by Auryn Hadley
He tugged at the waist of his pants, leaned his head back, and sighed. "Stay there for a minute, ok? I have to walk out of this room, and there's twenty-five soldiers out there wondering if I got lucky. I'd rather not become the day's joke."
"How you going to explain the marks on your neck, then?"
He reached up and buttoned his shirt higher. "You went below the tattoo, I'm good."
"Zep..."
His head snapped around, and he cut her off. "I know what it means, Sal. I just need some time. It's not as natural for me, ok?"
Sal nodded, smiling to let him know she wasn't upset. "Well, I think cooling you off is easy enough." She held up a finger.
Hey, Jase?
Yeh, kitten?
You good with Zep? she asked.
Ya a’ready know that. Why?
He needs to walk out of this door.
Jase broke the link between them with his laughter ringing in her head. Sal watched Zep and smiled when he suddenly stood straighter. He nodded, making a small gesture with his right hand. She knew he was talking to Jase, but could only imagine what was being said. He glanced at her once, shook his head, paused, nodded, and then sighed.
"That's mean, babe," Zep said with a chuckle. "Effective, but mean. I'll be back tonight. Yell if you need me. The Dogs might come as a pack, though. They said they're behind us."
"Good to know. Now get out of here. You still need to get Cessa tacked."
He smiled and pulled the door open, walking through it confidently. When it closed again, Sal began to get dressed.
He still good, kitten? Jase whispered in her head.
Yeah. He made it through the door. What did you say?
She felt him laughing. I asked him if he'd touched ya. Kinda loudly.
And? Sal asked, laughing.
He apologized, told me he'd tried to keep his hands off ya all night, but that ya looked so innocent sleeping that he started ta cave. Ya do, ya know? I could watch ya sleep fer hours.
And you left him like that? Sal asked.
Maast, no. I told him he was out of line, chewed his ass a bit, reminded him that I'm Ahnor... And then I told him he'd better na leave ya wanting anything t’night or I'd make him pay fer it. How's it going between ya anyway?
Sal focused on lacing her pants. We're good.
Yeh, that's na an answer, kitten.
I desire him at times, I'm comfortable with him, and he smells nice. That's all I can give you. He has hair on his chest.
Yeh, and other places. Please do na give me a description of it, either.
She laughed. Promise. Where are you, anyway?
Riding the north sector. There's been a sighting on the horizon. They say it's Terric, but it's coming from the west.
Viraenova?
I think so. If I'm right, our schedule just got moved up.
Good, Sal thought. I'm tired of this game already. You ok with Reko?
Yeh, he grumbled, but he didn't sound like he believed it. Na my place, kitten.
Jase. It's not like that. I'd still rather spend the night with Drago than him. There's something off about Reko.
And ya put him in the link?
Not that way, you jealous man. He's as ignorant as I was, and he's trying. He's open, he's honest, and I think he's going to be ok. I mean when it comes to thinking about sex with him, it's just not going to happen.
Yeah, Jase reminded her, Ya said that 'bout Zep, too.
No. Zep said that about me, she pointed out.
He's scared of ya, ya know that, right?
Reko?
No, Zep, Jase corrected.
Why?
He's seen what happens ta the rest of us. There's na enough of ya ta go around, and too many of us waiting in line. Get ta work, kitten. The sun's well up.
Sal closed the link with Jase and strapped on her weapons. Pondering that, she left the room and locked the door behind her, shoving the keys into her pocket, then made her way to the practice arena. The men were already there, joking casually when she walked up.
"Scared to sleep in your bed now?" Tine asked, grinning.
She kept going until she found her place in the formation. "Nah, just had a better offer. You know those men upstairs? Devil Dogs, I think they are? Damn, they're hung."
"Keep trying, scrubber," Erol said. "Devil Dogs are too damned good for any of them to take you willingly."
Sal shrugged, making it was clear she didn't care at all what they thought.
Doesn't that make you angry at all? Reko asked in her head.
Nah. If that's the best they can do, then I'm good.
So I should just leave it?
