Chapter 11 #2
Sam’s feline face was set in a disgruntled scowl as he bounced around in the maid’s arms with each step she took. He was inside the palace, at least.
The maid rounded the corner into the staff breakroom and held Sam up like a trophy. “Look what I found!” He thrashed around, vowing to bite people if she didn’t put him down. “Ope!” The maid giggled and brought him close to her chest again. “I’m sorry, little guy. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Against his better judgment, Sam stayed still. As irritated as he was, he wouldn’t risk hurting her. Chuffing, he tried to figure out how to extract himself safely from her arms and disappear into the palace without causing an uproar.
He should have shifted into a mouse.
“Where did you find that mangy thing, Stassi?” an older man’s voice asked, and Sam hissed, glaring around Stassi’s arm.
She hugged Sam closer. “He’s not mangy, Herb. You can’t even see that far.”
Herb mumbled under his breath as he walked away, and another hand joined Stassi’s on Sam’s fur. “He looks mean, Stass.”
Stassi nuzzled the top of his head. “You’re not mean, are you?”
He tried to growl, but it came out as a purr, further damaging his cause.
“See?” Stassi mumbled against his head. “I’m taking him home with me.”
“Sweetie,” the other woman said. “You know you can’t take anything outside of The Capital walls.”
Sam felt Stassi slump, and he would have felt sympathy for the girl if she wasn’t treating him like a common house cat.
“Even if it’s just a house cat?” she asked, making Sam’s scowl deepen. “Where is it going to live? It must have snuck in the gates somehow.”
The woman sighed. “You can ask, but be prepared for them to say no.”
Stassi gave Sam another squeeze. “I need somewhere to keep him until my shift is over.” If she stuck him in a cage, he would have to shift and blow his cover.
“I think I saw a box in the supply closet near the kitchens’ entrance,” another man offered.
“Thanks!” Stassi called over her shoulder as she left the breakroom with an extra bounce in her step.
He wondered what she would do if he peed on her because if she didn’t set him down, he would be forced to do it.
As they neared the kitchens, a man dressed like a palace guard stepped into the hallway, and Stassi’s steps faltered as her heart rate sped up. Sam braced himself. This man scared her, and he didn’t like it.
The man wasn’t an Aatxe, but he wore a guard’s uniform. Like enforcers, only Aatxe could be guards because they wouldn’t abuse their authority. It was why the legion in Vincula, save for Sam and Lauren, were all Aatxe, as well.
“Hey, Stassi,” the man said in an oily voice. “Cyrene said you took last night off.”
Stassi’s head jerked up and down, a movement that made her seem childlike and showcased her fear. Sam tensed, and despite being afraid, Stassi stroked his fur to calm him.
The man advanced toward them, and she took a step back. “Have you thought any more about my offer?” he asked, his beady eyes filled with lust.
She stopped retreating, took a deep breath, and steeled her spine. Her face hardened, and if Sam didn’t know she’d been terrified only moments before, he’d think she wasn’t bothered at all.
“I already told you my answer,” she snapped.
The man laughed, and the sound made Sam want to rip his voice box out.
“You don’t have much of a choice.” Sam lunged with a hiss when the man stepped closer, but Stassi held his feline body tighter against her chest. The man’s lip curled when he looked at the cat.
“You can either say yes to the arrangement I have graciously offered you, or you can consider yourself terminated, effective immediately.” He rocked back on his heels, looking smug. “The other women chose wisely.”
Stassi made a sound of disbelief. “You can’t do that! I’ll file a complaint with The Crown!”
The man was repugnant, and Sam made a mental note to return and make him bleed. “Mmm, and why haven’t you reported me already?”
Her grip on Sam tightened, and he struggled to breathe. “Because you are not the first pervert to proposition me in my life, but blackmailing me is a new low. I’m reporting you.”
The man feigned concern. “You will? Did you discover a way to reverse the effects of the memory magic?” Stassi’s heart pounded harder, and Sam battled to keep his temper in check.
The man sucked air through his teeth with satisfaction.
“I’ll escort you to the gates myself, letting them know of your unwanted advances on palace staff.
” His smile was sinister. “You won’t be able to get a word in before you’re kicked out of The Capital permanently.
” He leaned forward, and his putrid breath made Sam gag.
