“Mila’s behavior has been corrected,” the captain said, toying with the ends of my sopping, silver-blonde hair.
“Riiight. Well. While I have to admit I’m pleased to see you’re finally making an effort to instill an ounce of discipline in the girl,” the general said, “I’m afraid it’s far too late to escape the consequences of her actions.” Turning his palms toward the ceiling, he shrugged, though the contrite action did nothing to lessen the glee etched deep in the lines of his face.
“That so?”
“I might have fallen for more of your lies,” he continued, teeth gleaming white across the pool, “had I not seen the way her skin reacts to the Glaith. Not even my Sasha—the most powerful of their lot—reacts so. Why is that, I wonder?”
Without breaking eye contact, I stilled. Watching him. No longer hearing the threats spilling from his vapid lips.
Why, indeed? Sitting before me, naked and unarmed, was the very man whose screams I’d been dreaming of since my father’s death. Foolish enough to levy threats at a man far superior in all but rank, Tilcot was blinded by arrogance. Too stupid to heed instinct, to fear the unknown. Instead, he was drawn in by a golden glitter as if he could mine it from my veins.
The captain wasexpectingme to fight, his grip snaked all around, containing all the dangerous bits from lashing out. All… butone.
Alicia—Goddess take her—was right. Much as I’d like to deliver the killing blow myself, I didn’t need to. Not now, bound to an impossibly rare and dangerous Elite, who fed onmyki.
A man who glutted himself on the darkest Truth.
A smile spread across my lips.
“Even now,” the general said, “she carries herself like a little queen.”
Naturally. I’d learned from the best, hadn’t I? But he wouldn’t have that same chance. Wouldn’t learn from the lesson coming to him. I spread my fingers on the firm, muscular chest at my side, letting blunted claws catch at the edge of a flat nipple and delighted in the captain’s sharp inhale.
I licked my lips, wrist brushing the pendant’s hard edge. A delightful fool, my father’s murderer. Stupid enough to challenge that which he did not,could not, understand. Almost… innocent in his thirst for a power he was not fit to wield.
“Tell me.” The general returned my smirk. “What’s it like? Fighting a war your people lost five years ago?”
Oh, he’d have his answer. Could draw his own conclusions along with his last, shuddering breaths.
Saying nothing, I caressed the pendant, scarred fingers finding the familiar carved edges of my mother’s family crest. While my prey lounged, blinded by false confidence…
“Am I to believe you’re going to take down the mighty Empire of Caledonia single-handedly, little slut?”
Growling low against my cheek, the captain clapped his hand over mine, trapping my fingers against his chest. “I would have thought you above provoking a slave just to prove yourself right,” he said, squeezing hard enough to grind the small bones in my wrist. But that violence wasn’t directed atme.I could see that now. My captain was fighting the urge to strike this feeble interloper down. Resisting the dark seduction twisting through his blood.
All I had to do was… feed the flames.
“Prove myself right? So you admit it. She intends to see the Empire fall.”
“For fucksakes, Harper,” the captain snapped. “The same could be said ofanyslave owned byanyEmpire. Especially at the beginning. Do you not recall how wild Sasha was? How long it took to break her? It takes time to adjust—”
“Time is a precious thing, isn’t it? Always running short. Perhaps,” the general hummed, “she won’t be yours to experiment with for much longer, hmm?”
The bond ignited between us, vibrating with a possessive, territorial rage the likes of which Kas herself would have been proud. But still, he fought. Refusing to embrace the darkness, he brushed my attempt aside. And, keeping me pressed close to his chest, the captain surged to his feet. “Either make the attempt, or fuck off. But until then,” he breathed, storming past the lounging general, “I’m done with this conversation.”
“Of course you are. It’s not going your way. This has been your pattern since you were a child.”
“See now, that’s where you’re wrong.” The captain set me on my feet, dragging his pants over wet skin—and wetter underpants. “I’m leaving because I don’t want your unborn child to grow up fatherless.”
“A bold claim from a man no longer employed by the Empire. Oh,” the general purred, watching from the pool, “did I forget to mention that?”
The flush abandoned the captain’s cheeks in a single instant. Blanched white beneath bronzed skin. “What?”
“Your services are no longer needed, Golden Boy.” The general grinned. “It is my greatest sorrow to inform you that, as ofthismoment, you’ve been relieved of duty until further notice. We simply haven’t a use for an Elite who cannot master a Triloth of moderate potential. Your incompetence is a danger to the men. You understand. That much uncontrolled plasma spilling onto the field unchecked could have killed someone.” Pausing, Tilcot took a breath. Seeming to enjoy the tension rippling between us. “Did I forget to mention we’ve got the slaver in custody? Jasper, I think his name was. He’s singingall aboutthe Wood’s Menace. Only a matter of time before he pokes a few inconvenient holes through your stories, cousin. Your lies about how you came to be bound to her. And once the curator gets here,” he continued, turning his attention to me, “who knows? Perhaps your duty to the Empire isn’t the only thing you’ll be relieved of.”
I took a half step, teeth bared.
Saying nothing, the captain caught me around the middle, keeping me pinned to his side.
