Harsh punishments put him in mind of the old lord.
Drufs.
He’d insisted everyone call him by his title, not by his name. Anyone overheard using anything but ‘Lord’ was made an example of. Harshly. Jordan still had scars from the whipping,and he’d gotten off lightly because of who he was. Most who’d made the mistake of disrespecting the old lord in some way often hadn’t lived through their punishments. Females usually had, although they’d probably wished they hadn’t since, after their whipping, they’d been given over to the lord’s men for use until theydiddie.
“Are you going to take my memory?” Trish’s quiet voice broke off his thoughts. Her head was practically resting on his shoulder as they moved down the hall, making it easy for him to hear her despite the noise from the others around them.
“No,” he said.
“Why not?”
“You don’t need it taken.”
“You don’t care if I know about the passageways?” She sounded confused and a little perturbed.
“No.”
Trish fell silent for a long moment. “Is it because I won’t know my way around them?”
“Partly. I will show you some paths later.”
“Are any of them going to lead to the outside?” There was the tiniest tinge of… not amusement, but almost teasing in her voice. She wasn’t being sarcastic exactly, but she wasn’t being serious, either, because she didn’t expect him to say yes.
Jordan grinned. She was joking with him. Kind of.
He liked it.
“No,” he answered honestly.
She made a disgusted noise. It was very cute.
“The Moon uses the drug on the people the Wolf returns, doesn’t it?” she asked quietly. It didn’t surprise Jordan that she’d come to the correct conclusion despite only receiving partial information. Her quick mind was one of the things he liked about her.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“You tell me.”
She had until they reached their room, which wasn’t long, because once he got her there, Jordan fully intended to enjoy himself. She could always ask more questions later, and he knew she would.
Trish leaned against him, the way she often did when she thought. He liked that she did it without thinking now.
“There are things that we learn down here that the Moon officials don’t want anyone to know,” she guessed. Jordan stayed silent but didn’t deny it. “They’re afraid of losing their power… but it doesn’t matter because they’re doing so anyway. I just don’t understand why you’re so determined that someone remember. You don’t need Alex and Bella or the others to take power back from the Moon. You could do it right now.”
She was confused because it didn’t make obvious tactical sense.
But the Wolf was adamant that not everyone on the Moon was an enemy and that they could be useful if their energies and minds were used productively. They were spoiled and sheltered, but the Wolf didn’t like to waste. Especially since an attack on the Moon would result in a great loss of life for those on Earth, as well, and possibly more devastation to the planet. The Wolf preferred the Moon tear itself apart from the inside. At least, that was how he’d phrased it to Jordan.
Figuring out people’s motivations, actions, and reactions was not Jordan’s forte. He looked at battles and how to win them. His upbringing had left him socially stunted on a planet where social interactions were already fucked up—at least that was what Zadia had told him, and he trusted her to know. Soldiers followed him because he could pound any of them into the ground, and they believed in his ability to win. They followed Zadia because they liked her and respected her tactical acumen.They followed the Wolf because of a combination of both. Jordan didn’t care if they followed him because of their fear; Zadia said he would be more effective if they liked him as well, but Jordan didn’t care about being liked.
Except with Trish.
But she was starting to like him. She no longer protested whenever he wanted to cuddle her or set her on his lap. She looked to Jordan for protection when she was anxious or fearful, and no longer watched him warily when they were in the same room. She trusted that he wouldn’t hurt her unless she did something naughty, and she did her best to behave—other than telling Bella about the passageways, but even that hadn’t changed how she acted around him.
It must be a good sign. Cues like that were important. Marek had explained how to keep a woman.
Establish boundaries and don’t stray from them, keep her safe, talk to her, and pleasure her as much as she can handle.
