Page 123 of Red Demon

When I opened my eyes, I saw a predator savoring a meal. “Kane, get in here, please.”

The door creaked open. Fuck, it was that Kane. When we’d sparred behind the forge, I’d thought his seastorm and gold Asri eyes captivating, his smirk something I couldn’t wait to kiss away. I wanted to vomit as he studied me with that same smile.

“Kane, you have some history with our friend here,” Mahakal said. “Does he strike you as someone who breaks under pain? He’s too proud for what we have in store for him. He’ll need breaking in.”

Kane licked his lips, staring down at me. “I’ll break him in however you want.”

I tried to laugh in his face, but my lungs burned, wheezing out a stutter.

“That wasn’t what I asked, Kane,” Mahakal said. He slammed his knee into my ribs, and I let out a guttural sound, falling with a shudder over the area of impact.

“Fuck you,” I spat.

“Yeah, that just sounds time-consuming to me. You want a turn?” Mahakal asked Kane.

I didn’t expect him to go through with it. But Kane landed a stinging blow across my back with the flat of his blade. I kept my knees under me, my head trained on him.

“Fuck you too, Kane,” I said.

“I see what you mean.” Kane leaned against the wall. “But he deserves the pain.”

“True. This is justice. He and the mutt killed good men, powerful, loyal soldiers,” Mahakal said, his black eyes twinkling down at me. “Please gather the equipment for him, Kane.”

My heart stuttered. When he left, Mahakal just stared down at me, with an expression I once mistook for caring.

“Does Kane know what you are really doing?” I wheezed out.

Mahakal moved closer. “Everyone in my squad is intelligent enough to understand how complex and fragile our world is, that difficult things must be done for the sake of our future. Kane appreciates my efficiency in releasing SBO to cull the herd, and make room for the best of us.”

Asher thought no one would follow Mahakal if they knew.

“Why?” I asked. “Why hurt your own people?”

Mahakal scrutinized my labored breathing through lidded eyes. “My people are the ones that survive: the ones who deserve to survive, men like Kane. I gave you and yours chances to get out before the judgment came.” He stared at me like a disappointed father.

Mahakal dropped to his knees beside me. “It pains me how wrong I was about you,” he said, before trailing a wet kiss down where Kane’s blade had struck. I rose against the bindings with everything I had, unable to do anything besides shrink away a hand's breadth—swearing.

Mahakal only laughed. “I suppose we know where to start breaking you in, but I’m afraid not all of this is pleasurable. I want you to understand your punishment, to know that what I offer you is justice after everything you’ve done.”

The world tilted as Mahakal loomed over me, his voice a low whisper. “Friend, do you know why I offered you a place in my battalion?”

“I would have never been who you wanted,” I said through my teeth.

“In some ways, you’ve yet to disappoint. You’ve survived, Jesse. You cheated death in Crofton, then Nunbiren. Do you even understand your uniqueness?” He leaned closer, his obsidian eyes glinting with a predatory hunger. “You have impeccable breeding, like all the men I choose.” His words were a sickening caress.

I shrank inward.

“I first looked into your code when you told me you survived Crofton,” he said, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. “That was my mission, and I made sure the death was quick, painless, ethical. To find a resistant survivor, well … a fortunate surprise.”

“I … I don’t understand.”

His hands trailed my body. “There were some unregistered mods being used by the people in that town, choices that would build the wrong future. It had to be done. I didn’t expect survivors.”

I made myself stop feeling his hand trailing my back, focusing on his smiling face. “What do you mean?”

“I built the next round of SBO based on Crofton anomalies, you know. We had scientists rework some things for the next variant. Now the infected survive longer, to infect others. We can herd these ghosts from more populated areas into lands like Noé, guide away the useful citizens before attacks, and when it is over, replace the lost population with the loyal and strong, just like we did in the Bend.” He kissed my fingers.

My mind raced, blanked. But I would not give him the satisfaction of cringing at his hand circling low on my chest.