He thought it only took that? How insulting. Miya left behind far more than he'd ever give her.
The captain hummed. “Don’t you like diamonds?”
Miya simpered. “They’re too extravagant.”
“Nonsense.” His smile made her want to claw the skin from his face so that his outside matched his gruesome heart. “You deserve to wear something as beautiful as you are.” He breathed in her hair, lips grazing the side of her face. “You're a deliciously rare beauty. Where did your boss find you?”
Charmless fucking idiot. “The back room of a cheap inn that smelled like beer and piss.”
He belted a throaty laugh like she said something hilarious. Tilting her head back, Miya giggled in mockery of him, knowing he was foolish enough to love the sound she made.
“Do you come from marked women?” he asked. “Your mother must have been breathtaking. I'm sure everyone wanted her.”
The question tested her control of her temper. Sometimes the bosses wanted the most beautiful women to give birth to a few children, hoping for daughters to replace them when they aged too much for the taste of these disgusting men.
But wasn't it true in a way? “Yes.” For an instant, Miya felt the smooth white gold of her mother’s wedding ring while her little fingers twisted it back and forth on her finger. She smelled the freshly cut melons the servants spooned into their bowls. That world felt so far away that she often wondered if it was only a fairytale she'd read long ago. “They chose my mother because she was the most beautiful woman in her town.”
Sad that Miya didn't lie.
“The beautiful daughter of a beautiful, marked woman.” He studied her face, making her skin crawl. By marked, he meant whore. A beautiful whore. “Now you have your chance to be something more.”
Something more.
Fury flamed through her, sharpening her into a blade of her own making, honed to pierce his over-inflated ego.
He wouldn’t be able to keep her out. He thought he could do so easily, but he didn't know her, and she was good at what she did.
Miya would survive, like always. Find his weakness. Exploit it. Relish destroying him.
Maybe help the people of Caspador.
“That’s why I came to you.” Slowly, in the way she’d learned to walk along the cliffs towering over cerulean waters as a child, Miya pressed her body against his. “I want you to make me more than Rafferty ever could.”
No matter how tender his touch, soulless eyes met hers, stripped of life and bottomless in cruelty. Miya looked forward to winning this game that he did not remotely understand.
CHAPTER 9
Kira
Ciondo
833 P.C. [Post-Collapse]
An hour into the train ride to Dr. Cooper's clinic, Kira and Zayne had said little more to one another, and she'd analyzed their interaction so much that it made even less sense. The snowy peaks of the mountains saved her from spiraling into panic. Calm had just settled over her once more when the door to their train car opened.
Kira didn't turn to see who approached, but Zayne's stare tracked their visitor like a lion in the wild.
“Kira Stiles.” The deep voice flowed smoothly over her, familiar enough that Kira knew before looking at him that she spoke to another Riven. “It's a pleasure to meet you.” The tall man slid into the seat beside her and took her hand. “I'm Captain Luke Riven.”
A shaky smile twitched onto her lips, and she jerked her hand back to herself the moment he released it. “Nice to meet you, Captain Riven.”
The air churned with so much tension. Zayne stared his brother down, clearly not trying to hide it. The two looked alike with the same gray-blue eyes and short blond hair. Luke was slightly taller and slimmer than Zayne, though he still lookedthreatening despite not being quite as built. But no matter the commonalities, they felt like opposites. Enemies.
“Has my brother made you feel welcome?” Luke crossed one leg over the other, flashing a handsome smile that was warm despite not reaching his eyes.
“Yes,” she said. “I'm thankful for the hospitality.”
Neither of the men listened to her, though. A silent battle played out between the brothers for several seconds.