Sal looked over and nodded at him once. You poke at them, and they just keep going. Plus, the less you care, the less they have on you.
Reko dipped his head to show he understood. Thanks. The only reason they stopped with me is because you showed up. I know you can fight your own fights and all, so I haven't stepped in.
Not worth it, Reko. Just let them stroke their own egos. Viraenova's almost here.
"Seriously?" he asked out loud, wincing when he realized what he'd done.
"Seriously what?" Tine demanded.
"Nothing, man," Reko muttered.
"You aren't sticking up for her are you?"
"No," Sal assured the rest of her unit. "He wasn't expecting to hear that Viraenova's coming in today."
The humans all laughed. Viraenova never left their lands and had never signed any of the alliances between the nations on the continent. To many people, the nation of Viraenova was as much of a myth as steel. Both of them existed, but few had ever seen either.
"Make you both a deal," Tine taunted. "Viraenova rides in today - "
Sal cut him off. "Don't. Whatever you're going to say, just don't, because when they do, you'll be even more pissed. Blue Eagles are riding sector in the northwest, and they spotted something out there. Viraenova's coming."
Chapter 18
The sound of a man clearing his throat made all of the soldiers in Azure Silence fall into position. Easing his way onto the training sands, Drago Trax's eyes were locked on her. Evidently, he'd heard the whole thing. He also smelled like a mix of alcohol and a serious lack of bathing, which meant it wasn't going to be a good day.
"You have an inside line on each unit there Luxx?" Trax asked.
"Yeah, basically." She was done with being the good soldier. If that man didn't care, why should she?
He just shook his head. "We're not impressed by who you know and what you've done. You can barely keep formations and your stances are slow and sloppy. Raj, drill them!"
"I have a better idea," Reko said just loud enough to be heard. "Why don't we sit on our asses, because it'll do us about as much good."
"What is this?" Trax's head snapped over to glare at the pale man. "You iliri think you're unstoppable or something?"
Sal answered, preferring the man kept his anger focused on her. "Pretty much. I haven't been stopped yet at least."
"Draw your swords. Both of you. Raj, I want to see them sweat a bit."
Here, Sal thought, pulling both of her blades before passing the white one to Reko. Take this and let's shut them up. He grinned as he accepted it. In unison, they both fell into an easy stance.
Sal reached out and entwined Reko’s mind in her own. He submitted to her, blending seamlessly. She'd always thought linking with her pack was easy, but this? His purebred brain was made to submit to hers, and it felt so comfortable. It felt as natural as breathing.
"Attention!" Raj yelled, and the iliri snapped to. He began calling the basic stances and, without thought, they moved through them. Drago smacked Raj on the shoulder, and the commands became more complex, but neither of them faltered.
Ready to show off? Sal asked.
Just let me know what to do, Kaisae, Reko agreed, giving her complete control of his mind.
She smiled, looked at Drago Trax, and began to embellish on each order called out. A simple par
ry became a spin parry block. A right flank turned into a cover and attack. Seamlessly Sal and Reko flowed around their weapons like water, each movement timed perfectly, each position executed flawlessly. None of it was complex, but it was a lot more suited to elite soldiers than the basic crap they were being ordered to perform.
"At ease," Raj said, giving up. Sal and Reko lowered their weapons, grinning at each other.
"I didn't tell you to stop, Sergeant," Drago growled. "I wanted to see you push them! I want to make sure those two learn their place."
"Ain't gonna happen, sir," Raj said. "Don't tell me you didn't see that shit. They move like one! There's no drill that teaches them that, and doing it over and over won't make perfection any better!"
"Those damned scrubbers aren't smart enough to make up their own minds, damn it. They need you to make it for them. You!" Drago yelled at Sal, storming into her face. "You aren't using a longsword. We fight with longswords, damn it. What is that toothpick you got in your hand? You ever seen what a longsword does to a body? You need me to show you, you stupid bitch?"
He backhanded her. Sal felt her lip split as her head snapped back, and her sword fell from her hand. The pain was sweet, not enough to send her over the edge, but she couldn't stop her reaction. She growled and charged him.
