Chapter 3 War Whore #3
We studied each other, and I pushed away the instinct to flee. I was in no danger from him.
For now.
It wouldn’t always be true. He wanted something—some as-yet-unnamed condition of this arrangement.
His cold was threaded with an intricate anger he tried to hide.
It flaunted itself with twitches of his eyes and clenches of his jaw.
Lucas Scott held himself like a restrained animal, ready to attack.
What, exactly, was restraining him? When would he strike?
“What do you really want from me?” I whispered once again.
His jaw clenched. “I already told you.”
“But… Why are you doing this?”
“They hurt my sister.”
“It’s just… Why would they do that?” She must have done something wrong. As far as I knew, the NAO didn’t harm their women for fun, though corporal punishment was widely utilized. “You’re a colonel in the NSF. Wouldn’t she have protections?”
His fist clenched on the table, and spots of color appeared on his cheeks. “That’s not important.”
But I wanted to understand. Needed to understand. “It’s important to me.”
“I don’t give a fuck what’s important to you.” It came out sharp, cutting straight through my composure. My fear returned full measure. “Do you want this information, or not?”
“O-of course I do.”
He paused, engaging in some agonizing, intrusive perusal of my eyes. His face gave nothing away. He sat straight, tall, harsh emotions vibrating beneath his skin. “I assume they chose you because you’re trustworthy. I’m banking on their judgment. Probably makes me stupid.”
“Stupidity is likely the least of your faults.”
Oh my god. Shut up, Sophia!
His eyes flashed, and some of his anger finally spilled out. “Christ, you have a smart mouth, don’t you?”
“I—”
“Shut it or I’ll find something else for it to do.”
Blood drained from my head as a wave of nausea rolled through me. It would be one thing to dissociate and allow a killer to fuck me, but to suck him off… To actively participate…
My tone went leaden. “I thought you weren’t interested.”
He stared at me, unimpressed. “I’m not. I wanted to know whether you believed me. And you clearly didn’t since you’re about to faint right now.”
Was he…testing me?
“That’s a good instinct, at least,” he said, eyeing me with a tiny iota of approval. “Never believe someone just because they’re saying something you want to hear. But if this is going to work, I’ll need you to trust what I say is true.”
I swallowed and nodded even though nothing in the world would ever make me trust him.
“Also, think before you speak,” he continued. “Especially when you’re talking to someone who wouldn’t hesitate to kill you. Play the player, not the game. It will save your life.”
Life advice from a Blood Colonel? No thanks.
With that, his attention fell to the open folder between us. He withdrew two sheets of paper and showed them to me—marked city plans. He launched into details about an upcoming attack.
Afterward, I eyed the papers, swallowing. “I don’t know if I believe you.”
He sighed. “Only one way to find out.”
Right. By leading my people into potential slaughter. Why would he give us this for free? He had to want something in return.
“How exactly did you manage to get in contact with Harrison?” I asked. Theo would have killed him on sight.
The corner of Lucas’s mouth lifted. “Ask him.”
Theo would never tell me, so I abandoned that line of questioning. But how else could I delve into Lucas’s motives? If he made our victory easy, wouldn’t it put his life at risk? Unless he was lying…
“If we don’t identify our source,” I said, “you could be killed during these raids.”
“I’m pretty good at not dying.”
The truth of that statement was absolute. The Blood Colonels weren’t just lethal. They were survivalists. There was a reason that amongst thousands of Hunters, only a few dozen had risen to his rank.
I touched my forehead, a headache burgeoning. “This makes no sense.”
He sighed again, put-upon and impatient. “I thought they’d send someone smart.”
I side-eyed him, finally quelling the impulse to spout off something rude.
“I am Lucas Scott,” he said. “High-ranking strategist and executioner of a violent, authoritarian regime. I approached the Defiance of my own free will, offering intelligence. Surely you don’t think I’d do that assuming I’d survive?”
What?
He was a Hunter! The NAO specifically created his branch of the military to eradicate the Defiance. Why would he help us knowing he’d probably die doing it? What was I missing?
“Why?” I asked again.
When he replied, his voice was clipped, each word honed and pointed. “They hurt my sister.”
“They hurt a lot of people.”
“Not the person I care about.”
Ten seconds passed while I merely stared, speechless. He would topple their entire regime for a slight to his sister?
No. No way. No fucking way.
But I didn’t care enough to pursue it further.
Or maybe I was too scared. I left after memorizing everything he told me, eager to get away.
When I returned home, Theo’s relief at seeing me alive was palpable.
He gave me a careful embrace before I spilled the information I learned.
Theo didn’t pry into whether any extracurricular activities had occurred, bless him. How would I explain the utter enigma?
Mountains and mountains of regret and turmoil piled atop my shoulders. What exactly had I gotten myself into? I’d walked into that house and met the devil himself, a man with pinpoint objectives and unclear motives.
That night, I settled into my pillow, haunted by the words of Lucas Scott.
Not the person I care about.
Not people, but person. As if nothing else deserved his time or energy. They hurt his sister, and he decided to dissolve them from the inside. It was a seemingly impossible task, and yet, by the livid certainty in his demeanor, I had no doubt he possessed the ability.
Still, did no one else matter to him? He would be responsible for countless deaths, for the demise of his own people, all for an offense against his sister.
What would he do if she died?
I trembled and curled into myself, shutting my eyes against the possibilities… Because if a man like Lucas Scott—bloodthirsty and coldhearted—lost everything, if he cared about nothing and no one, what was to stop him from destroying the world?