Page 43 of Lies That Bind
Her lips pursed into a thin line. “Then I’ll spend my life interrogating every single Amersean until I find out who it was and bring you their head.”
Her vow was touching. I reached out and squeezed her elbow. “Thank you.”
She peered at me and nodded once. “Your father was not a kind man, but he was a damn good leader. He didn’t deserve that.”
Your father was not a kind man.
Those words unfortunately rang true, and maybe that’s why they didn’t sting. There was nothing soft or loving about him. But he was a provider, a safety net for my sisters and I growing up in a world without our mother. He did the best he could, and it was good enough. I wasn’t going to complain about my lot in life. I’d led a very privileged existence, so not having a father who doted on me wasn’t something I was going to cry about at night.
No. It was chin up. Move on.
“Don’t worry about your instructors or your friends or Elaine. I’ve already questioned them, and they are clear. Anyone in close contact with you has been?—”
“You questioned Tetra?” I asked her, offense in my voice. “Did you hurt her?”
Now she looked offended. “No. That’s not how my power works. Unless they won’t talk, then…” She opened her hands as if to say, then she hurt them.
“So they all… talked?”
She nodded. “Sang like canaries. Gave an entire breakdown of the night your father died. Not a single lie.”
Relief rushed through me so fast I was breathless. I hadn’t realized how much I’d needed to hear that. Not about Tetra, but the others. It was good to know my inner circle was clean.
“That’s good.”
She scanned the base and all of the people milling about. “But someone did it. And if they blew the blood lab and are trying to cover it up, I’ll find them,” she vowed. She saluted me before walking off.
She was right. Someone did do it, likely a person in Amersea. There was no reason to cover up an assassination from Luska. What stories would his blood tell?
Movement at the front gates pulled my attention. My personal driver, Verik’s, car pulled through, and I grinned. Tetra was sitting in the front seat with who I assumed were the rest of the alliance in the two rows in back because all of their creatures ran at the sides, flanking the left and right of the car. Or flew, in Alek’s and Dev’s case. Seeing Dev’s creepy vulture caused a chill to race up my spine, more so because I’d heard that if she touched you with one swipe of her talons, you would drop dead.
Meera’s little fox running alongside Roc’s lynx kept up with the car’s speed easily. Anika’s lioness was so badass, racing effortlessly next to Tetra’s wolf and Kian’s monkey creature.They looked like old friends running together, and that made me happy. If creatures liked each other, then it meant their humans did, too. I’d be busy now that I was empress, so Tetra having someone else to look out for her was a good thing.
When the car pulled to a stop, the creatures fanned out, peering around at the space as the doors opened, and one by one, they all stepped out.
They wore their Fleet-issued fatigues and held duffle bags stiffly in their hands as they stood with backs erect and saluted me.
I tried to keep the grin off my face.
“At ease,” I said.
They relaxed, looking at me as if wondering if things would change now that I was empress.
“You guys are crazy to want to be posted here,” I told them.
Anika hefted her bag and walked over to me. She shrugged. “I hear the food is decent.”
I grinned. “It’s not bad.”
She gripped my shoulder and squeezed before walking past me.
“Hey, old friend,” I heard Kohen call to her and glanced over my shoulder just in time to see him open his arms and pull her into a hug. Jealously sliced through my heart like a hot knife, but before I could dwell on it, Tetra was before me.
She was holding hands with Dev. Okay… so that was definitely a thing. He held her duffle as she used her other hand to grip her cane.
“Please tell me Lieutenant Ashendell isn’t here,” she begged, dropping Dev’s hand and pulling me in for a hug, which I returned.
I laughed. “She’s not, but I met our new instructors today, and they seem… uptight.”
