Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 78164 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78164 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
“You are giving yourself far too much credit,” Miranda interjected, gentle enough, and she reached to pat my hand. “The man you are mated to isn’t the average hybrid male. Were our world different, he would be our king. Your song may have caused him to suffer as he practiced restraint—because he could have mated you any time he wished—but I assure you, every choice he made in your keeping and in the care of the recruits, he did so fully aware of the long-term consequences of his actions. You are not responsible for any of it.”
Miranda’s history was her own, but mine was ugly and unnecessary. “He’s murdered children.”
“It isn’t that simple, and you know it,” she said, urging me to pay attention. “Grieve them; that is noble. But do it with your eyes open. We are walking a knife’s edge of existence, and it is his duty to keep you alive. As a general, it is his duty to keep us all alive. Young as you are, you cannot image what he is up against.”
I still could see the redheaded boy’s face when the Watchers descended upon our hiding place. That terror he’d known, I would never forget. “It’s a pity he didn’t mate you, Miranda. You’re just as ruthless as he is.”
She grinned, and in a face so lovely, it was truly a hideous thing. “I think God had a hand in delivering you right to his feet, ruthless as I may be. You suit him, and you’re using the freedom he is allowing you, not to seek pleasure and play, but to come here, barely more than a child, in an attempt to convince powerful hybrids to go against their best interests so your sisters may not suffer as we did. I’m too jaded to even remember what idealism may have felt like.”
Then it would be my job to remind her. “Is it against their best interests if their mates are happy? If their females are loving and feel safe?”
Cocking a brow, Miranda asked, “Are you loving? Do you love General Cyderial? Has he benefited from this experiment at all?”
He had sworn to me that I would love him one day. Deep down, I was terrified that day would come far sooner than it should. “I haven’t been locked away. He puts effort into my care. He’s taken time to educate himself for my benefit. He even brought you into his home to help remedy a mistake. I can respect and appreciate those things. Considering our history, that is sufficient for now.”
Chuckling, Miranda pulled a face. “Idealistic and magnanimous—no wonder he’s madly taken with you.”
I felt like I’d been slapped.
“Why are we not on the same side in this?” My sisters at the academy would’ve never actively worked against the betterment of the whole.
She clicked her tongue, shaking her head at me. “You misunderstand. I am your greatest supporter. As someone who is much older and far wiser, I have knowledge that has yet to fit into your innocent noodle. But one thing I will not tolerate is self-delusion.”
Eager to say her piece, Miranda continued, “You’re confused by your feelings. He’s claimed you against your will, and you woke up to find your personal demon is now all affection and sweetness. How could you possibly fit the two extremes into one character? He has given you liberties few hybrid females have ever known, promised you support to confront his comrades’ exploitation of unmated females.” Her eyes narrowed. “The same man who executed a boy caught out of the dorms in a private math lesson with a little Lorieyn, who was only intent on saving him from failing and subsequent execution.”
Miranda brushed it off like it was nothing, gesturing at my tight expression. “Yes, he told me that you have refused the truth of the matter. Private Cullen—was that his name?—confessed he intended to assault you. It is Cyderial’s duty to mete out punishment, and considering the boy was only hung and not ripped limb from limb, I would say he was even temperate. But you refuse to see what was done was done out of necessity, and even done well. My mate would have gutted the boy and rolled around in the viscera. I may have been served his hearts for dessert.”
Commenting on an experience she had not lived fueled my antagonism. “You think that is the only issue between us? You told me to get on my knees and please him for your cause.” I was angrier about her inferences than I realized, my tone very unfriendly. “You expected this of me, knowing he raped me days before!”
Eyebrows waggling, Miranda pursed her lips. “And you are still angry that he forced you into a bond you didn’t ask for. Let’s talk about that, shall we? For years, you manipulated your test scores in hopes you’d be assigned the position of surveyor.” Looking to the engrossed women watching us spar, she said, “Our little dove here craves the fog, an eager explorer hellbent on self-destruction.” Then those terrible green eyes came right back to me. “When Cyderial denied your graduation and confronted you about the deception, you took matters into your own hands. Armed with a fragment of misinformation, you snuck out of the academy, seeking any male to ruin you, under the impression that once it was done, there would be no barrier between yourself and the position you desired so greatly.”