by Hannah Lin
around, he wasn't so relaxed about what we do. But slowly, I
saw Carter work on him, and now he's zealous and Carter’s
Second. Carter may be a big bear of a man, but he's
cunning.”
“Hmm.” I started walking toward the barracks. “I better
get back. I don't want Carter blaming me if Maddie takes off
again.”
Simon laughed. “She does what she wants.”
The memory of how Maddie pushed her chest into mine
and ground herself against me, filled my mind.
You don't even know the half of it, I thought.
CHAPTER 6
MADDIE
The next morning, I sat alone in the mess hall, eating my
breakfast, but this time I didn't feel alone. I lowered my
head and smiled to myself. Kate was the perfect woman for
me.
She entered the mess hall a few minutes after and
immediately settled into a seat across from me, but not
directly in front of me. This allowed us the opportunity to
steal glances at each other. The looks Kate sent me spoke
volumes.
Gods, I can't wait to get into bed with her, I thought.
I took another spoonful of my cereal before looking up to
find Taylor standing in front of me with his arms crossed. Yet
again, a mix of emotion rushed through me. I felt guilty for
how I’d hurt his feelings the day before, but then my hurt
feelings elbowed their way to the forefront.
I sighed. Nothing in my family life had ever been simple.
“Yes?”
“Uncle Carter wants to see you right now.”
Taylor delivered the message in an indifferent tone before
spinning around and leaving the hall. I took a sip of water
and did my best to force it down my suddenly dry throat.
Kate's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and I subtly shook my
head to tell her not to worry.
My father had neglected to speak to me for weeks. What
could he possibly have to say to me? Had he found out
about Kate and me?
I felt my shoulders curl forward, my chest caving in. My
father was always having me watched. Kate and I had done
our best to keep our meetings secret, but my father had
more men with him here than at the house.
It was a well-known fact that I loved going on long walks.
Any of my father's guards would attest to that. Maybe one
guard here thought it was odd that my walks were longer
than usual and reported it to my father.
I pushed the wandering thoughts aside and left the hall.
Whatever my father had to say to me wouldn't be good, and
there was no getting around it. I'd played my cards by going
to the Testean embassy, and now it was time to face the
music.
Don't worry, my wolf said. We have Kate now.
Those words made me smile, and I lifted my chin. That
was right. Nothing my father had planned for me mattered.
Kate and I would leave soon. The only thing in question was
the matter of whether my father and Taylor would be alive
when that happened or not.
I knocked on my father's door, and shuffled my feet as I
waited for a response. Two minutes later, I lifted my hand to
knock again, when my father's voice boomed through the
door.
“Come in.”
I rolled my eyes. He loved power play, but what he didn't
know was that I was far from under his thumb. I'd found my
mate, and together, we'd take my father and his cell down.
“You asked to see me,” I said, sitting on the chair opposite
my father's paper filled desk. I leaned back in my seat and
crossed my legs. If he wanted to play games, then I would
play along.
I knew how much my father hated disrespect. Making me
wait two minutes before answering the door was meant to
throw me off. My sitting so nonchalantly and yawning would
do the same to him.
I held back a laugh when I saw his eye twitch.
“Did Taylor wake you up?” he asked, his voice terse.
“Nope. I was in the hall. What's up?”
My father took a deep breath and folded his arms. “I think
it's time we had a proper talk about what happened a few
weeks ago.”
“Is that why you brought me along? You thought I'd run off
again and ruin your reputation?”
He laughed. “You think I'm scared of you? Oh, Maddie. If I
say you're not going anywhere, then you're not going
anywhere. None of the guards will be lazy. I made an
example out of Justin.”
My stomach roiled. My father was making some serious
threats and acting like he owned me. How had I been so
blind to his control and what it meant?
“What happened to Justin?”
“Nothing you need to worry about. I just wanted to have
an honest talk with you, so that we can go back to the way
things were.”
I scoffed. “You mean a life where you run around the
universe kidnapping and killing people, and I stay out of
your way, and accompany you to key events.”
“Yes.” My father smiled, and his dark brown eyes seemed
to glow. “That's exactly what I want to go back to, but I
realize that things have changed. You now know what I do,
and I'm not sure Taylor framed things correctly.”
“The frame doesn't matter. What you do is disgusting.
That's why it's kept secret. All that bad karma is going to
come back and bite you in the ass.”
