Page 42 of A Sweet Destruction

“WELCOME HOME!” a commanding voice boomed through the speakers in the room, not far off from what I’d imagine the voice of God to sound like, though the welcome back to this planet was anything but an appreciated gift from a deity.

Esme snapped to attention like her life fucking depended on it, sprinting to the front of the room as everyone gathered themselves to exit back to Vir.

Though much of my focus was now directed at the imagine of Esme running away from me—again—that familiar grumble of annoyance was still there, brought on by Vir’s dramatics surrounding the Bridge.

Seeing as Muli hadn’t been sucked into a black hole over the years and their version of the Bridge was nothing more than a cave in the middle of the wilderness, there was no reason for this heightened level of security on the base besides theatrics.

If you asked me, it was a waste of resources to have erected towering metal doors to sector off the Bridge, closing us off in a sort of pressure chamber until the Bridge was covered. Only then would they open up the doors to the Base and the rest of Vir.

Not to mention, they’d done it all by desecrating a temple nearly as old as the Empire itself.

I ignored the poignant look Soren shot me as I ran after Esme, catching up to her right as we filed into line—at the very front, the most senior position.

We were nothing better than schoolchildren to the Empire.

Esme turned away from me like a petulant one, saying something under her breath to Bellamy behind her.

I don’t like when she turns away. Or runs away, the Bond grumbled, thrumming with displeasure, while my own thoughts narrowed it down to annoyance that Esme wasn’t acknowledging us.

As mysterious as the Bond had always seemed, I was taking to it quite well. The Bond fed of your own thoughts, desires, multiplying the most primitive version of the emotion. You stayed in control of where that feeling was directed, where it came from.

Not quite the rabid animal Esme had described. Though as that thought passed, it emitted a particularly dangerous snarl when it realized she was still turned away.

I knew she could feel me looking, her posture a touch stiffer than normal. It only seemed to get worse as the doors to the base began to open, heavy metal scraping against the floor, and Esme looked forward.

I’d never seen her stand at attention so rigidly, especially in front of Corporal Dulik, who I saw approaching out of the corner of my eye.

Soren released an annoyed groan behind me at his approach, a sentiment I shared. Dulik was the worst sort, mean to everyone, but getting particular enjoyment from being cruel to those who were reserved or scared.

My dislike for him only deepened when his grating laugh moved through the room. “Well, it looks like you lot had an interesting few days.”

Only a small group had made the trip back to Vir, needing to keep up appearances on the other side of the Bridge, but the tension made it feel like a packed room.

“Dulik,” I said, letting that be the only word of warning I’d extend. Even though he felt important, he was now outranked several times over.

His eyes narrowed as they slid to me, already puffing his chest out at my subtle show of authority. “I would watch your tone with me, Langley. There’s a surprise for you.”

The urge to see what his face looked like with my hand print on it was strong, but I held it together.

That was, until he looked to Esme and his gaze turned leering. “Not so much of a surprise for you, but I can keep you company if you’d like.”

“What I’d really like is for you to stumble into the desert and die from thirst, but we can’t always get what we want, can we?” Esme shot back, lightning fast. I had lodged no less than ten complaints to our superiors against Dulik for his behavior against the entire base over the years, and made it a habit to tell him so to his face every chance I got, but I knew Esme wouldn’t appreciate me stepping in.

I still want his eyes as a trophy. Well, the Bond had a point with that one.

Dulik simply snorted in response, and turned his back on the group, giving way for us to follow him onto the base.

“Whatever it said to you, ignore it,” Esme said under her breath to me, right before she took off after Dulik.

It took me a single stride to catch up with her. Though I hadn’t quite intended to shove my face in her hair, that was what happened as I moved to speak close—not an unwelcome development in the slightest. “No thought I didn’t already share where he’s concerned.”

Esme rounded on me, taking a healthy step away. My stomach pulled tight, physically rejecting the space between us, but I made myself stay put.

She opened her mouth to say something, a move I barely noticed while I was distracted by the charming little line of frustration growing between her brows.

She never got the chance to speak, cut off by Soren and Bellamy’s combined, “Oh, shit.”

A swarm of people descended on us in that very moment, trying to move right through me and Esme like we weren’t there. I pulled her to the side of the corridor, releasing her again the second her hands came down to my forearm to wrench me off her.