entire way until his knees slammed into the compact snow. Stepping forward, I forced his head to tilt back. His dark skin flushed, and his nostrils flared.
I tsked. “Gambling against your warriors? How long has that been going on?”
Danny pushed his tongue into his cheek and shrugged.
I crouched before him, then turned to his follower, Lou. “How long?”
Lou swallowed, his face leaching of color making his freckles stand out like tiny bull’s-eyes. “I—uh—” he stuttered.
“Yes?”
“About two—” His voice cut off on a gurgle, drowning in a mouthful of pressurized water.
“Oh, Danny.” I latched onto his neck, digging my fingers into his pulse point. I could’ve easily used my shadows to strangle him, but I wanted to feel his struggle for air vibrate through my palm. “I knowI’m nothing like your last general. I bet he let you say and do whatever you liked.” I stood, bringing his face within inches of mine. “I just figured you could’ve scraped two brain cells together to figure that out for yourself.”
He gasped and clawed at my grip, making me bleed. For a moment, I eased up, giving him a second to suck in air and speak. Instead, he used his second to spit in my face—before surrounding it with his water.
Grinning through the blurry sphere trying to suffocate me, I lifted him higher, then threw him down on the pond, bashing his skull against the ice. Blood pooled across the frosty surface, and his water splashed to the ground, releasing me and Lou.
