Inseparable (Rise of the Iliri Book 4)
Page 6
"I see. The Captain will be in shortly. Who should I tell him is here?"
"Lieutenant Salryc Luxx."
He glanced at her again, this time at her ears. "Black Blades?"
Sal nodded. "Was."
"Yeah, ok. That's not a recruit, you're right. What happened? Piss off the Major?"
"No. They disbanded us. We've all been reassigned. Even the Major."
The man just offered his hand. "Kap Hanif, Sergeant."
Sal looked at him coldly, hers crossed behind her.
He waited for a moment, then dropped his arm. "I take it you don't do touching then?"
"No. Touching leads to death."
"I see. I'm sorry to hear about the Blades, Luxx. I should warn you, though, Trax isn't that amused about your kind. I'd play it pretty safe if I were you. He's given our other iliri some pretty rough times."
Sal nodded, relaxing slightly. "Thanks for the warning. And it's Sal."
"I'll tell him you're here, Sal." He smiled, turning down the hall to disappear behind a door.
A few moments later, a voice called out, "You're late!"
She turned to the man striding up the hall and raised an eyebrow at him.
"Is this what Doll has been teaching you?" Drago Trax demanded.
Sal said nothing, merely passed over her orders. He read them and glanced at the clock. "Azure starts at 0700, soldier. Tomorrow, be on time."
"Yes, sir," she replied blandly.
"You have a horse? I was told you'd have a horse assigned."
Again, she kept her answer emotionless. "Yes, sir."
"Can you ride?" he asked, his expression showing that he didn't believe that was possible.
"Yes, sir."
"Well, come on then. Let's see what you can do." Captain Trax gestured for her to lead the way to her horse.
Sal walked proudly down the hall and through the door. Arden still waited there, just as she’d been taught.
"Ok, so your horse is trained. Can you even mount? No way your foot can reach the stirrup, girl."
Sal sighed and walked to Arden's shoulder, swinging her body easily into the saddle and sliding her feet into the stirrups. The man was treating her like a child and it made her want to show off a bit.
"Ok. Now what. What can you do? Walk? Trot? Canter? Can you swing a sword at all while you're up there?"
With a nod at the Captain, she rested her hands on her thighs and shifted her weight slightly. Arden rolled back across her haunches and cantered across the open area, stopping hard just to roll back on herself again. Blaec always said that riding was half of their job, so they should do it well, and she did. Sal rocked her hips with the mare's stride, encouraging her to lengthen, then exhaled, lifting her core, and Arden collected into a precise and controlled gait.
As the mare passed the tree at the edge of the courtyard, Sal gave an aid and Arden leapt into the air, kicking out behind her. Without a pause, Sal spun her horse to the Captain, sitting back and squeezing her legs.
Her mare reared. Arden held her front legs tight to her body as the horse stepped carefully across the ground. A pace away from the soldiers, Sal gave another signal, and the mare lashed out savagely with her forelegs before Sal let her drop to her feet. Acting as if nothing special had happened, Sal pulled a blade and began digging dirt from under her nails.
"I can ride," she said blandly, wiping the knife across her indigo pants.
Drago nodded. "Blaec taught you. Least there's that. You have any skill with a blade?"
Sal growled and flicked her wrist. Trax jumped back, the ceramic weapon buried in the wood at his feet. She leaned across the pommel of her saddle and looked the captain in the eyes.
"Let's be real clear about this. I'm a Black Blade. I can shoot, cut, stab, ride, plan, and implement anything you need. If any of your soldiers are trained half as well as I am, I'll eat my own horse. If not, stop yanking me around." She leaned back, and finished in a bland voice, "Sir."
"They told me I need to break you a bit. You're the one that went to Anglia, aren't ya?"
She stared at him.
"I see. Let me be clear, soldier. When I ask a question, you answer it. If you don't, you'll be running laps around this compound, do you understand me?"
She lifted her lip. "No."
"I'm sorry?"
"I said, no. Court-martial me, Captain. I don't care. I'm not playing your games. I'm here to be a soldier. I'll work with you, I'll bust my ass for you, but I'm not playing games."
Drago sighed. "How'd Blaec deal with you anyway?"
