“Ah,” he breathed, far too relaxed for his precarious position. “But that’s just it. It’s not justmyproblem anymore, is it?”
“You assume I believe your little story,” I drawled. “Or that I care enough about this life to be forced into protecting you. I don’t. On both accounts.” Lifting my shoulder, I watched his pulse. Watched a drop of crimson sparkle and dance beneath my blade. “I will use the pendant to break this ridiculous bond you’ve forced on me, and then I shall be free of you forever.”
“And if you can’t? If I’m right, and we are bound ineverypossible way? What then? Think about it,” he pressed, breath warming my cheek as he turned his head a fraction of an inch. “There’s never been a pairing like ours, Mila. Two Trila-Glís… one Priestess, the other Elite? The very notion of such a pairing exists only in the curator’s wet dreams. What we are has never been done. There are bound to be side effects I didn’t anticipate.”
“Ah, but I’m no longer Trila-Glís, am I? You saw to that.” I pressed the blade deeper, letting rage guide my hand to the killing blow.
In spite of it all, his lips curved. “Then call my bluff and let’s find out, shall we?”
Teeth clenched, I inhaled the captain’s essence, moving to strike.
But… What if he was… right? What if—
Faster than my eye could follow, the captain’s raised hands were wrapped around my forearm, breaking my hold on his windpipe. Using my arm as leverage, he yanked me around with force enough to topple the decanter from the desk when my hip struck the polished wood. I hadn’t the time or breath to yelp before he was on me, wrenching my blade arm behind my back and pinning me facedown to his desk.
“Drop it,” he snarled, impossibly strong fingers prying the blade free.
“Oomph—No—”
He took my weapon, slammed it on the desk beside my face, then dropped the majority of his weight into me. Grinding the points of my hip bones into the hardwood with his pelvis. “A letter opener?” He laughed, breathless. “Sweet Emperor’sballs, Mila, where did you even get this?”
“Getoff.” I tried to buck against him, only managing to press the round of my buttocks into his groin.
With his free hand, he swept my encrusted hair off the back of my neck, pulling it to the left and leaving my face clear. “Just how far do you think my patience is going to stretch, hm?” He hiked my right arm higher up my back, stealing my breath. “Do you have any idea what would happen to you if you belonged toanyother Elite, Mila?”
“I-I don’t care. You’d be dead if I”—I gasped, vision sparkling as my shoulder screamed—“if the choice was mine.”
“Brave sentiment from a helpless little girl,” he retorted, thumb tracing the hollow at the base of my throat. He lingered, weight pressing me to the desk, his heat fogging my brain.
“Y-You’re drunk.”
“Something about having a blade pressed to my throat has a rather sobering effect. Imagine that.”
“Asher, please—”
“I don’t recall giving you permission to say my name, little slave.”
Teeth flashing, I strained against him, but opted to say nothing at all. Opted todonothing. Goddess, so…helpless. Just as he said.
“Thought so,” the captain purred, breath tickling my ear and raising gooseflesh down the length of my back. “Now, while I have your full attention, shall we discuss punishment for your behavior on the field this morning?”
“Is breathing the same air as your kind not punishment enough?”
He sucked his teeth, something akin to a growl rumbling deep in his chest. “You haven’t the slightest clue what you’re talking about, little girl. You are permitted to behave the way you do, publicly defying me at every turn, because Iallowit,” he hissed, pressing close, lips brushing my ear. “I asked for one thing in return—do not draw the attention to yourself, and especially not the attention of General Tilcot.” He kicked my feet apart. “Now let me make something abundantly clear. There isnothingGeneral Tilcot enjoys more than breaking a willful slave—”
“He’s welcome to try.”
“And he will succeed!” he bellowed. “You’ve put yourself in his sights. Made it known there’s something different about you, and told the entire world that Icannotcontrol you!”
“Youcan’t—”
A calloused palm silenced me. “Shut your fucking mouth before I have your tongue torn from your lovely, mad head.” He shook me, bowing my back as he forced me to stand, trembling with a fury so vibrant I was swept away by it. “It’s going to take everything I have to stop him from discovering what you are. Whatweare. Allow me to spell it out so it can sink into that thick skull of yours. If he is given cause, the general will take your punishment into his own hands, and the Law of Ownership doesn’t apply if it comes into conflict with Chain of Command. A loophole he’s rather fond of, but he won’t stop with pinkening your ass, Mila. Oh, no,” he breathed, releasing my lips in favor of palming my throat. “He’ll make you chose the weapon he breaks you with. After you beg—”
I shook my head, gasping, unable to speak.
“And youwillbeg,” he stressed, heart hammering between my shoulder blades. “He’ll make me watch as he unbuckles his belt—”
“Stop.” I squeezed my eyes shut. “Just… stop…”
