Page 47 of Lies That Bleed
I grinned, jumping off of Liana and hugging Tetra.
“Dude, what happened last night?” she started.
“My dad is here to see me off, did you see him?” I asked her with a warning tone in my voice.
I didnotwant my father finding out about last night and the three men I’d killed.
Tetra nodded in understanding and she spun. The crowd parted and my father walked right up to her, with three of his personal guard on either side of him.
She bowed her head. “Mr. Everhart.”
His mouth ticked. He hated when she called him that and not emperor, but she’d been doing it since she was seven so there was no changing her ways.
“I’m pleased to see you survived The Wilds,” my father told her, and then peered at her creature. “And made a decent bonding.”
Decent.She was a wolf! That was more thandecent. My father and Tetra always found ways to subtly insult each other.
“Oh yes, sir. Thank you. All I can hope for now is to serve the Imperial Fleet as best I can.” She was laying it on thick and my father knew it.
He rolled his eyes, about to retort, when the puma-adorned gates opened. People stepped back, no one wanting to be in the front as the half-dozen drill instructors, equally male and female, walked out to greet us, marching in lockstep.
They stood erect but I noticed one of their gazes flick to my father. It was one of the females. She had a blonde pixie cut that was slicked back, and a hawk tattoo on her neck. I noticed six creatures waiting just inside the gates, one of them a hawk. Oftentimes humans got a tattoo of their creature to display for all to see. I was betting that hawk was hers.
“Emperor Everhart on deck!” the hawk drill instructor screamed and they all dropped to one knee and bowed their heads.
My father smiled, clearly loving the attention.
“Dismissed,” my father said, and they stood as one.
I released the nervous breath I had been holding and the drill instructors went at ease, breaking apart their little display of unity and standing three on each side of the entrance to the school.
“Please say goodbye to the cadets,” a drill instructor with a black buzzcut said. “After they crossthis threshold, they are no longer your children. They are mine.” The others grinned.
My father was smiling too. Elaine told me that most of the drill instructors were a fan of theatrics, but a few were serious and would push you to the limit, inflicting pain both physical and emotional to see how well you could submit to orders.
Everyone turned to their parents then and I moved to say goodbye to my father, but he was talking to the lieutenants.
“Aisling, honey,” a familiar female voice called over my shoulder.
I spun and Tetra’s mom pulled me in for a bone-crushing hug. “Thank you for protecting her,” she said into my ear.
I relished Bethel’s mama hugs. They were the kind I imagined my own mother would give me if she were still alive—all-encompassing, vulnerable, and filled with unspoken love. I pulled back and her eyes were wet.
“Of course,” I told her. “And I will continue to.”
Not that Tetra needed it much, she had a creature now. A powerful one.
Bethel nodded, holding out something wrapped in cloth. “My banana bread. I know it’s your favorite.”
It was.
I took it, sure it would be confiscated but unable to tell her no.
Tetra was beside her mother, looking like she wason the verge of tears. I worried for my friend when the drill instructors would start screaming in her face. I hadn’t prepared her for any of this.
Her mother waved goodbye to us one last time and then moved to the street to wait with the other parents.
I turned to my bestie. “Hey, T, you gotta do what they say. No sass. No jokes. No rolling eyes. Don’t even think it. They will know.”
