I thought of the bodies heaped over each other on the execution block, the bare rations that comprised our meals of late, the dwindling hope in our soldiers’ eyes.
Of course they’d grown this desperate.
The NAO had only to wait us out. Without help, the Defiance would go extinct soon.
“We’ve already talked about this,” Williams said. “I’ll leave you to give her the details. Remember what we discussed.”
Theo nodded, and the Prime Delegate departed, leaving faint traces of citrus-scented air behind her. The door clicked closed.
Theo’s dark eyes met mine. “I advised against this.”
“Youadvisedagainst it? How hard did you fight for me, Theo?”
His eye twitched, but he said nothing.
Theo had withdrawn me from the front line and forced me into the medic unit months ago, an effort to protect me from the escalating violence. He probably would have sent me to Canada if he thought I’d go, but I wanted to keep close to my people.
Now, few of those people remained to care where I was.
One by one, I’d lost them to the battlefields.
The isolation seemed to have depleted my casualty value, and Theo knew it. Who would care if I died? It made me a perfect candidate for a man in want of a woman who wouldn’t be noticed if she disappeared—likely why Williams requested me.
“Am I allowed to know who this traitor is?”
He clasped his hands, elbows resting on his desk, and braced his forehead on his thumbs.
“Theo, come on. You can’t keep this from me. Do I know who he is?”
After one slow exhale, he said, “It’s Lucas Scott.”
Lucas…Scott?
NottheLucas Scott.
Lucas Scott, the Blood Colonel. The cutthroat. The man who could erase dozens of human lives in seconds.
No.
My heart clenched, and air stalled in my lungs. Memories flashed of his scalpel…the slaughter. My throat grew dry. “A Blood Colonel? You’re giving me to a Blood Colonel?”
Silence.
“And not just any Blood Colonel.Lucas Scott.”
“I know,” Theo said.
“This is a trap. There’s no way this is real.”
“You don’t know that.” His voice cracked.
Acid churned in my stomach with the knowledge that it didn’t matter. They’d send me even under threat of murder or rape. That was the extent of their desperation. My hands curledinto fists, fingernails digging into my palms. “What’s in it for him? It can’t be about wanting a woman. Why would he turn?”
“He said they hurt his sister. I’ve tried to verify his story, but I can’t find her.” He hesitated. “He didn’t even ask for immunity when we win. All he asked for was a female contact. Take everything he says with a large grain of salt.”
Ifhe said anything at all. What was to stop him from giving me nothing and taking everything? What safeguards did I have?
None. I had none. And it didn’t matter.
