“About how we’re going to hide those before the Emperor arrives.”
Ronin Matakos satbefore the roaring fireplace in the common room, chin propped on a tattooed fist. The dancing flames were stirring up memories.
Of another fortress full of violence and secrets.
Of another frigid landscape surrounded by impenetrable wards.
Of a majestic she-wolf covered in crackling fire.
He’d gotten quite adept at suppressing the memories. A necessity, really, since they made his chest ache fiercely enough to stop his heart.
In the earliest days after that final showdown with Mireille, he thought he might almost welcome such a fate. Better to embrace True Death than live with the unending regret over what they could have been.
But he’d be damned if he ever gave a female the power to ruin him like that again.
Instead, he drowned his feelings beneath an ocean of distractions. His two-faced role on the Imperial Defense Council. His missions for the Teles Chrysos. Too many forgettable females.
You know as well as I do that no one will ever compare, his wolf piped up.
None of that, furball, he snapped back.We agreed on our strategy if we run into her, remember? Cold indifference.
His wolf shrugged.That was before we found that gift she left us.
She left that for Cassandra, not us.
You are a fool, his wolf laughed.A fool in denial of his own feel?—
ENOUGH, Ronin roared.
His wolf retreated to the depths of mind with a frustrated whine and a softly mutteredSomeone needs to get laid.
The fire popped and Ronin jolted. Fuck, he was on edge. Maybe hedidneed to get laid. He wished he had a Delirium. He’d quit decades ago, but the cravings never truly went away. Shifting helped.
He’d done so this morning, his first shift since he’d arrived at the intake tower, and through his wolf’s heightened sense of smell had immediately detected something in a barren corner of the yard. Its scent was painfully familiar—and centuries old if he wasn’t mistaken—but he was still shocked at what he’d found beneath the gravel and packed dirt.
Soft footsteps and rustling wings broke through his musings.
“Well,” he drawled as Reena and Cass shuffled toward him, “look what the big cat dragged in.”
Cass snickered, but Reena rolled her eyes as the two took a seat on the rough stone bench across from him. Cassandra’s facelooked strained as she held her wings aloft—a show for the other prisoners in the cavernous room—but not nearly as strained as it had been a week ago. She’d been keeping up with her exercises. Good little soldier.
“Yeah, yeah.” She rubbed her shoulder. “You summoned us?”
“Got a special surprise for you this morning.”
“More exercises?” Cassandra grumbled.
“Way better.” Ronin grinned.
Reena picked at her teeth with black claws.
“You shouldn’t do that,” he warned.
“Why?”
“It’s a show of weakness.”
A low growl crawled up Reena’s throat. “Fuck off, Matakos.”