A feral grin claimed her mouth. "He let me kill shit."
"Yeah, you might do after all. Put your horse in the string. I'll get you assigned to the barracks and show you to the men."
Sal moved her leg across Arden's neck and slid carefully to the ground. She snagged her blade from the wood and slipped it into a sheath before leading her mare to the building Trax had indicated as their barn. By the time her mare was tacked down, Captain Trax was waiting for her on the steps of the officer's hall.
He saw her and stormed off toward the barracks. In silence, Sal fell in behind him. When they entered, she looked around and rubbed at her nose. The smell of humans permeated the room. Beds were lined against the walls, but at least the officer's private chambers had doors off the back wall.
"Lieutenant, right?"
She nodded.
"So you get personal quarters. We don't care what you do on your free time, but your actions reflect on the unit. I'm sure you've heard all that before."
Again, Sal nodded.
"Good. Here's your bunk. I'll have a selection of uniforms brought for you. I'm guessing they have your size, at least. Head over to the practice ring. The rest of the men are drilling. I'll want you to fall in and pick up the formations quickly. We fight as an organized unit, not skirmishers like the Blades."
"Yes, sir."
"Then dismissed. I'd appreciate it if you'd cover the tattoo before you show for drill tomorrow."
"No," Sal said.
He shrugged. "Fine. It's your ass. They won't take too kindly to the iliri scrawl you're showing off so proudly."
"Their loss."
"I don't break up fights, Lieutenant. You want to duke it out, go ahead, but you aren't getting time off for it the next day. You hear me?"
Sal laughed at that. "Yeah. I don't think that'll be a problem."
"Fine. Then get over there. You're late already."
She turned sharply on her heel and marched across the barracks. Pulling open the back door, the practice ground lay just beyond an arena set aside for mounted drills. Six men in navy uniforms, the gold piping glinting in the sun, swung heavy blades at each other. When she reached the rough wood fence blocking off the sparring area, Sal fell to parade rest and stood in their line of sight, waiting to be noticed. After a few moments went by, she spoke up.
"Which one of you am I supposed to be reporting to?"
"Ohh..." one of them said, turning to look at her. "So we get some girls now, huh?"
"Fucking scrubber," another muttered.
Sal glared at him.
"Don't like it, bitch? Whatcha gonna do about it?"
She smiled sweetly. "I'm assuming killing you would not be allowed, correct?"
They laughed.
At the sound of her voice, a pale head looked over from the far side of the ring. "Salryc Luxx?" he said softly. His small ears were tensely upright and locked on her.
That was Reko Wyra. "We've met," she almost growled.
He nodded and dropped his eyes. "Yes. I remember."
"Ohh, scrubber mating ritual? Wyra, you find your dream girl?" the obnoxious man asked. Wyra said nothing. "What is it with you scrubbers? You just gonna take that?" he asked Sal.
"And you are…" she asked.
"Sergeant Raj Jozefo. How'd you get in, anyway? Didn't know we were recruiting."
"You weren't," she said.
"So who'd you fuck?" he asked.
"Blaec Doll. That's who," she snarled in his face. "And you will address me as sir, Sergeant. I outrank you."
"Fuck off," he said beneath her hand.
Instead, she squeezed, slowly adding pressure to the vessels on either side of his neck, and cocked her head to the side. "It's an inexplicable death. A bruise on either jugular and no other marks. Takes control and concentration to maintain enough pressure to decrease the blood flow without marring the flesh of the prey," she whispered.
That's when the man began to writhe, struggling to break free. Sal held him easily, her eyes staring deep into his.
"Get off me," he yelled at her.
"I do like it when they struggle." She pressed harder and licked her lips.
Two large men grabbed her, yanking her off their unit-mate hard enough to launch her. Sal felt air between her and the ground. When her feet landed, she staggered until she dropped into a crouch to regain her balance, then smiled.
"Are we all gonna have to beat the shit out of you?" another of the humans asked.
"Any of you know who that is?" Wyra asked.
"Some smart-ass scrubber bitch. Ain't that enough?"
Wyra actually chuckled. "Lieutenant Salryc Luxx. Berserker and assassin for the Black Blades. She'd kill every one of you and go looking for more."