With a flick of her leg, she knocked Trax on his back and pounced on him. Her knees slammed into his chest, forcing him down. Both hands reached behind her back, and she pulled the knives. By the time they were on the ground, she held one to his neck, and the other pointed at his heart.
"Do not dare to strike me again, Drago," she snarled in his face, her ears pinned.
"I'll have you court-martialed for this, scrubber!" he screamed back.
"Try it," she growled. Her eyes were constricted, locking her attention on the pulse beating in his throat. "I fucking dare you. I'll bring up your unit's losses. I'll tell them how soldiers are talking about Azure's downfall. We can make this public. You want to go that way? Well, come on you dumb fuck. Let's go!" Sal demanded, her teeth only centimeters from his face. "You can't tame me. I can do that shit all day long. Add Reko into my link, and it's even easier. You want to get rid of me, you're going to have to try a whole lot harder."
Without giving him the chance to answer, Sal lifted herself from him and put her foot on his chest. The man had actually hit her. She could feel her lip throbbing, and it was fueling the anger. If the fool did so much as use the wrong tone of voice, she'd be hard pressed to remember why she couldn't kill him.
"Next thing you'll try is wounding me, since the other night didn't work out so well. But you know what happens when I get hurt?" She yanked off the top layer of her uniform and threw it to the ground. "You want to see, human?"
Thrusting her arm toward his face, she pulled the blade across it, focusing on the pain. It flared across the link. Around the compound, the voices of hundreds of grauori - each sounding like a soul being ripped apart - pierced the air. Beside her, Reko growled deep and low as he reached for his weapons.
Her blood dropped from her arm onto his face, leaving a fat, burgundy drop. Drago tried to mutter something, but Sal stopped him. "Right now, there's over one thousand grauori who know I just sliced my arm open and that I'm pissed. They know I did it, and they know I am not in danger, but still," she gestured to Reko, "they want to kill you because of it. So come on. Let's play."
"What are you?" Erol gasped, stepping away.
Sal's head snapped to him, her predatory gaze locking onto his timid movement. "I am iliri. I am pure iliri, and I am a fucking Kaisae!"
Then she sucked in a deep breath. When she exhaled, she forced herself to let go - closing down her mind, relaxing her ears, and reassuring those linked to her. She felt a few amused minds and got worried caresses from her unit. Looking at Reko, she found him staring at his traitorous hands in confusion. Drago Trax didn't move.
"Sorry, Rek," she said, trying hard to sound like everything was fine. "I didn't think about you."
"We're good, Kaisae. That's just not something I'm used to."
"We're back to Kaisae?" Tine asked, but Raj smacked him.
"Dumb-ass, know when to shut the fuck up."
"Sal?" Kap gestured between her and Reko with a finger. "What was that?"
Sal smiled at him coldly. "We're all linked. We touch, we link. Iliri came from grauori, so it crosses between us. You humans haven't figured it out yet, but it's about to get a whole lot worse. Viraenova's coming." She stepped away from Drago and gestured for him to get up. "Let me make this simple enough for your human mind to understand," she said gesturing with the bloody point of her knife. "There aren't many like me left. Makiel Geirr has spent the last decade trying to exterminate us."
"Who?" Raj asked.
Sal blinked her eyes over to him. "The Emperor of Terric."
"Fuck, we have a name?"
Sal just glared. "Yeah. We have a name." She slipped her main weapon into its sheath and glanced at her offhand. The faintest hint of blood darkened the cutting edge. She dragged it slowly across her tongue, cleaning the blood from it while watching the humans shudder. "I sent his son back to him a few months ago, from Anglia. Poor guy had a rough night. He left his knife," she wiggled the blade, "behind. He thought the same way you do. He learned his lesson."
"That's real steel, isn't it?" Kap asked.
Sal returned it to the sheath along her back. "Gifted to me by the King of Anglia, officially. It can't be taken without it becoming a political incident, so don't think of it."
"Why'd he give you that much steel?"
