Rout of the Dem-Shyr (The Ascendant Series) (31 page)

“I heard our prisoner fishing for information about the V’larians,” Malak said, studying the blood on his blade without expression. “Is there anything else I need to know, Coll?”

“N-no, sir,” Coll stammered. “I swear it.”

Blood colored his lips. Ty knew the wound he had sustained was a bad one, and it was all because Coll had spoken to him.

“Excellent,” Malak said. “Thank you.”

Then he used the blade to slit Coll’s throat.

Warm castoff blood splashed onto Ty’s face and clothing. It sprayed on Malak and the other guard. It arced across the room and splattered against the wall and window leading out into the storage unit. It pooled under Coll’s body as he slumped to the ground and bled out.

He was dead in seconds.

Ty was too stunned to react. He watched Malak toss his blade carelessly onto the marble slab and then settle on the edge of it, facing Ty.

“Leave us,” Malak told the other guard, sounding bored. “You can watch through the window, but don’t expect any trouble. TaeDane knows going outside is a death sentence, don’t you, TaeDane?”

Ty couldn’t manage more than a nod. The other guard hurried out and closed the door. As Malak had suggested, he stood outside the window.

“He can’t hear us,” Malak said, bringing his arms up and crossing them over his chest. “We can speak freely.”

The shock over what had happened started to ease into sensible fear of the unstable Marauder leader. Ty knew Malak had killed Coll to teach him a lesson. If Ty didn’t want any other “lessons,” he needed to stop asking questions and not let Malak know how affected he was by the blatant brutality he had just witnessed.

Keeping his expression as bland as Malak’s, he asked, “Do you plan to tell me who put the bounty on my head?”

Malak smiled humorlessly. “No.”

“Then I don’t think we have anything to discuss.”

Malak’s smile faded. His dark eyes glittered. A drop of blood ran from his temple along his cheekbone like a blasphemous tear. Uncrossing his arms, he braced himself on the desk and leaned forward as if he was about to share a secret.

“But I want to discuss Kyr,” he said.

Ty held the other male’s gaze. Malevolence filled Malak’s eyes, radiated from his soul. The stink of death filled the room, making Ty feel like he was sitting in the bowels of hell. But he had years of experience at hiding his reactions. That came to his aid now.

“As I said, we have nothing to discuss,” he responded.

His voice was level, but his heart pounded painfully. He knew Malak was testing him. After a moment, the Marauder smiled again.

“I want to know what it was like,” he insisted. “Word is that you raped and murdered the Ascendant.
The goddamn Ascendant
. That had to be amazing. That had to be fucking
fantastic
.”

Ty didn’t respond in the face of such blatant euphoria over the thought of a woman’s rape and murder. He couldn’t.

“Tell me what it was like. Did she fight you? Did that get you off?”

Glancing out the window, Ty saw that the crowd had grown in size. He couldn’t see the storage unit beyond the sea of faces. He began to doubt Malak’s statement that none of them could hear what was being said.

“Did you enjoy it, TaeDane?” Malak asked, leaning even closer until Ty looked back at him. “Did you feel powerful when you squeezed her throat? Did it thrill you to watch the life fade from the eyes of the supposed future ruler of worlds?”

Anger built in Ty with every word. He wanted to kill Malak just to shut him up, and he was quite sure Malak knew it.

“We Marauders are the only ones who own up to what we did,” Malak said. “We’re proud of being Outcasts. It bored us, living among the righteous and celibate. Of course, I hear things aren’t quite as righteous and celibate as they once were.”

He knew something, Ty was sure of it. If the Marauders were working with someone at the mine, as he suspected they were since they were delivering him there, then they had to know at least some of the details about what was going on. The mine was believed to be controlled by the palace, so all Ty had to do was connect the dots.

“Since we’re quite happy with our lot in life,” Malak continued, “we tend to live a more prosperous life than others out here. If you are considering your options along the way of loyalties, you might want to weigh that in.”

Ty understood. Malak was implying that he should become a Marauder. All he would have to do was pretend to be like them and gain their confidence. He would just have to look Malak in the eye and give him the answers he sought.

