“That’s the thing, isn’t it? There won’t be a damned thing I’ll be able to do to stop it. I’ll have to watch him fuck you—”
“Asher,” I wheezed, chest too tight to draw breath. “I get it—”
“No. Youdon’t,” he snarled, shifting his grip to the base of my skull and tangling his fingers in the matted, mud-caked caramel locks. “It will only be a matter of time before he realizeswhyyou’re different. He’s bonded to the High fucking Priestess, after all… Intimate with the signs of a Trila-Glís. He will do everything in his power to keep you, after that.”
Tears of pain dusted my lashes, but I persisted. “Then you lied.”
He laughed, though the sound lacked any hint of mirth. “Fucksakes, Mila. This is more important than—”
“He can’t keep me if I remain bound to you. So either you lied about the bond being unbreakable, or you’re panicking over nothing.”
“So knowledgeable, darling,” he drawled, voice dripping sarcasm. “Go on, then. Tell me of all those we’ve lost since Tritan fell. Tell me what happened to the surviving member of a bound pair, either Priestess or Elite, since you already know it all. Tell me how the living party has gone on to bond again. Tell me what shred of evidence would lead Tilcot to think you won’t be free for the taking aftermydeath. I’m waiting.”
I blinked. Then it was true, as far as he was concerned.
If the captain died, so would I.
He took my silence for acceptance, adding, “The general cannot know of this. Do you understand me?”
But I had been struck silent.
“Do you understand?”he snarled and spun me, leaving one fist buried in my wild mane while the other fell to my lower back.
“What I understand, is this,” I rasped, voice deadly calm, in spite of the intoxicated Elite trembling with fury before me. “I don’t take orders from you anymore. In exchange, I will protect your secret and, therefore, your life. Until such a time that you betray this truce.”
“Just what in the fuck gave you the impression that this was a negotiation, little slave?”
“You’ve lost your leverage, Asher. Let your temper burn it all up.” I caught his eye, placing my scarred right hand on his chest, just above the pendant, and gave him a tiny push. Branded middle knuckle mocking my words before they even left my mouth. “And I’m no more your slave now than I was five years ago.”
“I disagreed with that statement then, Mila,” he said, distracted. Capturing my wrist, he ran his thumb over the meeting of gold and twisted flesh, then went on to find the backward letters married to my skin. He settled there. Fingers stroking. “What do you think my opinion on the matter is now, when here you are, wearingmymark?”
“What you think is inconsequential. I am not a slave.” I pulled my hand free, flexing the shiny scar tissue in the half-light between us. “There is nothing you can do that will convince me otherwise.”
“You have no idea what I can do.”
I lifted a shoulder. “Such a sentiment may have intimidated me five years ago,” I allowed. “The unknown is a terrifying prospect, and one that you wield to maximum effect. But I am no stranger to pain and fear, and I am not that innocent little girl who caught your attention the day Tritan fell. I haven’t known her since General Tilcot shot my father in the back. So,” I continued, meeting his gaze unblinking, “you can continue with your threats, but they won’t have the desired results.” I grinned.“Youmade me untouchable today. Oh, you can still strike me, if you wish,” I said, cutting him off with a raised palm. “But the instant you do, I will not stop until every Caledonian on the planet knows your secret. Even if it guarantees my death. Even if you tear my tongue from my lovely, mad head.”
He loomed over me, breath warming my cheeks with the spice of whiskey. “If you think this little power play of yours will protect you outside of this house, you don’t understand what’s going on here. If the curator ever found out what you are, let aloneme...what we are together…” he shook his head, eyes icy, colorless chips of obsidian.
“Better not risk it then,” I whispered, flashing him my most brilliant, toothy smile. “Now step back and get your hands off me.”
To his credit, the captain returned my smirk.
And stepped back.
Chapter 3
“I must say, you’re quite the tactician, Miss Tannovic.”
I shrugged, picking at the scab building on my wrist without meeting his eye. “My father was a politician.”
“Then he taught you well. Come,” the captain said, disappearing into his closet. “We’re going to the baths.”
“We’re… what?” I asked, trying to match the speed with which he shifted topics.
“You’re covered in filth from the front lines. And because you are now awake and hissing,” he continued, emerging with a length of black silk draped over one shoulder, “I figured you might like to take a bath.”
“You figured wrong,” I replied, glancing at the door. “I’m not going back to that bathhouse.” It held uncomfortable memories. To say the least.
