“But not the riot.”
“No,” he said, “not the riot. You may have won us a victory here today, for now,” he went on, “but it doesn’t change what happened. Won’t stop Hastings from coming back to test his theories and his new tech on a priestess he sees as a liability before she’s an asset. Impressive or not, you bought us one more day and a sentence that might just be worse than death.”
“Great. I’m a menace,” I said, and made to return to my nest. Hiding the salty, traitorous wet soaking my lashes in a handkerchief of dark sheets. “Leave me here to rot and take your intended lady wife to the funeral. I’m sure Carina’ll appreciatethatdeeply romantic gesture.”
His hand darted out to stop me from cocooning back into the sheets, long fingers wrapping around my wrist. Concealing warm gold in the heart of his palm. “You can’t stay in bed forever.”
“Just getting accustomed to the inevitable,” I snapped, trying to wrench away from his poisonous grasp, succeeding only in tugging him closer.
“You gave the empath to me, remember?” he said, and, taking advantage, he slipped in behind me. Enveloping me in his scent, his heat—his oppressive, domineering will locked away where I couldn’t taste or touch or take. The fabric of his uniform was rough wherever I was soft. Arms slipping around my shoulders, he pulled me in tight. Wrapped me in an embrace I was too weak to fight off. “You traded it in exchange for freeing you from Sasha’s prison.” He paused, then. Lifting my left wrist, it was his turn to trace the softly glowing band of gold with the edge of his thumb. Making me look. “I didn’t realize exactly what her wall was holding back, though I suppose, above anyone else,Ishould have known what you might be capable of.”
I went very still. Hung on the edge of ignorance and bliss, dangling over an abyss where painful things went to fester and rot.
“And now that it’s gone”—a huff of breath mussed the fine hairs at my nape—“now thatshe’sgone, the burden of holding the empath in check has fallen to me.”
“Train me,” I rasped, twisting against his heat. “Like you promised, before—”
“Forty-six people died in that riot, Mila. Thirteen elites, most of which were Sasha’s doing, but the rest… they were unarmed civilians provoked into unnatural violence. Violence that’s been attributed to Sasha’s final act.Officially. But the rumors whisper of a different culprit.”
Something in my chest collapsed. A tiny, fragile sound escaping my lips from the battered corner of my soul that wasn’t a smoking wreckage. “Please don’t do this. I—” My eyes drifted shut on a painful squeeze, and I turned my face, whispering a shameful truth into sheets that couldn’t judge me for a moment of weakness. “I don’t want to be a weapon for the empire.”
He clicked his tongue. “And yet,” he murmured, letting his fingers tangle in my hair as he tugged it away from the slope of my neck. “You gave the empath tome,” he said again, lips moving against my ear. Ghosting down the length of my neck. “A payment for services rendered.” His fingers grew tight with greedy excitement and I felt the edges of a trap cinching tight around my throat. “Mine to do with as I please.”
“Until Lieutenant General Hastings has me lobotomized,” I whispered, shuddering with terrorized disgust.
“This is Caledonia,” he returned, voice going hard. Grim. “And I warned you, Mila. Told you what would happen if you drew the attention of powerful men, thatyouwould pay the higher price andmyplans for you would go ignored.” He cupped my chin and let rough fingers skate over the edge of my jaw. Turning my face, so he could see my eyes when he said, “I warned you of horrible things you’ve never thought to be terrified of, but still, you pushed until you found the edge of their tolerance. And now we reap the consequences of your actions.” His fingers grew tight with scarcely concealed anger—a depth of feeling that flirted with hatred, it was an accusation and condemnation all in one. “You left me no choice.”
I swallowed and it was thick with dawning horror, with the nagging sensation that…somethingwasn’t right. My magic robbed of me in a way I couldn’t define. After all… eight days was an eternity to a man who wielded the sort of power Asher had inherited. And my voice was ragged and thin when I whispered, “What did you do?”
He shrugged, despite the way dark eyes gleamed with the smug sheen of pride. “Let me show you.”
10
Heart hammering, my chin dipped in a single nod.
I wanted to see.
Neededhim to shine a light on the slithering things that hid in the dark, and left me with the creeping sense of wrong.
It was a permission he didn’t need but he smiled as if indulging a small child.
And with an effortless flick, he swirled through my blood. Twisting. Tasting. A ravenous burn that didn’t pour from his touch—it was summoned from within.
Already inside. Laced throughout my entire body, laid down with meticulous care, it was a network of energy waiting to rise at his command. A power that answered only to him.
I dragged a stuttering breath through my lips. Eyes wide, shocked as I stared into obsidian depths and saw the pale reflection of a helpless, lost little girl caught in tar. Marooned on an island, completely surrounded by an ocean of power.
Alone.
High at the back of my throat, a fragile whine crackled through the despair as the veil of ignorance began to lift and horrible understanding rushed through the cracks.
A grin spread across his lips. And against my spine, a growl rumbled through his chest. Guttural and deep. Dripping with the toxic wrappings of obsession, he ground his hips against the curve of my bottom and let me feel just how much he appreciated my reaction to what he’d done inside me.
But the show had only begun.
The kiss of dark flames lapped at the soft spot beneath my jaw. Elite energy saturated my skin—bubbling up from inside me in such a way that made me swell on a gasp. Bewildered by the way my muscles went liquid, jerking against himwithoutthe cruel burn of gold.
Because he had no need of such crude methods. Not anymore.