“So, TaeDane,” Malak continued conversationally. “Did you enjoy killing Kyr?”

Ty’s lips parted. All he had to do was say yes.

But he couldn’t. No matter what the result, he couldn’t pretend to be like the cold-blooded murderer in front of him. If it was a choice between joining with evil or dying at its hand, then he chose death.

Chapter 39

Shock radiated from both Gren and the woman he had called Scarlyt. Kyr didn’t have to use her abilities to reason out that neither of them had expected to see each other again. She waited for one of them to speak or at least give a clue as to what had happened between them, but they were both silent and unmoving.

Kyr was sorely tempted to touch on Gren’s thoughts, but knew she shouldn’t. She had already intruded enough when it came to his relationship with this woman. Her gaze moved to Scarlyt. The female Mynder’s hair was shorter and her gaze harder than in the memory, but she was still beautiful.

The women who had traveled with them looked just as confused as Kyr felt. They kept exchanging glances as if wondering whether to intervene.

Unable to keep her silence, Kyr finally asked, “Are you two all right?”

Scarlyt reacted to Kyr’s unmasked voice as though she’d been struck. Her gaze darted to Kyr. For the first time, she saw Kyr’s eyes without the goggles. She moved forward with a lethal expression on her face.

Gren moved to stand in front of Kyr. Scarlyt drew herself up. Kyr didn’t miss the brief flash of pain in the other female’s eyes.

“You always did put her first,” Scarlyt murmured. Glancing at Jenna, she said, “Bring them to my quarters.”

“But, Scarlyt—” Jenna began.

“Don’t argue,” Scarlyt snapped, turning on her heel and marching down one of the many hallways. Over her shoulder, she added, “You can release them from their restraints. If either of them tries anything, kill them both.”

Kyr read Jenna’s frustration over her leader’s behavior as she released Kyr and then Gren from their restraints. The Peace Keeper was good at holding her tongue, though. She dismissed the other women and then used her weapon to prod Kyr and Gren in the direction Scarlyt had taken. Her thoughts centered on who Kyr and Gren were, and how they had shaken the usually unshakable Scarlyt.

Gren’s thoughts were still dazed. Kyr conducted a low-level read of his emotions as they walked, trying to figure out how she could help. Since she didn’t know what had happened to part him and Scarlyt, she didn’t know what to do. She opted to send out calming thoughts as they followed Jenna’s insistent nudging through a doorway.

They found themselves in a spacious room shrouded in colorful drapery. Two sofas and two chairs made up a seating area directly in the room’s center. Kyr spotted two other doors, but they were closed. Scarlyt was currently pacing on a woven rug between the seating area and a small round table with two chairs.

Kyr moistened her lips, figuring she should say something to explain their presence and get the conversation started. Gren beat her to it.

“What the hell is going on, Scarlyt?” he asked.

Kyr’s heart hurt over the depth of pain she heard in his voice. Just what had happened between these two?

She saw a similar question in Jenna’s violet eyes as she looked from Gren to Scarlyt. It was clear she was as concerned for her leader as Kyr was for Gren.

“What do you mean, ‘What’s going on?’” Scarlyt responded, abruptly stopping her pacing. “You’re the one who turned me over to the Inquisitors. You knew what was going to happen.”

“You mean this is GrenDane?” Jenna asked incredulously. “The male who sent you here?”

Before anyone could respond, Jenna turned and aimed her weapon at Gren. Kyr jumped in front of him. Gren grabbed her and tried to shove her behind him. She fought him. The result was an almost comical grappling session that had Jenna lowering her weapon in confusion.

“Don’t kill anyone yet, Jenna,” Scarlyt ordered briskly. “Let’s find out why he thinks it’s okay to show his face out here when he’s the one who had me imprisoned.”

“I had no choice,” Gren said, running a hand along his short hair. “You tried to kill…”

He and Scarlyt both looked at Kyr. She stared back. She picked up so many conflicting thoughts from the pair standing in front of her that she was overwhelmed. All she knew was that one of her best friends was hurting, and she wanted to help him.

Instinct had her going deeper into their thoughts to get to the truth. She ended up blending their three memories in a way she’d never experienced.