“And if you try to report me once we’ve completed our arrangement tonight, I’ll tell them you’re a lover scorned, and you’ll lose your job, anyway. ”
“I am thirty-one years old, and you will not blackmail me into fucking you,” she spat. “I would rather be clueless and jobless on the other side of the gates than let you lay a finger on me.”
Sam would never know what was said after that because all he saw was red before he shifted and slammed the man against the wall.
“In what realm do you think it is acceptable to fire a woman who does not wish to have sex with you?” His voice was low and barely restrained as he fought to keep his power suppressed.
The man in his arms thrashed, but whatever he tried to say was garbled by Sam’s hand squeezing his neck. Stassi was sprawled out on the floor, and her eyes widened with fright. Blood dripped down one of her elbows, and she cradled it against her body.
Sam dropped the man and ran to her, crouching down, but she scooted back.
“St-stay back,” she stammered and held up a bloody hand to ward him off.
“I need to make sure you are not hurt.” He tried to make his voice as unimposing as possible, but when her skin leached of color, he knew he had failed.
A shuffle sounded from behind them, and Sam turned with a growl, forgetting he was no longer in animal form. The guard wet himself and begged for his life, but Sam heard none of it as he told the man to stay put.
When he turned back to Stassi, his eyes flicked to her injured elbow. “See someone about that and tell no one what happened.” She nodded rapidly, watching him turn away. He hesitated, wanting to take her to the infirmary himself, but word would get back to Gedeon if he was seen with a bloody maid.
Before he did something stupid, he grabbed the guard and dragged him down the hallway. “If you make a sound, I will snap your neck to keep you quiet,” he told him.
The man said nothing. Good.
Sam quietly led the man through the hallways, and when he passed an Aatxe guard he recognized from his training course a couple of years back, he tipped his head by way of greeting. The woman’s eyes slanted to the guard in his grip, but she said nothing.
Sam had free rein of the palace, but if news traveled back to Gedeon that the Vincula commander was there in the middle of the night right after Caius’ release, it would raise red flags. It was why he must go undetected, but this poor excuse for a guard could not go unpunished.
Sam pushed open the staff entrance and stalked around the building toward the judgment chambers. Another Aatxe guard stood outside. Sam didn’t recognize him, and when the guard asked him to state his business, Sam exposed his wings, fanning them out wide.
The guard was mesmerized, and the man in Sam’s hold whimpered. “Samyaza?” the Aatxe asked.
“Yes,” he rumbled to make his voice sound even more imposing. “This man committed a heinous crime and must be seen by the Scales of Justice.”
“We can put him in a cell, but he will need to be scheduled for a trial,” the Aatxe replied.
Sam nodded once. “I understand the way things work, but this cannot wait. I will speak with Adila myself.”
The Aatxe dutifully stepped aside. Sam was the commander of the notorious Vincula legion, second only to the Royals. Before walking inside, he turned to the Aatxe. “I would like you to come inside to witness the trial, but I am commanding you to speak of this to no one.”
The guard bowed his head. “Yes, commander.”
Sam followed the Aatxe to the holding cells and shoved the man inside.
“I haven’t been accused of anything by the law!” the man protested. He must feel brave with iron separating them. Sam’s arm shot forward, bending the bars slightly, and his hand clamped around the man’s throat.
“I am the law,” he snarled, pushing a violent promise into every word.
The man shook, and Sam released him, turning to the Aatxe guard. “No matter what anyone says, you do not let him out until I return with the Scales of Justice.”
“Yes, commander.”
Sam nodded, left the holding cells, and wound his way through the building. As he walked, he examined his arm with a frown. The iron bars of the holding cell hadn’t cut his impenetrable skin, but they tore his favorite shirt.
When Sam approached the guard outside of Adila’s quarters, his wings were still out, revealing his identity. To her credit, the woman’s expression remained stoic, but her pale cheeks filled with color as she said, “Commander.” Sam glanced at her tiny bull-like horns to see if they were red too.
“I need you to help guard a defendant in the holding cells,” he said. “I will bring the Scales of Justice down.” The guard hesitated. “That is an order.”
“Yes, commander.” The guard left her post and hurried to the holding cells.
Sam stomped up the stairs to Adila’s floor, tension radiating off of him in waves as he readied himself to see the woman who betrayed his best friend.
His purpose was to have the imposter guard punished before Gedeon discovered his arrest, but Sam had a few questions of his own for the Scales of Justice.