“Don’t tell me what I should or should not be doing—”
“You almostdied, Mila. I can feel how weak you are, even now. You need rest, and in the morning, we’ll have a discussion about—”
“Youdid this!” I hissed, clutching at the bedpost with my free hand. “This is your fault, you twisted parasite.”
Eyes narrowed, the captain said nothing, allowing me to fret under the weight of his gaze. “Come,” he said at length, crooking a finger.
Fist clenched on my blade, my lips parted on a furious snarl—but I stopped short. Glancing at the soft spot beneath his jaw.
Play the part.
I moved toward him on stiff legs, lifting my skirt to mid-shin, mimicking Alicia’s effortless grace. The effect was lessened, somewhat, by the mud spattering every inch of my exposed skin, but nevertheless, obsidian eyes went where I intended. The bond comingaliveat my approach.
Perhaps Alicia hadn’t entirely lost her mind.
Perhaps playing the whore could serve some greater purpose. I glanced at his chest… at the outline of the pendant.
Bare feet padding on the carpet, I stopped just out of reach. But how to slip past his defenses? How could I force him to let his guard down long enough for me to snatch the pendant and make this vile, unwanted partnership work forme?
“Good girl,” he purred, smirking. “Now, if you’re awake and finished with your tantrum, we may as well get to the business of your punishment—”
Throwing caution to the wind, I uttered a fragile whimper, falling forward, forcing my muscles to limpness. Miming the very weakness that he’d caused.
Cursing, he surged forward, catching me about the waist. “Shit. Are you—”
Grinning, I set the blade against the hollow of his throat, forearm brushing the pendant beneath his shirt. “Move and die.”
Hands hot on my filthy skin, he stilled, thoughnothingbut divine intervention could still his lips. “It seems I’ve underestimated you. Again.”
I pressed my blade deeper into his flesh—only to feel the bond kick and pulse within my chest, setting my lungs ablaze with excitement.
The captain released me, flashing the whites of his palms. “Now what, my little lunatic?”
I jerked my chin at the office chair, pushing him back until he had resumed his seated position. “Now—” I cleared my throat, taking slow, careful steps until I was behind him, toying with the pressure against his jugular lest he forget which of us held this mundane power. “Now you hand over my mother’s pendant and take me to the rebels, or I cut your throat and go there myself.”
He swallowed, the bob of his throat nudging the blade. “I didn’t realize you wished to die.”
“In case you haven’t noticed,” I hissed, wrenching his head back with my free hand, exposing him further, “you’re not in a position to make threats,Asher.”
“You mistake me,” he rasped, scruffy cheek prickling my skin, bond prickling… everything else. “I’m merely concerned that your ultimatum will likely end in your death. And mine.”
Adjusting my grip on his hair to disguise the tremor in my hands, I said nothing, eying the silver chain from which the pendant hung. Noting the band of raw, torn skin looping about his throat.
But how to get it without sacrificing my current advantage?
A dark chuckle filled the silence. “I’m a career soldier, Miss Tannovic, yet I’ve never been closer to death than I was today. With you, limp in my arms. So cold. Eyes glassy.” His side of the bond caressed me, pulling me toward a state of serene calm.
I bared my teeth, letting the back of my knuckles graze his scalp, seeking whatever ki I could steal through the contact. “Your doing, not mine.”
“A moment of unforgivable ignorance.” He lifted his shoulder, agitating the air around us. Filling my nostrils with his scent. Thick with whiskey, and…Asher.“I was… unfamiliar with the finer points of owning a Priestess like yourself.”
“You don’t own me,” I hissed, pressing hard enough to draw blood, watching it mix with a bead of sweat until the rosy drop disappeared into his scruffy beard.
“We are bound, Miss Tannovic,” he said, voice a low hum. Enticing. “In every way. Long before I put the chains on you, Ifeltit”—he raised shaking hands, pointing at the space over his black heart, the mirror of the place where the bond lived in me—“righthere. You nearly died on the field today, and you would have taken me with you. Almost did.”
The silence that followed his claim swallowed me whole. But that meant… No. He couldn’t possibly be stupid enough to tell me such a thing, to reveal such a weakness without there being hidden motive! For that would mean… the captain wasvulnerablebecause of me.
“So,” I whispered, teeth clicking beside his ear, “the most powerful Elite in the Empire has fallen.” I grinned. “Gelded by his new toy.”