"Take your pick. It was either because I took a bolt for him, or because I saved his nation from Terric, or because I had a wonderful evening ripping every last thing from Judoc's mind - or it could have been because I got him the alliance with the grauori, and they brought Viraenova to the table. Then again, it might also be because I found the father of his nephew and arranged it so the kid could become the heir. He said it's because I gave Jarl my offhand blade and he wanted to replace it."
Reko laughed. He turned from the group and walked away, trying to hide his amusement.
"Why would a fucking offhand weapon matter so much?" Erol asked, looking at his fellow soldiers for the answer.
Sal rolled her eyes and shook her head. "You're as stupid as I thought. How'd any of you get into elites? Drago, why are we sitting here drilling this shit, when they couldn't even put together simple tactics? Why are we working on stances and formations that we learned in training camp? I had Anglian novices doing more than this. Maast, I'm done." Sal threw up her hands and walked away.
"Stop!" Drago yelled. "That's a fucking order!"
Sal turned back to him and laughed. "You're not fit for duty, sir. I'm going to make sure General Sturmgren knows to have you replaced before you embarrass the Conglomerate in front of Viraenova. Reko! You're with me."
Hey, Razor? Sal called out. Any idea on where Sturmgren is this morning?
Yeah, hang on, he replied, and Sal could feel his concentration.
Reko grabbed Sal's sword and shirt from the dirt, then trotted to catch up with her. "You left something," he said, passing it to her."
"Thanks." She sighed. "I'm not usually this touchy, Rek, I swear."
"No, I understand. They have a way of bringing it out. Least I don't feel so bad about getting my ass handed to me when we first met, now."
"Good point. I thought calling you a scrubber would be a bit annoying. I had no idea how much you'd been listening to it."
"I didn't exactly ask for you to be nice. I realize that now." He dropped his voice. "Truth is Sal, I've never smelled anything like you before, and you caught me off guard. I'd been hoping to see if the men were all over you or avoiding you. That's it."
She looked at him from the corner of her eye but kept walking. "Don't get too hopeful, Rek. How good are your records on those of us from the experiments?"
"Pretty good. They released everything a few years ago, a
nd it's public record. Why?"
"Check the sires. I'm betting there are two of us with the same sire, maybe more."
"What are you saying?"
Sal stopped and turned to him. "I know you keep talking about how I smell, but it can't be all good. Am I wrong? Something just a bit off?"
He looked away and shrugged. "I don't know, Sal. I've never met any other iliri to compare it to."
"Yeah, but you've met enough crossbreds by now. You know what's human, and what's us, right?"
He nodded.
"And something still isn't right. Grauori say they can smell their sisters. I don't want you. I'm not going to end up in your bed. Nothing you can say will change that. You're nice enough, but my instincts say no. I just figured it might be a relation."
His ears dropped lower on his head, but he nodded. "Yeah. I kinda figured that part out - I mean that I don't have a chance. You smell like him this morning, you know?"
Sal let her shoulders relax, realizing he wasn't going to make this hard on her. "I know. And I'll smell like one of them almost every morning."
"Yeah, I get it. Look, I'm just glad to have what I have, ok? That's it." Slowly, he lifted his eyes to her jaw. "It's just nice to feel like I'm not some beast on a chain."
"Yeah, I know. So, let's go find the General. I'm thinking the CFC's about to need a few ambassadors to Viraenova. What do you think about a promotion?"
Reko chuckled. "Been a long time since I had one of those."
Sorry Sal, Razor finally said. Your friend Blaz is wicked on a horse and I wanted to keep my head. Anyway, I'm getting him around the officer's hall. Second floor. Sorry, I can't get you more than that from out here.
No, that's good. Thanks, man.
Reko gaped at her, and Sal motioned for him to follow her. "We haven't covered abilities yet, have we."
"No," Reko chuckled. "You mean there's more?"
She flashed him a devious smile. "Yeah. Linking is an ability. Arctic and Roo have it. Others heal, like Raast, Risk, and Shift. Let's see, we've also found the ability to send fear, convince others they know you, change your appearance, see glimpses of what may be in the future, and touch reading. I've probably missed a few, but you get the idea."
