She looks so confused.That raging anger burning in my chest turns to terror.I am utterly powerless right now.How could I have let this happen?
“If this child were of pure Baltin blood, things might’ve gone differently.” Silarrian pats the tight round bump of Tilly’s stomach. “But since it’s tainted with lesser blood, I’m going to carve your baby out of her belly,” he says as he runs the tip of the blade across the top of her stomach, the sharp edge drawing a thin line of red blood. “Then I’ll smash his skull against the ground and enjoy watching his brains leak from his ears.”
“Don’t you fucking”—I can’t breathe for a moment as my head swims from the pure emotion circulating through my blood—“hurt her or my child because there will be nowhere in this universe where you can flee I won’t follow.”
“Big words from our former fearless leader, who’s quite indisposed at the moment. The things I can accomplish with you as a bargaining chip... I bet granny dear would sacrifice the entire fleet for the chance to get you back. Does she know you’re alive?”
My internal sensors, still blind to anything outside of the shielded cell, activate and begin running internal diagnostics on my heartrate and oxygen levels.I don’t need these abilities to tell me I’m about to explode.
“Well, if dear Governess Eva doesn’t know you still live, she’s going to be even that much happier to trade with me.”
I clench my fists, imagining them wrapping around his throat to snap his cervical spine. “Even if she did...” I close my eyes for a moment, needing to block out the sight of the welling blood on Tilly’s skin, giving my implant a few seconds to calculate through thousands of potential outcomes of this situation, hoping to find a plausible plan to free Tilly. “You’d never have full control. OnlyIcan communicate seamlessly with the fleet’s systems.”
“Hmm.” He taps a finger against his chin in thought. “Or perhaps your son could do the same thing after a few years of enhancements.” Silarrian delicately drags the blade a few more centimeters down Tilly’s smooth skin, continuing the line of blood, this cut a tad deeper, making the fluid well faster.
Tilly whimpers. Her shocked eyes seem to clear with the pain, but she doesn’t move, probably sensing the danger she and the baby are in.
I’m so sorry, Red.The thought of my son going through the agonizing process of having his entire body rebuilt sickens me. The helplessness at this situation pulses in every cell of my being, demanding action, yet I remain as still as stone.
“Hmm. I could just cut the baby out of the womb, then kill mommy and daddy and take the child as my own, guiding and controlling his little life with tender, fatherly concern.” His evil smile, so like a shark’s, splits his face in two.
“No.” My voice, sharp and deadly, cuts through the room.
“No?” Silarrian presses harder on the blade. Another bloom of red weeps through the incision.
“Stop,” I growl, holding out my hands in front of me. I’ve never felt so useless and broken.
Tilly chokes back a sob and the woman tightens her fingers on Tilly’s shoulders.
The wound’s not too deep, not yet, but only because he’s toying with me. Once he gets serious...No, I can’t think about it.
“It seems your commands mean nothing anymore, Averon.”
A slight tremor shakes my hands and I clench them tight to stop the movement. “Stop right now and I’ll let you live.” Brave words, yet I have nothing to back them up.Nothing.
A loud chuckle breaks from his mouth and he turns his stare to mine, his eyes twinkling. “So arrogant, even at the end.” He drags a finger through the blood, then holds his wet finger to the light. “Want me to stop?”
“Yes,” I hiss, grinding my teeth so hard my jaw aches.
“Then get on your knees and beg, oh mighty king.”
Tilly’s green irises meet mine. She gives a tiny shake of her head. I can almost hear her saying,‘Don’t do it. Don’t give this asshole what he wants.’
A trickle of bright red slides down her stomach and settles into the waistband of her jeans.
Unable to tear my stare from the sight of her blood slipping from the wound, I take a deep breath. Whatever he wants—my dignity, my life, my soul—I’ll give it if it’ll protect Red and my son.
I meet her eyes again and nod once.
She shakes her head and cries but doesn’t say anything. I think she knows we’re at his mercy, and I can only hope to buy us some time until I figure a way out of this nightmare.
I bend a knee to lower myself to the floor, glaring at Silarrian, hating him with every fiber of my being.
“Wait.” He turns to Lorna. “I want this recorded.”
She keeps one hand on Tilly but taps the lens on her uniform collar. “Ready.”
“Now. On your knees, Jareth Averon. Show our people just how little you care for them—what you’re willing to do for a human.”
