“Nothing I haven’t already been threatened with,” I returned, and stood my ground. Blood thick with the might of an elite, with a false bravado that left me flush with a confidence to which I had no rights.
“Then you weren’t listening,” he hissed, one hand finding my nape while the other landed high at the base of my throat. Forefinger and thumb pinching either side of my jaw, he tipped my head back. “He means to take you from me. To break you over a dozen cocks and see if you’re the exception to the rule.”
Sweat beaded at my brow, nausea bubbling in my throat, but I swallowed it back, and said, “What rule?”
At this, he grinned—and I saw it for the cruel, hateful thing it was, even through the dark. “Not your concern, little girl.”
I laughed, high and brittle. “Not my concern? Asher! It’smylife.”
Fist wrenched free of my hair, he punched the wall beside my temple. Fingers squeezing where they were locked tight on my jaw, he bumped my skull into the wall and bellowed, “And you’re my slave!” Forgetting to be covert, his voice filled the tiny closet to over flowing. Breath hot with scarcely restrained fury. “You have no rights! I could kill you here and now and no one would question it.”
Skin flushed with his temper, I sneered. Reckless. “I shouldn’t be surprised to learn you’re related to that monster. You sound just like him. Same threats. One cock or a dozen, what’s the difference?”
In an instant, the captain went still. Cold.
And then he swallowed.
Nodded.
Nostrils pinched white, he released me in a rush and stepped back. “Fine.”
Without another word, he kicked the door open and burst into the hall. Dragging me along in his wake, we descended the stairs, passed by the crowd gathering at the doors of the harem, and burst into the morning sun where the cobbles were cold on my bare feet. Where the eyes of dozens of Caledonian soldiers flicked over my nearly nude frame with open interest.
We were stopped by a trio of armed soldiers.
Three elites, though they were unbound. Absent the energy boost enslaving a priestess afforded so many of their brethren.
“Rawlings,” the largest said, chin dipping in a slight nod.
“Reese.” Stepping in front of me, the captain blocked me front sight. “What brings you to this fine establishment in the middle of your shift?”
Flanking us, one of the others said, “We’ve orders to take your priestess directly to Sasha for training.”
“Orders?” the captain drawled, head tilting toward the speaker. “From whom?”
“General Tilcot, sir,” said a young man with the smoothest cheeks I’d ever seen. His uniform pristine, not a stitch out of place. “And I’m to escort you to the barracks for assessment, sir.”
For a moment, I thought the captain would react beyond the thunderous scowl he sent back toward the second floor of the bathhouse. Dark flames lashed at the air between us, where his hands were hot and tight on my flesh. Reeking of possessive furor, until the captain issued a tight nod and turned to face me.
“Very well,” he drawled, and affecting an air of nonchalance, he made a concentrated effort to withdraw from me. To take his energy and leave me swaying in the cold.
Alone.
Naked.
Staggered without him lurking in the darkest parts of my soul, he took everything. Left me with just enough strength to remain upright, and had the audacity to run calloused fingers through my hair, murmuring, “Can’t leave Sasha with anything to work with, hmm? Causing all sorts of nasty little problems that might get you killed. Trust me, pet,” he said, a perfect mimic of mocking tone the general had used only minutes before. “It’s for your own good. I’m trying to protect you from horrors you cannot even begin to imagine. We share the same blood, after all, General Tilcot and I. Just can’t seem to help myself.”
Robbed of my vitality, I swooned beneath his hands. Too weak to voice the vitriol, I was left starving for just a sip of the power he’d fed me just to show he could.
But with the void, came the shock of clarity.
In his absence, the veil began to fade.
I could see. What he’d been doing. How easily he’d slipped beneath my skin and left corruption in his wake.
He’d manipulated me.
Easily.
