Chapter 32 #3
The men had already gone back to chatting, laughing, drinking, and gambling. Except for Elias, who was burning holes in the back of Alec’s head with his eyes.
“I’m not interested.”
Alec ushered me forward with a hand on my lower back until the door closed behind him. “It’s just walking, Fera,” he chuckled as if I hadn’t just told him no .
When he curled his fingers around my hip, I spun out of his hold and slapped him away. “You’ll want to take your hands off of me.”
“Relax,” he chuckled, glancing around the courtyard. “I’m only taking you back to your quarters. Where might those be?”
No way was I telling him where I slept. Where Mina slept.
My knives were fastened to my hip. If those didn’t work, I had an arsenal of gods’ powers at my disposal. I was feeling particularly strong tonight, and as much as I missed my overprotective teacher, it felt good not to need him at this moment. He would be proud.
“No, Alec,” I told him. “Please go back inside. I’ll be walking back alone.”
“Fera,” he sighed in mock disappointment, “you can’t dangle a challenge in front of us and expect no one to take it up.”
I reared back. “A challenge ?”
“Claiming no one can handle you. You might as well have invited the entire unit to your bed.”
“I said no .” I put more distance between us. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
“What’s wrong with me ?” Alec’s pale eyes darkened, and the alcohol on his breath became more potent with his rage.
“I don’t appreciate a tease, and that’s exactly what you are.
You can’t attack my friends and taunt us for weeks with that little fuck-me body and then retaliate when you get the attention you asked for. ”
I felt like I’d been stabbed in the gut, and the knife kept twisting. “So, you’re saying I’m asking for attention?” His responding arrogant smirk was all I needed to confirm that was exactly what he meant. “Back off !”
Alec chuckled darkly. “Maybe sucking the commander’s cock will get you special privileges with him, but the rest of us have had to earn our way.”
I bristled. Why did I feel the need to defend myself against something so untrue? To them, a small, young seafarer’s daughter from Brinnea could never be scrappy, strong, and motivated enough to succeed here without opening her legs.
“I am not ?—”
“Gerard.” Elias’s voice bit through the dark courtyard, low and uncompromising. “That’s enough. We’ve already had one discussion today. This is your final warning.”
I glanced behind Alec to see Elias hovering a few feet away. I hadn’t seen or heard him exit the building and wondered how much he’d heard.
Alec scoffed at us both before muttering, “Point proven.” Before walking away, he bent forward. “Be careful, Fera,” he warned. “You never know who’s watching.”
The moment he left my vicinity, relief coursed through me. For now, thanks to Elias, the threat was gone. Elias was the last person I wanted to thank.
“Are you all right?” He stepped closer but still maintained a respectful distance.
“I’m fine.” I sighed, exasperated. “Did this evening go as you anticipated?”
He ran his ringed hand through his thick hair. “They aren’t an easy crowd. I wanted you to come tonight to test the waters, and in the hopes that you might get them to respect you.”
“And do they?”
“I believe some of them do. You held your own.”
My exhale formed a cloud of mist in front of my face. “Some of them are pigs.”
He blew out his own breath and nodded. “I won’t deny that. But they get their tasks done efficiently and without complaint. And they’re fighters. To beat Molochai, I need fighters.”
I stared at him blankly. They got their tasks done. They were efficient. They were allowed to speak that way for those reasons. But at what cost?
He hesitated, and I wondered if my skepticism read too clearly on my face.
“Admittedly, I’ve been… questioning their integrity,” he continued.
“Their loyalty. I’ve been thinking of how to test it.
” He glanced after Alec Gerard then grimaced, like he regretted telling me too much.
“I might have a way,” he muttered, more to himself than to me.
My interest was piqued, but he said nothing more. Not knowing what else to say to fill the silence, I slowly backed away. “Well.. . Good night, Commander. Enjoy the evening with your lady friend.” “Sophia?” he scoffed, his concern disappearing. “Not quite a friend. Is that jealousy I hear, Fera?”
I threw my head back and laughed while turning away. I wasn’t jealous. Not even a little bit. I was exhausted and wanted to slip beneath my bedsheets and let Gavin’s sweater swallow me whole.
Before I did that, I waited for Elias to go back inside and snuck off to the stables where I found a brown stallion with an infected leg.
I brushed my hand along the horse’s side and whispered gentle, loving words while using Viridian’s power to get rid of the infection.
I left the wound only partially healed so that when Elias checked on it in the morning, he wouldn’t find anything suspicious.
After I stumbled into my bed, dizzy and weak from healing the poor horse, I fell asleep praying I would dream of Gavin Smyth.