Page 43 of Red Demon (Oria #1)
“It must trouble you to know the man harbored those secret thoughts, that the virus brought that into the light.” Mahakal rubbed dark circles under his eyes. “The variant will increase irritability and violence while making him betray his darkest fears, not redefine core beliefs.”
I frowned, unable to believe that. “It wasn’t him. It was a ruren-sa. I was right there.”
“I’m willing to incorporate new information, but we already isolated and sequenced the virus. Did you see anyone suspicious who might have infected the town?”
I choked out a sound, my heart pounding. “Well, I saw … her. The Red Demon.” It felt wrong as soon as I said it. The wrong path.
He paused, his gaze flickering between me and Istaran at his feet. “The Red Demon?”
I nodded, seeing dark anger cloud his face again.
“Of course. If I’m immune, perhaps so is she. Who better to infect the town? And this means she’s now had a chance to kill you twice, and here you are.” Mahakal’s black eyes twinkled in the lantern light. “And you would have challenged her. You’re no coward.”
“I did.” My heart lurched. Faruhar. I remembered her hands gentle on my wounded chest, the writing scrawled on Galen’s tombstone. “She got away in the end.”
“How did you survive her?”
I squeezed my eyes tight. “She disarmed me. She let me live.”
“Did she speak to you? Enough of this caging around. I don’t have time for vagaries when people are dying.” He seared me with those void-black eyes.
“Yes, I spoke to her. It was … confusing. She’s not a mastermind.” I took a deep breath. “I don’t think she’s sane.”
Mahakal’s eyes narrowed for a moment, then he nodded. “She’s sane enough to kill, and be told who to kill.”
I always remember those I trust , she’d said. She trusted me. The world vanished behind my lids. She shouldn’t trust me.
“She mentioned a sister,” I said. “An Asri ghost named Bria. Do you recognize that name?”
“A ghost? Were you able to sense this ‘Bria?’ Did she let you see her?”
I hesitated. It was at that moment I remembered what Bria said, where it was safe and where the ghosts were moving. The phrasing was exactly the same as what the ghost girl said at the attack on Nunbiren. I had met Bria. She’d been the one to warn us.
Fuck.
Faruhar must have been close enough that day for Bria to survive.
I could tell Mahakal about the other names in Faruhar’s book, the contradictions. But he wasn’t looking for complexity, to send her to the queen for a fair trial with all the facts. He was looking for a way to find her and kill her.
I kept my face blank. “No, I couldn’t sense Bria at all. I’m not even certain she’s real. I wish I had more to tell you. What little the Red Demon said just doesn’t add up.”
Mahakal crossed his ankle over his knee, stroking his smooth face.
“There are some things I cannot share, but I’ll tell you what the empire is confident enough to report.
A Chaeten gang attacked Nunbiren. They want retribution for SBO, and they are feeling emboldened as we settle more Chaeten into the bend.
These terrorists cut the power. They dropped a modified SBO variant, then later looted the dead wearing stealth cloaks.
They also cut power to the North Barrack, so we did not learn of the attack until too late. ”
My heart roared in my chest. I couldn’t look at him.
Would rebels have burned the bodies? Would Faruhar have time to coordinate with Chaeten thieves while she was in the underground cabin with me?
It didn’t make sense. Mahakal was the one who told me that the simplest explanation was most likely correct. This was not simple.
“Didn’t you say the Red Demon was working with Asri rebels in the Bend?” I asked.
His jaw twitched. “The Red Demon is a mercenary. She has no loyalties I can determine. This gang probably offered her a better price.”
“They can’t have offered much. She’s still wearing those leather rags for armor,” I said, before I thought better.
Mahakal leaned back against the wall, his eyes boring into me. “You’re right Jesse, not all the pieces fit. For example, why weren’t you one of the many men, women and children she’s slaughtered without a thought?”
I sighed, throwing up my hands. “No idea. She said I was strange and stubborn. That she respects stubborn.”
A slow smile spread across Mahakal’s face, giving way to a mirthless laugh. “Interesting. You do have a way of turning heads. Even the Red Demon is infatuated with you, it seems.”