My father’s voice was crisp. “Like you did when you tried
to betray me and your planet?”
I shook my head. “No. That was nothing. I'm talking about
real karma, the kind you can't run away from.”
“I don't believe in karma. We all make our way, and I'm
helping to secure a future for Zov, the planet that you claim
to love so much.”
“Okay.” I leaned back in my seat. “Let's pretend that's
true. Let's pretend that Zov has enemies who would love
nothing more than to see us wiped out. There must be
another way to protect ourselves. What world will we live in
when they create a suicide bomber cell of their own? Will
you expand your cell? Is that the future we have to look
forward to?”
He smirked. “You're so naïve. Just like your mother. The
sheltered life you've lived has you thinking that people play
by rules. That we sit down at negotiating tables and come
up with compromises. Allow me to burst that little bubble.”
My father placed his elbows on the table and leaned
forward. “Blood, sweat, and tears built the world you live in.
Promises of peace and unity only exist to control civilians so
that the best of the best can wage a concerted effort to get
the job done.
“There is no real peace. Every day, people like me work in
the shadows to secure the false sense of safety you have. At
any moment, Testea could dump an army of dragons and
mages on us and wipe us out. The only thing that's keeping
that from happening is the work that men like me do.
Securing allies for Zov, while undermining Testea's.
&
nbsp; “You go to work every day to help those weaker than you,
forgetting that the work I do makes it possible for you to
pretend that hope, love, and kindness can fix everything. So
yes, this is the game we play. If Testea creates a suicide
bomber cell, then I will create a bigger one, and more and
more people will die so that the majority lives,” he spat.
My father’s intensity took my breath away. I realized that
I'd never really known him. I had always believed that his
coldness toward me stemmed from his general lack of
affection, but now I saw I was nothing but a pawn that had
stepped out of line for him. He wasn't a man that got
saddled with a child that he had to raise alone; he was a
cold, calculating beast that wanted to enforce his will on the
world.
I fought back the tears that threatened to spill down my
face. My father was a monster. One who truly believed in his
cause. No one had made him this way. He just was the way
he was, and nothing anyone else said or did would change
his mind.
My father and I sat in our respective seats, staring at each
other. It was as if we were seeing each other for who we
were for the first time. My face was full of sadness, my
father’s something close to disgust.
A knock on the door interrupted the stalemate. My father
got up and pointed at me. “Stay here,” he commanded as
he rose to meet whoever was on the other side of the office
door.
When he left, I slouched in my chair. “Gods! How can he
really believe all that?”
Quick, my wolf whispered. The papers. Kate needs to
know what's on them.
My eyes went wide, and I shot up, careful to tiptoe around
the desk. My father was a lost cause who'd get what was
coming to him. In fact, I didn't see him as my father
anymore. He was just a man that had given me money and
a place to live. While I was grateful for my privilege, I
couldn't find it within myself to beg Kate to spare him. He
knew the game he was playing well, and it was time he got
what was coming to him.
Keep repeating that until you believe it, I encouraged
myself.
I skimmed through the papers at the top of the pile. They
were receipts for all kinds of chemicals. If I had to guess,
that was the stuff they’d used to make the bombs. My
father's voice rose just outside the door, and I froze. When
he lowered it to its usual level, I got my head down and
doubled my pace.
I lifted the first papers off the pile and read through the
rest. There were reports of the daily routines of Mabos's
different leaders. I swallowed thickly as I saw the details of
the weaknesses in their security, placed into an opportunity
vs. threat table.
I did my best to move through each of the reports, trying
to memorize any information that might be useful to Kate.
Then I came to a blue file labeled “couriers.”
My hand shook as I flipped open the file. When the first
picture I saw was of a ten-year-old boy, I dropped the file
and slapped a hand over my mouth as a scream tore from
my throat. The door to the office flew open, and my father
stood before me, calmly staring me down.
“You know it's not polite to look through other people's
things,” he said.
I placed a shaky hand on my chest and whimpered.
“Children. You're using children.”
My father took a step forward. “Of course we are. They
make excellent couriers. People take little notice of them.
But then again, there are places that children can't frequent,
which is why we have to use some undesirable couriers.”
“Wait.” I said, squinting my eyes shut. “You're telling me
that most of the couriers on your missions have been
children?”
“About eighty percent,” he said, easily.
I broke out into a sweat as blood rushed to my ears. My
hands shook as I tried to wipe my forehead, and my legs
wobbled when I took a step towards the door.
