Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 66904 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66904 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
I look into his face, and having just seen two other saurians dominate thoroughly, a cold shiver runs through me as I realize I am closer to the poor wretch suffering under Avel’s lash today. Thorn loves Sullivan, I think. He speaks to her with a certain tenderness and affection that acknowledges her worst qualities and still somehow celebrates her for them. I don’t see that in Shan’s inscrutable visage. I see a dark stare that could hold any number of feelings behind it, and I feel the sure knowledge that when he made the threat to punish me if I disobeyed, he did not do so idly.
A whimper rises to my lips.
“Please don’t hurt me.”
Shan
She makes that little plea, and I feel all the punitive energy drain from me. There’s something quite pitiful about the way she looks and feels in my hand. Her feet kick a little as she dangles by the clothing bunched at the scruff of her neck. She’s wearing rags made from my clothing, some of which I was somewhat fond of. They’re all utterly ruined now.
There is so much to punish her for. I promised her before I left that if she were to run, I would make her regret it. But I do not like the fear she has in her eyes in this moment, even though I know I am the one who put it there.
I am glad to have caught her so quickly, before she could do any serious damage, or escape properly. I was very worried that she had made contact with her ship and had been taken off the planet. There would be no retrieving her then, and that would be a pity.
I tuck her under my arm without further comment, and carry her back through the streets to the hatch I used to capture her. Of course she was found within an hour or two. There is no corner of Grave City that is not monitored by the eyes of Wrath’s spies. They told me she had gone to see the Enforcer Avel, which made me very much ill at ease. The last thing I want is to be linked with Avel. Perhaps I can somehow twist matters so any contact I have with Avel, if it is to be observed, seems to come from following up her meeting with him. There is no way to be sure that I have not been seen before. I like to think that I am keeping my affairs in order, but Wrath is the type to bide his time. There is always the chance that my double life is more common knowledge than I would like.
And now I have this human up in the mix. This fragile, troublesome, disobedient creature who very much has her own agenda. It was comforting to imagine that I might fuck her into submission, but I should have known that would be a limited effect, especially without any real discipline.
I am going to have to make her understand that doing as I say is not optional. Not because I want vengeance for her disobedience, but because she needs to be trained to be safe.
Lettie squirms and curses softly under her breath as we once again descend into the subterranean reaches of the underground passages that wind beneath the city. The light of day fades and is replaced by an electric glow that makes the rock of the tunnels seem artificial. Sometimes these passages seem exciting, like a protective respite from the world above. Other times, like now, they feel like descending into a unique madness governed by a reckless, dangerous creature who is too intelligent for any of our good.
Wrath has to be stopped. He has gained followers. He has gained wealth. His network spreads into the alpha’s territory like invasive thorns and vines, wrapping their way around sensitive social nodes. Alpha Thorn has been aware of Wrath for a long time, but nobody truly appreciates the scope of his subterranean labors. He wants the human women for the same reason he wants everything: control.
My thoughts drift to the criminal mastermind I now seem to serve while the wriggling human woman under my arm reminds me of all the many dangers he represents to anything vulnerable or good.
Footsteps coming down the tunnel stop my thoughts and my instincts come to the fore. This is no place for an interloper, and an interloper I will always be. I brace myself for another social interaction that carries the weight of life and death in every word.
I recognize the creature coming toward us as soon as he rounds the corner. Chaos is a red scaled predatory saurian. He is one of Wrath’s generals, and he does not usually run errands. For him to be coming for me means several things. It means reports of my presence in the city have been made. It means they have gone all the way to the very top of the chain almost immediately. And it means that my presence is about to be requested.