Chapter 7
Burning ozone seared my nostrils, making my eyes water with my proximity to the shield, but I pressed forward, trying to see through the brush. To find Captain Asher Rawlings and finally end this coy little war game. Or worse, to retreat in spite of the lure he knew I couldn’t resist.
My pendant.
I thumbed the brand, tracing a ridge of twisted flesh on the back of my palm. Tofinallyreclaim it… to drink from that cup of rare and dangerous ki, after all this time…
Willingly seduced by our mixed song, I crawled forward, belly pressed to the springy loam at the forest’s edge, trying to catch a glimpse of the battalion the captain had sent to collect me. But there, idling between the brilliant blue shield and a field of jagged virgin Glaith, was a single coach.Thecoach he’d shared with that putrid general and what remained of the High Priestess, but no others.
Had my Elite really been so foolish as to have come alone?
Hardly bothering to contain my glee, I plunged my scarred fist into the soil. I stretched my senses in all directions, unwilling to be fooled by hidden soldiers or badly laid traps. Searching for any hint, any whisper, of something unnatural.
But there was no forbidden hint of the captain’s ki. No soldiers lurking in the shadows, like the last time he’d played this trick. There was, in fact, nothing at all except the hum of my pendant.
Begging… Reaching…
“Mila—”
I jumped, choking back a snarl. “Bloody, buggering f—”
“Belle says you canna do this, lass,” Alicia whispered, gasping as she knelt in the shadows on my left. “And I know you may not remember me, but—”
“Go back to your mistress, Alicia. Unless you’d like to find out why Belle’s good men hate me so much.”
“Aye, you can let that fiery temper win,” the scientist said, her accented voice a harsh whisper. “Or you can use your brains and listen to those who want t’help. We’re on the same side, lass.”
Sneering, I turned my attention back to the apparently unguarded clearing.
“You canna risk yourself or the chance to rescue the High Priestess over a bauble,” she continued, following my gaze. “The High Priestess—”
“Just”—frustrated, I growled, brows creased—“trust me. You need that pendant just as much as I needhimnot to have it.”
I could feel her grin on the back of my neck. “Him?”
“All Elites are men.”
“Aye,” Alicia murmured, fingers pressed to her lips, eyes narrowed. “That they are, but somehow I donna think you were talkin’ about justanyman—”
With a curse, I seized her forearm, forcing her tofeelmy words. To understand, because I didn’t have the time or necessary finesse to win this argument by conventional means. “The High Priestess you remember is tainted and broken. Even rescued, she may be nothing more than a trophy enslaved to General Tilcot. That bauble”—I jerked my chin toward the coach—“contains enough ki to keep your lot busy until the sun burns out, and it doesn’t come with the inconvenient hunger that demands I drain the entire mountain just to feed the darkness. Understand?”
Sparkling green eyes glassy, pupils dilated, she nodded, as a drop of drool threatened to fall from slack lips.
“Right.” I turned back to the clearing, releasing her from my influence. “Then if you don’t mind—”
“This is a trap.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yes, thank you. Iknowthat. Why do you think I haven’t charged in—”
“It’s a trap, andyouare the prey.” She snapped her fingers, and before I could respond, said, “And if that’s true, the cocksuckers won’t be expectin’ you to have backup.”
“And how exactly do you propose to help?”
“Come now, lass,” she breathed, grinning, patting a bulge tucked beneath the lapels of her jacket. “Think Belle brought me along for my pretty smile?”
“Belle is an idiot if she thought I wouldn’t sense your little weapon. Worse, if she thought it could slow me down onmyland.”
“That’s not your land, though,” Alicia retorted, pointing.