My stomach clenched, bristling at the gleam in his eyes. “No… I…” I felt my face flushing, thinking about her smile as she said goodbye.
Fuck, if anything, I was the one with clouded judgment.
Mahakal’s smile bloomed into a smirk. “You’ve given me quite a bit to think about, Jesse.” He turned back to eye the door, then stooped to pick up the sword, the engraved scabbard glittering. “Galen’s inheritance, I imagine. What’s its name?”
“My inheritance now. Istaran.”
Mahakal unsheathed it a few inches. The metal lay still and dark in his hands.
“This is now illegal tech. Galen Eirini could justify holding onto it to do his best work, but the days of putting such powerful tech in civilian hands are over. I’ll need to confiscate this to ensure the empire stays safe. I’m terribly sorry.”
A battle raged within me as I met his gaze. “It’s an ancestral sword. It’s been in our family for thousands of years.”
Mahakal laughed out loud. “Your family?”
I scowled. He laughed again, rising to a stand. “Oh how I regret not sending you to be raised with your own. I should have sponsored you the day I met you, ensured you’d been finished in a proper Academy, not raised half-wild.”
He stepped closer, too close, his voice just above a whisper.
“Your mind should feed on the fire of the stars our people have conquered. It is we who sail the void, parent galaxies, choose our own names and destinies. We do not choose names for our father’s dead dreams, for ancient primitives.
It pains me to see someone like you, so finely coded—” He took another step, raking his eyes down my body.
“You’re a stunning, remarkable man Jesse, but what comes out of that feral mouth of yours can be such a turnoff. ”
I swallowed. He certainly didn’t look “turned off” to me. “What do you want from me, Major?”
He gave me a rakish smile, lifting my chin. “It’s just as well you refused to join my battalion. I’m gentle with those under my command. But you need someone to teach you a lesson, Jesse. I have no desire to be gentle with you.” He said the last part at a low growl.
I froze as he drew his face closer to mine, my heart beating in my ears at the strength of his grip. He smelled musky, minty—wrong. But I buried my fear. I’d play this out.
I smirked. “Who said I wanted you to be gentle?” I leaned my head into his shoulder to offer a biting kiss, tracing my hand down his chest as he took in a sharp breath, his teeth in my hair as he shivered. He was distracted enough that I could twist Istaran out of its sheath with one fluid motion.
He stepped back, wide-eyed as I held the shining blade to his neck.
“Are you threatening me?” he asked, voice cool.
I pressed in, the glowing blade pulsing in my hand. “I’m teaching you a lesson.”
He tried to move, to disarm me, but I ducked away, cutting him across the arm.
He inhaled. “Well, the Red Demon wasn’t wrong about your stubbornness. But I don’t share her penchant for treason.”
I rolled my eyes, heart pounding all the while. “You’ll heal quick. And you don’t like gentle, remember?” But he wasn’t wrong. I was committing treason. And if I didn’t play this right, he’d kill me.
There was only one move left.
“I once told you I’d pledge if you could help me kill her. We have a fresh trail now. I failed to kill her on my own, but I still want the same thing. My price is my sword, though.” Still holding Istaran in front, I smiled.
He blinked at me.
“Okay, Fine—we want the same thing, except one.” I dropped a lingering glance at his groin. “I’ll pledge myself to you, for life, if you can promise none of your commands involve fucking you. Is that good enough?”
He crossed his arms with deliberation, my sword still trained on him.
I sighed, realizing he was not going to agree to anything at swordpoint. I handed him the hilt, heart hammering in my ears, watching the blue light fade as he wrapped his muscled hand around the grip. He sheathed it.
I heard running footsteps outside. “Major Mahakal! We need you in command,” a soldier said.
“Tell Havoc I’ll be there in a few minutes, Navarro.” Mahakal’s eyes did not leave me.
“Redsky was just killed at her post, Major,” Navarro said.
Mahakal swore under his breath. He turned to go, remembering me as an afterthought. “You’ll stay here in quarantine until we’re confident about your bloodwork.” He clipped Istaran to his belt. “I’ll find an appropriate use for you afterward.”