"Fuckin' Blades aren't that good," one of them said.
"Nah. But she is. She's the one that was in Anglia," Wyra told them. "Lieutenant, forgive them. They do not know."
"Don't you go apologizing for me, Wyra. I can pick my own fights."
"I'm waiting." Sal crooked her finger, taunting them to get closer. "Come get me, humans."
"Oh shit, I'll ruin your world," the big man said.
Four humans rushed her, and Sal snarled. She ducked the first blows easily, knocking two men from their feet. The next, she kicked in the diaphragm, ensuring that he would stay down long enough for her to clean up the mess. The one after that, she dropped, then leapt on him, cracking his skull against the ground until he lost consciousness. She growled at the next man, darted behind him, and wrapped her arm around his throat. While his friend tried to knock her away, she slowly strangled him, using his body as a shield for the blows until it went limp. She dropped him and surged toward the last man.
He was unprepared for her aggression so tried to dodge too late. Sal's shoulder hit him squarely in the gut, shoving him into the dirt. When he slammed into the ground, he gasped, then punched her in the face. She flowed with the blow, lessening its impact, but just came back for more.
Grabbing his neck, pulling his head away from his body, she dove toward him with her teeth as he pounded against her ribs helplessly. The points just pierced through the first layer of flesh, holding him.
"Yield already, Tomac," Wyra said.
"Fuck, I yield, I fucking yield!"
Sal pulled her mouth away from his throat and looked at the wound. Then she dragged her tongue across his neck, tasting the human blood. His eyes moved to her mouth, and she licked carefully at the pointed edges of her teeth. "You taste sweet, little man," she purred, standing.
"Did you kill them?" he asked, pointing at the two men laying silently in the dirt.
"They'll wake soon enough. I could have, though." Sal flicked her hand at them dismissively.
"Damn," Tomac said, looking up at her. "How many you taken out at once?"
"Mounted? Thirty-two. On foot? I think it was seventeen."
"Alone?"
"No. My partner took as many as I did, but those were my kills."
"You took out seventeen men at once, and he did as well?"
Sal shrugged. "He may have only gotten sixteen. I didn't count for him."
"How'd you end up in Azure?"
Sal growled, the sound deep and rumbling in her throat.
"Oh shit, I didn't know iliri did that," he said, crawling backward in the dirt.
"Parliament decided that we needed to be tamed." Sal leaned toward him. "So they disbanded the Black Blades. I was assigned here. Tell me, Tomac, do you think it's going to work?"
He shook his head. "No, shit, no. Wyra was nothing like you."
Wyra chuckled. "Nope, and I'd never seen a Kaisae before her, either. Let him up, Lieutenant. He's one of the better ones."
Sal nodded and offered the soldier her hand. Tomac looked at her strangely, but took it, Sal helping him to his feet.
"When your friends wake up, tell them not to fuck with me. Ok?"
Tomac nodded. "Yeah, Lieutenant. Definitely."
"If they do," Wyra said, "She might put some effort into it. She didn't even break a sweat, man."
Chapter 9
The soldiers regained consciousness eventually. Raj thought he'd extract some revenge when he assigned her a full sized longsword, but Sal simply took the weapon and dropped it, pulling her own blade from the sheath at her back.
"There's no way you'll have the reach with that thing," he said.
"I don't have reach with that either." She gestured at the sword behind her. "And this one I can at least use properly. Do humans not realize how to make their limitations into a strength?"
"You really think you're that superior to us, scrubber?" Raj demanded.
"Yes," Sal said, focusing on the stances she'd been given. Acting like Cyno wasn't as easy as she'd imagined, but it was a lot more fun.
Tomac chuckled. "I guess that's all you get Raj. I think this might be one woman you can't impress."
Sal just shook her head, unable to help herself.
"Bitch, you just wait. You'll be in my bed before the week is out. Babes can’t get enough of me."
A man laughed from the fence. "That isn't gonna happen. When's your lunch break, Azure?"
Sal turned to see a large, dark-skinned man wearing the grey of the Devil Dogs. Smiling to herself, she kept going. Zep looked like he was having too much fun for her to spoil.
