Page 48 of Seasons of War
“Answer.”
The words drifted in her mind. The truth and lies dancing together. Truth. Stick with the truth. “The boss noticed I was reading a flier… Said he needed a smart girl…”
“You said you’d been with two other places before that.”
“No. Only one. The first one. The people who took me.” Miya had buried that time of her life. Her body revolted against the memory with another bout of sickness. It didn't exist. She buried it with those men.
“Who took you?” he asked.
“People who said they could help. They tricked me. Marked me.”
“What happened to them?”
No more. It had been so long since Miya allowed herself to remember. Could she distract him? Resting against his chest, she circled her arms around his neck, groaning. “Captain, I'm tired…”
He tugged her head back by her hair just hard enough to sting. “What happened to the people who marked you?”
“They got killed… Greedy people make a lot of enemies…”
“You survived.”
The emptiness stripped the feeling from her voice. “I always survive.”
Let that be a warning to him.
Though her first attempt didn't work, Miya held onto her faculties just enough to keep fighting for his attention. To end this interrogation before it unraveled everything she'd hidden for almost fifteen years.
Little by little, she chipped away at his discipline. It felt never-ending. At some point, she’d started having those dream thoughts. She searched for the answers in the fog of her mind. Maybe kissed him to avoid speaking. Maybe passed out beside him.
Her thoughts twisted until they no longer made sense. Until she no longer recognized them as thoughts. Until she jolted awake to bright lights shiningthrough the windows, trying to remember anything that had happened the night before.
CHAPTER 13
Zayne
Ciondo
833 P.C. [Post-Collapse]
Dr. Cooper possessed the good sense to avoid Zayne the day after drugging him. Too bad for him, Zayne was excellent at breaking into places people didn't want him. One of the skills necessary for his job, of course. He easily evaded the security measures to sneak into the doctor's office, where he waited. Impatiently.
When Dr. Cooper entered the room, Zayne spoke in a gruff voice. “You should have trusted me.”
The older man jumped and clutched his chest, looking to the corner where Zayne sat. Then he laughed. “Oh, Zayne. You scared me.”
“You were out of line last night.”
“You think you can complete this mission and save the girl. It's impossible. The Phaedra and I always knew you needed a good push. It's okay. It's just the kind of man you are.” Another laugh. A maddening one that scraped against his mind like a thousand needles. “Thus, why we chose you. You're perfect for this.”
He imagined bashing Dr. Cooper's skull into the edge of his desk. “If the Phaedra can't trust me with some girl, then he shouldn't consider me for High General.”
“Don't be so sensitive. You're young. Still learning. One day, you'll be ready. The best horses are the hardest to break and train, but so worth it in the end.”
He hardly kept himself in the corner, feral with desperation to rip the man's face off.
“Come now,” Dr. Cooper said. “Stop brooding. No hard feelings. The Phaedra needs us to work together on this.”
Zayne sneered, wandering closer. “Why fight the inevitable?”
