I narrowed my eyes as I met his stare. The other agents turned to watch us. There weren’t many this time of night, as we were preparing for the day shift, but those who were present turned to listen to our conversation.
“I have a cock,” I replied evenly. “Do you?”
Again, he laughed. It wasn’t meant to be funny. But surely, none of them had their balls if they could so easily turn their backs on their Queen. But I didn’t say that out loud, either.
I was learning quickly to hold my tongue when it came to my fated. If I were to protect her, I needed to hold back from revealing our bond. None knew she claimed me as her mate, and that was the only reason I wasn’t in a cage with the other beasts, forced to remain in my Primal form. Now, I understoodthe strange, small female better. Now, I knew why she’d placed the rune upon my flesh.
The soldier stood, his smile arrogant. And without taking his eyes off me, he placed his hands on his belt. “You want to see what a real cock looks like?”
“Not fucking happening,” my handler groaned. “We’re all going to lose our appetites if you whip it out, Othar.”
I rarely shied away from nudity; it happened so easily in my realm that we grew to see it normally. But the last thing I wanted to see was his dick at the dining table. It also brought on a discomfort I barely recognised.
Maybe it was the knowledge that I had a mate waiting for me, needing me to save her from her prison. My Primal yearned for her in ways I’d never felt before. My Primal side wanted to claim her in the only way it knew how, but even the side of me that was male wanted her, too.
It also felt like a betrayal to my world. I was meant to be protecting the Primals, and although I had yet to learn any of the false king’s plans regarding my home, it felt like I wasn’t doing enough.
The soldier, Othar, grabbed his groin. “Oh, come on, he asked!”
“You asked first,” a female said, appearing by our table with a look of disgust. “Why do you want him to see your baby dick anyway?”
“My dick?—”
She cut him off with a wave of her hand. “As someone whohasseen it—not with consent—I can confirm that it’s no bigger than a baby carrot.” The female, a shifter I believed, crossed her arms. Short red hair curled around her chin, and her eyes, which were almost a similar shade of orange, flickered to meet mine. Her skin was dark like mine, though not the same. Where mine was like the dark sanded beaches of the old palace, hers was warm, like bark.
But it was her eyes that captured my attention. They weren’t as cruel or sinister as those working for the false king. But they weren’t dead, either, like those under his spell.
Her eyes were sharp, calculating.
Like she did not belong.
“What do they call you?” she asked, cocking her head. “I’m sure you have names where you’re from.”
“Xerxes,” I replied.
She nodded once before turning her attention back to my handler andOthar. “Keep your pants on and don’t embarrass yourself. When he came in and shifted, I got a look. You’d be surprised by what’s down there.”
With that, she walked away. I couldn’t help the discomfort at her words. It felt like a small betrayal to my fated. But her parting line seemed to have the desired effect on the demon, because he sat with a huff.
“What a bitch,” he growled. “Sunniva Storm can go fuck herself.”
My handler rose at that. “She’s higher ranking than you are, Othar.”
“She’s a bitch,” the demon snapped back. “Fucked her way to that position if you ask me. If it weren’t for her, we’d have had the bitch queen and her weird friend from the beginning.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, before Handler could tell him to shut up.
Othar’s eyes met mine. “I mean,” he started, leaning forward, perhaps too caught up in his indigence to care that he was providing me valuable information, “she was on the team to go get thequeenin the human realm. We had one chance to get her, especially because she was unmated, and Storm blew it. Got shot and everything.”
Handler grabbed my tray and his own. “Storm didn’t die, is what you’re pissed about. Unlike the others who crossedherpath. Took out like five agents before her team came in to save her. That’s what you should be pissed about.”
“I still doubt she did it,” Othar muttered. “She was too weak to manage that.”
“You didn’t see the blood,” Handler replied. His eyes found mine, and he gave me a nod. “Let’s go. We have rotations.”
I didn’t argue, sliding from the bench seat and rising. Othar watched us, the weight of his gaze almost overwhelming.
“I guess there is more to his hatred of the female,Storm, than what happened with the Queen?” I knew I shouldn’t ask, but I was curious.