She stood with Gren in an outdoor space. There were other people milling around…other Mynders, she picked up from Gren’s thoughts. She also gleaned from Gren’s mind that it was a part of the palace gardens reserved for her training. He and Ty had wanted her to train in multiple environments and not just a closed room, so they occasionally used this area.

She and Gren had been practicing hand-to-hand combat. She was improving, but she was arrogant. Gren worried that her arrogance would get her killed, and he was determined to prevent that.

Kyr was slick with perspiration. Gren was working her hard today, but she was holding her own. It was getting easier and easier to predict his moves, she thought as she parried a knife-hand strike. In fact, she’d—

The thought vaporized as she miscalculated on her counterstrike. Gren instantly took advantage of her mistake, grabbing her arm and flipping her. She didn’t even have time to scream before she landed with a splash in a huge puddle of mud.

But she more than made up for that lost scream the moment her breath returned to her.

“GrenDane!” she shrieked. “How dare you toss me like that? Help me up, you insensitive ass!”

He reached down to help her up. She surprised him, using her foot to catch his knee and upset his balance. He ended up sprawled on top of her, though, rather than beside her in the puddle as she’d intended. More mud soaked into her training armor due to his added weight.

He laughed. Kyr sensed his appreciation of her spirit in the memory. She was aware of her own humor, too, though she refused to show it.

“Get off of me,” she ordered. “And lay off the berberry tarts. Great Yen-Ki, you’re heavy.”

Since he wasn’t watching, she did allow herself a smile as he got up and pulled her up beside him. When she was back on her feet, she looked over towards some shrubs behind Gren. She happened to see ScarlytDane hovering there. Gren seemed to spend a lot of time with her, which Kyr thought was odd, even if Scarlyt was a fellow Mynder. As Kyr matured, she began to understand a bit more why the other female wanted to be around Gren.

Her smile changed as she met Scarlyt’s gaze.
He’s mine
, that smile said in Scarlyt’s mind.
You’ll never have him
.

Scarlyt issued a cry of outrage. She charged towards Kyr, revealing the blade she held. Gren turned at the sound of the cry and reacted instinctively, moving in front of Kyr.

Why was his sweet Scarlyt attacking Ma’jah? he wondered numbly.

Scarlyt made him pay for his moment of hesitation. She brought her blade up and sliced him across the eye, barely avoiding costing him his vision…and instead leaving him permanently scarred.

The blood and pain finally snapped Gren into focus. He disarmed Scarlyt in two swift moves, tossing the blade out of reach and pinning her arms behind her. The other Mynders in the garden hurried over to see if further aid was needed.

Scarlyt’s rage faded, resulting in a blend of confusion and fear.

Gren’s numbness faded, resulting in understanding and horror.

And Kyr’s rancor blossomed, resulting in the sealing of both their fates.

“She tried to kill me!” Kyr shouted, pointing at Scarlyt. “You all saw her! Advisor Vycor, Gren has been injured. You must take immediate action!”

The Advisor stepped out of the surrounding shrubbery. “Of course, Ma’jah. Inquisitors, escort ScarlytDane to the palace prison.”

“No,” Scarlyt gasped. She turned to Gren as the Mynders approached. “I’m so sorry, Gren. Please. I don’t know what came over me.”

Gren’s chest seized. He didn’t want to let her go. But she had just committed the gravest crime on the planet in front of numerous witnesses.

“She tried to kill me, Gren,” Kyr snapped. “You’re bleeding all over the place. Why are you hesitating?”

He was hesitating because handing Scarlyt over to the Inquisitors was like ripping out his own heart. But he knew he had no choice. All he could do was hope he could speak on her behalf at her judgment and try to prevent her banishment…because that would be too much for him to bear.

Kyr pulled herself from the memory, unable to handle more. Tears of grief trailed down her face. She knew the others were unaware of what she’d just done, as she had deliberately shielded her intrusion. So she wasn’t surprised to find them all staring at her with questioning looks.

What just happened?
Gren thought.

She shook her head, unwilling to put him through the memory again. Self-loathing made bile rise in her throat. That was one memory she wished she’d never remembered.

“Scarlyt,” she began, trying to step forward so she could address the other female.