“She wouldn’t,” Audrey whispered. But the memory didn’t dispute his words.
“Eventually, she would have killed you if you hadn’t taken her out,” Ryker said. A pause. “She believed you would either replace her...or destroy her.”
Ice spread through Audrey’s veins.
“She wasn’t stable that night, and it only grew worse this past decade,” Ryker continued. “Your mother’s power was slipping, though, at first, I thought it was you.” He wrenched her back by her hair, exposing her throat more. “I was wrong.” He skimmed his nose along her neck. “You were stronger.”
“Don’t twist this?—”
“Because you’re what we thought she was.” He let out a deep breath. “A true gold triad.”
Everything narrowed to a point. She wasn’t broken, like she’d thought, as her mother thought. She’d always just been...something different.
“She hoped to keep you both from me,” Ryker said.
That woke her from her trance.
“You’re going to stay away from Cary,” she said.
“As long as you obey,” he hit back. “Disobey, and I carve my way through every lie you’ve built between her and me.”
Ryker studied her—strategically. “Power like yours changes the balance of things,” he said. “Not just on Nepra.”
“You must be desperate.”
“You have no idea.”
His lack of denial surprised her.
“If Mihail dies,” he continued, “this entire war collapses.”
“You must value his partnership.”
“Please,” Ryker said, rolling his eyes. “This isn’t about sentimentality. With Mihail captured, every rival actor recalculates, and the Aggregate grows bolder. The people still pretending this is a controlled insurgency start making rash decisions instead of smart ones.”
Audrey’s brow wrinkled. “Meaning?”
His eyes shuttered, mask firmly in place again. “Mihail in chains doesn’t just endanger one man. It destabilizes the architecture holding this entire operation together.”
Her aura reached out on instinct, probing to taste the lie. He pressed the smooth edge deep enough to draw blood, forcing a deep intake of breath from her. “I didn’t...” Audrey trailed off, feeling pathetic.
“Any pain you’ve tasted today,” he stated, “will be nothing compared to what I will enjoy giving you if you ever break into my head again.”
Nothing about his words was sexual, but the dominance was. And Audrey hated the answering heat in her blood.
“You think this is about revenge?” he asked.
“Not for you,” she said. “It’s survival.”
He didn’t like that answer, knowing she’d read it in his mind. With a frustrated growl, he scratched a Voírían sigil just below her clavicle. The symbol burned into her flesh like a claim. Sheglared and grabbed at her neck, but didn’t move away from him. “Does this mean I’m a prisoner?”
“Consider it a contract.” His smile was maddeningly calm. “You may leave whenever you want.”
“What does that even mean?”
“You’re a gold triad.” His eyes glittered. “If you can free yourself, I won’t stop you.”
“And if I can’t?”