"What time is it?" a man named Tine asked.
"Lunch time," Zep called to them.
"Who are you, and why are you here?" Raj asked.
"Came to see if I could have lunch with an old friend. Valcor Zepyr, Devil Dogs."
Raj waved him closer. "Nice ta meet ya, man. Who'd you come to see?"
Zep pointed at her. "My little sister."
Raj's eyes fell to Zep's throat, and the silver lines etched there. "Damn, and you look as human as it gets, too."
Giving in, Sal giggled and walked over to Zep, wrapping her arms around him. "It's been a long-ass day," she whispered against his shoulder. When he hugged her back, Sal settled herself against his chest.
"Ah, so that's the deal, is it? That's why you said I couldn't get her," Raj said snidely to Zep. "Man, bitches ain't that loyal."
Without warning, Zep released Sal and stormed toward the Sergeant. When he was mere centimeters from him, he whispered softly, "Sal doesn't do humans. She isn't doing me, and she'll kill you before she gets in your bed. Pull your head out of your ass and don't even think about touching her."
"Or what?" Raj asked, lifting his chin in a dare.
Zep grinned and stepped back. "Or we'll let her kill you. Iliri bite, man. They love to bite. Her? She can pierce resin with those things."
"Didn't bite me that bad," Tomac said.
Zep looked at Sal, and she shrugged. "They got out of line this morning. From the looks of it, I'll need to do it a few more times."
He refused to blink. "You bite him?"
"Nah just held his throat. Not my fault humans don't know when they're about to die. Dumb-ass just kept talking."
"Why didn't you kill him?"
Sal shrugged a little too innocently. "He stopped fighting."
"Ah, gotcha. Yeah, hard call there. Can I take you to lunch, demon?"
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Sal looked at the rest of her unit, then dismissed them. None of them seemed to be truly in charge, and it wasn't like Drago Trax had bothered to make an appearance. "Yeh. What are they gonna do?" She hopped over the fence and waited for Zep to catch up. Together, the pair walked away from the practice field.
Oddly, none of the men from Azure tried to stop her. Most likely, she thought, they were glad to see her go. Zep, on the other hand, smelled like he was pleased to actually see her. While they headed across the massive compound, her big brother made small talk.
"Devil Dogs is a decent enough group. The Captain pretty much gave me leave to do what I need to. Said there's no use training a Blade." Zep chuckled. "Then again, a long time ago I used to outrank him. I figure I got the best assignment of the group. Probably because of the species on my file, though."
Sal playfully bumped his shoulder. "Yeah, I can believe that. Azure keeps telling me they'll tame me."
"We both know that won't happen. How's it going?"
"Oddly, Wyra's ok. It's the rest of them I'm going to kill."
"Can't say that I blame ya." He looked down at her. Concern warred with the frustration in his eyes. "It's not like they can do too much to you, either. Blaec's worried sick about you, but Dom's got the Conglomerate terrified of offending him, and Rragri's been on a rampage today. Two weeks, demon. Think you can hold out?"
Sal bit her lips together and nodded. "Yeah. I've been through worse. Raj is an ass, but Tomac isn't too bad, and Kap might be even friendly. Drago's an idiot, though. How'd he end up with Azure?"
"No idea." He turned slightly, aiming her away from the barracks.
"Where we going?" she asked, and Zep pointed. In a small clearing, a blanket was spread on the ground. Beside it, a picnic basket waited.
Sal knew exactly what it was, but she'd never seen one before. This was perfect for taking her mind off her bad day. "I needed this, Zep. You plan this out?"
He shrugged. "I had nothing else to do all day, so I tried to figure out what was too human for either of your men to have done before. Haven't had a picnic since I was a kid, and eating on the road doesn't count."
Sal threw herself onto the blanket, sighing contentedly. There was something about being around the Blades that made her feel like everything was going to be ok. Especially Zep. He made it impossible to stay in a bad mood. Usually, it was his horrible jokes, but today he was exactly what she needed to keep from killing her entire unit. Patting the ground, she all but demanded that he join her. Zep chuckled as he lowered himself onto the checkered blanket.