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“Into my chambers,” he states, his voice resonating with the same undertone of rage as before, mixed with something new and intangible. It’s as if I can feelpainin his words.

I follow Aelon into his chambers, the door hissing shut behind me.

Aelon turns to face me. He has a weary look in his eyes. I know from experience that it’s hard enough being the captain of six crewmembers. Trying to lead hundreds of hyper-masculine, alpha Aurelians – each of whom want to be the leader themselves – must be like a battle of wills each and every day.

Aelon places his hands on his hips.

“I don’t allow women on The Instigator,” he tells me. “Women cause trouble between the triads – as you’ve already seen today. Aurelians have a lot of pride, and women draw up the worst of that side of us.”

I cross my arms.

“Well, you should have known something like that could have happened to Sawoot, then. You should have put guards at her cell – guards you trusted.”

Aelon strides to the drinks cabinet and pours amber liquid from a crystal decanter, before offering me a glass of the same. I push his hand away. He shrugs, downing the liquid in one swallow, before setting down the empty glass.

“Aye,” he admits, “I should have known. No man under my command has attempted anything like that before. The Bond drives men crazy.”

“The Bond?”

“Kit,” he explains. “The man whose triad tried to rape your friend. He thought Sawoot might be his Fated Mate, and he wanted her badly enough that the desire overwhelmed his mind. He was no longer thinking rationally. He’d succumbed to his basest desire.” The Captain looks down at me. “You don’t know what it is to be an Aurelian, Tasha. You don’t know what we are.”

Is he seriously trying to excuse the behavior of that bastard?

“He was a fuckingrapist. Hedeservedto die.”

“Aye,” Aelon nods. “Yes, he did – and hediddie for his crimes. But now – tell me, Tasha. What is it that you need from me?”

I have only hatred for the men who’d tried to rape my best friend. It’s even worse that there seems to be some connection between Aelon and those three – as if he personally mourns the loss of the worst kind of scum in the universe.

Aurelians live for thousands of years. That means he might have known the men he’d executed for centuries before today. How could he ever have allowed that type of person in his crew?

Then again – am I certain Chris would never hurt someone?

I look away, sensing once again a mirror between Aelon’s dilemma and my own.

“I need to warn you, Aelon. That’s why I had to come talk to you. The Toads you chased away might be gone now, but they’ll be back - Iknowit. They didn’t buy for a second that you didn’t have us onboard The Instigator – us,andthe Orbs we stole.”

Aelon considers my words. His tongue comes out, licking his lips, and I suddenly can’t help but imagine how it would feel to have that huge tongue lapping at my body again.

Silently, the big man crosses the room and sits at the oversized table. Then, he motions wearily for me to sit in front of him. I sense that something is weighing on Captain Aelon. Maybe those Aurelians he executed were much closer to him than he admits.

“I’d rather not sit,” I answer, knowing the hard, wooden chair is going to be hell on my still-aching bottom. Aelon nods. He gets up, grabs a pillow from the sofa, and then tosses it to me wordlessly.

I nearly smile. I was half expecting the Aurelian to make some characteristic joke about the spanking he’d administered – another off-color comment intended to tease and infuriate me.

When I first met him, he’d have jumped on such an opportunity to mock me. Now, it’s as if Aelon feels every one of his hundreds of years.

I put the cushion on the chair and sit down in front of him. Even sitting on the pillow, I feel so small compared to this huge warrior.

“Explain,” he demands.

“It’s the cargo I had on board. Twenty-six Orbs. That’s in addition to the Orb that powers your own ship, and even the small Orbs in all the Orb-Blades of your crew – well over a hundred, right?”

Aelon bristles, narrowing his eyes.

“Well,” I continue, “Aurelians are normally a hard nut to crack for a Toad – that’s why that captain fled when you confronted him.”

“He fled because he was a coward,” Aelon snarls – with uncharacteristic vindictiveness. It’s like he has a personal vendetta against Toads in particular. “They’reallcowards, those slimy bastards.”