Page 186 of Interion

“To rest and recover,” he interrupted.

“Nonsense.” She clicked her tongue.

Zion held back a smile.

“Three complaints in less than a minute. I don't even need your test results to confirm you're back to normal.”

His eyes traveled over Kaori's face, taking in every contour. She was bald and a little pale, but Zion only noticed the shape of her skull and how perfectly it had healed, without any scars.

“Funny.” She relaxed and gave him a wry smile.

“Are you okay? Any pain?”

“I'm feeling brand new now, even if I'm not thrilled about the haircut. I bet this will be the talk of the five gorgon clans for at least a year, but I'm grateful they didn't change shape when they fell. Better to lose the hair than my serpents.”

He nodded in agreement. There were two types of cuts for gorgons. The simpler one involved cutting the hair, which happened when a gorgon violated a minor clan law. The matriarch performed the cut as a symbol of punishment so all gorgons would know of the offense. The second type was far more severe: when a gorgon committed a serious crime, the serpents were cut while still alive, and the matriarch could mutilate as many as she deemed necessary to punish the transgression. It was cruel, painful, and the serpents never grew back.

“It turned out perfect.” Zion studied his friend's head.

Kaori ran her fingers over her scalp, as if she couldn't quite believe it either.

“Your girl is skilled. I haven't met her yet, but I think we'll be seeing each other soon.” She smiled in a way that promised trouble.

The general considered warning Kaori. He didn't want Kyller to feel insecure about his past relationship with his second-in-command. But just as he was about to speak, the chimera began growling beside him, and he silenced her with a look.

“You shouldn't be here,” Kiara grumbled in his head. He ignored her—he needed to talk to Kaori before her family arrived and interrupted.

“I need to ask you something.” Zion hurried to get this done before Mr. Yamamoto returned. “Why were you in the gorge? Didn't you hear the orders I sent to stay away?”

She shifted in bed, staring at her hands. Then she looked up at him.

“To stay away?” She frowned and sat up straight in bed. “I got orders from you to go in. I thought it was risky and stupid, but I followed them since you're my superior.”

“Mine?” Zion took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. Then he muttered thoughtfully, “Of course he would do that.”

“The orders came from the telepath—Cauê passed on the information and…”

The gorgon stopped mid-sentence as she finally understood.

“I would never ask something like that, Kaori. You should know that better than anyone. It was the king who gave the order, and Cauê must have passed it on to please him.”

“Sons of bitches!” the gorgon exclaimed, her face flushing red with anger. “How many casualties did we have?”

“Eighty men from the squadron, plus fifteen more from the frontier hospital.”

Zion recounted what had happened at the destroyed hospital. Together, they picked apart every piece of information about the creatures, but Kaori had nothing to add. She knew as little as he did.

With each passing minute, the chimera grew more restless at the general's side.

“The cameras didn't catch anything, but what about the lab samples?” the second-in-command asked, sitting up in bed and pulling the hydrangeas into her lap. “Did they find any DNA compatible with Kiara's?”

The chimera growled beside Zion, then tried to move forward, but he held her by the collar.

“Calm down, Kiara. You know her—there's no reason to make such a fuss.”

“I know her, and that's exactly why I don't want to be here! You used to mate with this female. This isn't right, Zion.”

He swallowed hard and shot a warning look at the animal.