“Why would you bring that psycho?” Kira hissed at Alexander.
Pallas was who the forty-three sent when they were feeling a little vengeful and wanted to wipe clean whatever or whoever had offended them. Considering the man had named himself after the Titan god associated with war, it was no wonder he was their first pick whenever they needed a hammer or a strong fist.
Then again, maybe Pallas was exactly what the forty-three thought was needed for this situation.
Pallas caught Kira, grabbing her cheeks and smooshing them together as he pressed his face against hers. “Don’t tell me you’re still sore about that time I almost killed you.”
Kira drove her elbow into his side, biting back a whimper as pain lanced her arm from the hard impact with armor.
“Multiple times,” Jin shouted, lifting so he could see Pallas better.
Pallas’s grip eased as he got a thoughtful look on his face. “Oh yeah, you might be right.”
See, this was why Kira hated him. The man couldn’t even bother to remember how many times he almost killed her.
“As to your question, he didn’t give me much choice,” Alexander informed her with a glare at Pallas. “He was already here anyway.”
Pallas strolled over to Jin’s cage, tapping against it much the same way Kira had. She couldn’t describe how unsettling it was to know their first instincts were exactly the same.
Pallas rubbed his fingertips together with a thoughtful look before sending Kira a wink. “Thanks for the care you gave my yer’se. He learned so much from his duel with you. I couldn’t have asked for a better lesson. We’d have been here sooner, but I wanted to see him to safety first.”
Kira stiffened, a few things finally clicking into place. She should have seen it sooner. No wonder the wanderer’s moves had been so familiar. He learned them from Pallas.
Even that habit of chatting with his opponent while battling. It was the same.
Pallas waved at Jin through the cage. “Little brother, this is quite the pickle you’ve landed yourself in.” Pallas didn’t pay any attention to Jin’s snarl as he finally looked in Elise’s direction. “Traitor, I’ll deal with you later.”
Elise’s eyes narrowed. “I see your social skills haven’t improved any.”
Pallas waved a hand in dismissal as he finally focused on Torvald and Eurus. He’d always been good at identifying the most dangerous prey in a room and locking on target.
What was stranger was how neither had tried to interrupt his grandstanding, letting him parade around without making the slightest effort to stop him.
It told Kira they were aware of his identity as one of the forty-three. The Overlords too, given how they were staring at him like he was a juicy steak they were set on devouring.
Fools.
Pallas was much more likely to devour them.
“I seem to remember a warning being left that your lost children would judge you by the way you treat our youngest siblings.”
Pallas didn’t raise his voice, but he didn’t have to. His words echoed so even those located in the back would hear every word he said.
“I suppose this mockery of a trial is your answer,” he said with a twist of his lips. “How disappointed the others will be.”
The Overlord of House Danai sat forward. “What House do you belong to?”
Interest showed on the faces of the other Overlords except for Liara and Harlow.
“It’s always the same with you lot. House. Pah. Like that’s all that matters.” Pallas rolled his eyes up to the ceiling and sneered before sweeping the five major Overlords a mocking bow. “To answer your question, I was born to House Shivie. Stolen at the age of fifteen and thrown into a fate worse than death.”
Asanth’s Overlord frowned. “House Shivie has no affinities like the one you just demonstrated.”
Pallas stared, his expression flat before it shifted in one of those lightning-fast changes he was capable of and a large reason why Kira steered clear of him whenever possible.
“Very good eye. You’re right, it’s not an affinity of that House—or any Tuann lineage. It’s a product of our master’s tampering, a gift they took from an interesting race called the Blat that you’ve probably never heard of.”
For all that he was still smiling, there was a calculative look on Pallas’s face as he took in the reactions of the Tuann.
