“The Silver Tongue... it was...” but I couldn't answer him without knowledge of the war. My eyes drifted side to side as I tried to recall what I'd been about to say.
“Yes?”
“I don't know.” I blinked in dismay. “I was going to say... I can't remember.”
Braxis scowled at me and then burst out laughing. “Sweet stars, this thing is powerful.” He shook his head as he headed toward one of the large, swiveling chairs attached to the floor near the window. He sat down and sprawled, stretching his long legs out as he stared at me and smirked. “You may remember the war between the Triari and the Bleiten but no more dawdling. Answer my question, Amara.”
It all came rushing back and I gasped in horror. I wanted to comment on how awful it was that this device could tear away memories in a moment but I was forced to answer Braxis. “The Silver Tongue was never used because it was discovered that it wouldn't work on Bleiten in their battleform,” I said. “Since it had been made specifically to be used on Bleiten to subdue and capture them during war, this limitation rendered it ineffective.”
“Subdue and capture,” Braxis scoffed. “Capture and kill is more likely.”
“Malik said something similar to that and Prince Falcan insisted that he was wrong. Falcan said it would be dishonorable to use the Silver Tongue to kill men who couldn't defend themselves. My uncle ordered it to be put aside. Gregory stole it from a museum.”
Braxis sat forward. “What does that have to do with your regrets?”
“When Falcan said that—that it was dishonorable to kill men who couldn't defend themselves—I felt... very small,” I confessed. “And verywrong. Malik and I once argued over what I did. He thought it was dishonorable too, but I didn't feel such overwhelming shame until Falcan said those things.” I swallowed roughly. “I feel as if I've disgraced my people and my husband. What I did to your tribe was wrong and I'm very sorry, Braxis. They didn't deserve that and no matter what you've done to me, you deserve to hear that I deeply regret my actions.”
Braxis gaped at me. He swallowed roughly. He stared. He started to speak but then clenched his jaw to hold back the words. With a trembling expression that hovered between shock and fury, Braxis surged to his feet and headed to the suite's door, slamming the closet panel shut on his way there.
When Braxis reached the door, he looked back at me over his shoulder. “Don't leave these chambers.”
Then he was gone.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Several hours later, I'd had a good cry, a good look around the room for weapons, another good cry because there were no weapons, and had finally settled in a chair near the window to stare at space while I tried not to panic. The compulsion to stay in the room had worn off but I hadn't left. I chose to stay put for two reasons: it would make Braxis think that the Silver Tongue worked on me longer than it did and security on the ship was bound to be tight for the next day or so at least, which meant leaving the room wouldn't do me any good. I needed to give them time to relax before I tried to escape. Time to believe that I was well and truly trapped. And then I'd have to figure out how to pilot one of Malik's cruisers—small spacecrafts that were used for transport between larger craft and planets—before I could truly escape. That possibility was daunting, to say the least. I'm good at languages but piloting a spacecraft? Not so much. Hopefully, it would be similar to piloting a lantra—a type of small aircraft that the Bleiten use on Hell. I'd piloted one of those once. In fact, it was the last time I tried to escape Braxis.
Suddenly, Braxis came barreling into the room with a determined expression on his face. I got up to face him. He shut the door and locked it behind him, then stepped up to me, his furious footsteps vibrating through the floor. He was breathing hard and his eyes twitched. I smelled alcohol on his breath.
I met his stare calmly even though I was screaming inside.
“Take off your clothes,” that resonant tone that I had started associating with the Silver Tongue filled his voice.
My body trembled even as it obeyed his orders. I tried to stall as long as I could—taking my time removing my boots and even longer on my jeans. Braxis didn't rush me, he just watched, those pastel eyes plastered to every inch of skin I revealed. The more I removed, the calmer he became. Or perhaps the more resolute.
“Stop,” he said when I reached my underwear.
I didn't try to protest or dissuade him from what he was about to do. I knew it would be useless and possibly even detrimental. The time had come for me to face my demons—or demon, rather—and accept the price of my actions. A shivering calm settled over me with the thought. Once you accept that something is inevitable, it loses some of its horror. It simply is. I was still scared but it was closer to sorrow than pure panic. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly; I would survive this. I would survive everything this man did to me until I could make it back to the men I loved. It was only my body; he couldn't touch my soul.
Braxis undid his belt and tossed it aside. He kicked off his boots and set his legs in a wide stance, pausing a moment to rake his stare over my body. His gaze felt almost physical, as if he could touch me with his will alone. Hurt me with his thoughts. Braxis yanked off his tunic, baring a broad chest slabbed with thick muscles and shoulders that could have been used as a battering ram. His hands clenched into fists and he stared at me as if we were opponents in a gladiator arena. Then he relaxed his hands and untied his pants. He shoved them to the floor and stepped free of them as if unsheathing his sword. In a way, he did. His erection—a massive thing that promised pain instead of pleasure—sprang up and began to seep fluid in anticipation. I jerked my stare away from it and set it firmly on his face. Braxis started to grin.
“Don't fight me, Amara.” He stepped forward and lifted a hand to my cheek. “I'm afraid that I might hurt you if you do, and I don't want to hurt you.”
“I have a feeling you're going to do that regardless,” I said steadily.
His eyes twitched and his stare followed the trail of his hand down the column of my throat to land on my rapid pulse. “Are you frightened? Do I scare you or excite you?”
“Just do what you're going to do, Braxis,” I said wearily and swallowed back the sob that threatened to rise.
“But thisiswhat I'm going to do,” he sneered. “Do you think that you can apologize and everything will be forgiven? No, it's too late for that. You must pay the price and you will pay it with your body and your tears and your sweet words. Unless you wish to willingly be mine?” He grabbed my chin and lifted it to stare down into my eyes. “Agree to take my mark and I will treat you with the respect a mvarra deserves. I swear that I will be good to you.”
“I am already mated. You cannot cover Malik's mark with yours. His venom is in me forever.”
Of course, that wasn't exactly true. Everan had once removed Mal's venom and his mark. But Braxis wasn't half the man Everan was and there was no way he could ever remove Malik's venom from me.
“No one knows that for sure. It's never been attempted before.” Braxis slipped his hand around to my back and down my spine, his fingertips brushing me lightly. With a quick twist, he undid my bra and it sprang open to hang from my shoulders. “But I'll make you a bargain. If we try to mate and my venom doesn't take, I'll still treat you as my mvarra. How does that sound?”
“It sounds like hell, darling,” I drawled, feeling some of my fight return. “And I'm not talking about the planet.”