“Where do you think you're going?” my father asked,
blocking my path.
“I can't stand to be around you.” A sob escaped my
mouth, and my chest heaved as I tried to gain control of
myself. “You make me sick.”
“And there it is,” he said. “The line in the sand. I'm glad
this moment has come so that I can stop hearing stupid
reports about what you're doing and who you're seeing.
Now, you and I can stand on solid ground with no pretense.”
He took two steps forward and lowered his face to look
right into my eyes. I flinched and took a step back. His eyes
had always been dark, but now they were almost black, and
something sinister danced behind them.
“Your mother is not on Testea. She's dead. I killed her right
after she betrayed me, and I'll do the same to you if you
dare pull a stunt like you did a few weeks ago. I never
wanted a family. I only had one because the generals of old
believed in that crap, and I needed their backing to run this
organization. Now, things have changed. Men like me are in
power. You are nothing more than the result of a calculated
night of sex. Place one foot wrong, and I will kill you.”
My jaw dropped, and I forced shaky breaths into my chest.
My father was insane, and he'd taken away the one person
I'd needed all my life.
“Get out,” he barked.
I jumped and ran out of the room, barely stopping to open
the door, before I tore across the building and out into the
woods surrounding the barracks. I ran blindly, my tears
blurring everything in sight before my legs gave out. I
dropped to my knees in sobs.
My father had murdered my mother. All my life, even my
very existence, had been a lie. Taylor was right when he
said no one would stand by my grave and weep. The
darkness that had always hung around caved in on me. I
lowered my head and welcomed it.
Then warm, powerful arms wrapped around me, and
Kate's scent surrounded me. “What's wrong?” she asked,
her breath ragged. “Did your father hurt you?”
The darkness seemed repulsed by Kate’s presence and
retreated immediately. Someone cared about me, would
always care: my mate.
“Never leave me,” I choked out before the tears overtook
me again.
“I won’t,” Kate promised, kissing my neck. “I'll always be
here.”
CHAPTER 7
KATE
Several nights later, I lined up with all but three of
Carter's men at the edge of the forest outside our barracks.
While this was an excellent opportunity for me to learn more
about Carter and his operation, I found it hard to play the
role of an eager recruit.
A few days earlier, I'd seen Maddie tear across the open
space in front of the barracks, looking upset. I immediately
ran after her, and when I caught up to her, what I witnessed
strength
ened my resolve.
Carter told Maddie that he had killed her mother and
threatened to do the same to her. I clenched my fists as
Maddie's broken words, mixed with sobs, replayed in my
mind. Everything in me wanted to make Carter pay for his
horrible crime, but I knew my feelings didn't line up with my
mission.
I hated choosing the logical, responsible path, but there
were other people involved. There were the couriers who
needed safe extraction to Testea, before being sent home.
There was also the fact that if I attacked without a plan, I
could end up getting both Kai and me killed, and then all the
time we’d spent undercover would be for naught.
I turned to see my Second standing dangerously close to
Taylor. I pursed my lips and shook my head. I didn't even
have to talk to Kai to know that something had happened or
was about to happen between him and Taylor. I had warned
the silver-haired dragon repeatedly, but he couldn't fight his
nature.
“Hand them out,” Carter said to Simon, stepping out of
the barracks. Simon followed behind him, carrying swords
and daggers.
I took the dagger handed to me with great trepidation.
The one thing I hadn't planned for was a fight. Should I have
gone along with whatever the operation was, to save face?
Or should I have risked giving up my cover, to keep from
killing an innocent?
I turned to look at Kai and saw a mixture of emotions in
his gray eyes. I nodded once, discreetly, then looked away.
We would both have to make our own decisions, the kind
that we could live with. I didn't even have to decide. I did
not want innocent blood on my hands.
Over the years, I'd fought in all kinds of situations. The
one thing that let me sleep peacefully at night was the
knowledge that every person I killed was on the wrong side
of things. I would have to get creative, but I would not let
Carter rob me of my peaceful nights.
“Okay, here's the situation,” Carter said. “Two of our
couriers aren't responding to our suppression potion.
They're too big of a liability, and we can't use them. The
date for our mission is fast approaching, so I can't waste
time arranging for reentry to Brade for you to source more.”
Carter clapped his hands together and rubbed them with
glee. “So, what we're going to do is source a few couriers
from Earth.”