Chapter 13

Chapter

Thirteen

Vyk

T he morning light crested the Gilded Peaks, as my feet thudded on the hard-packed earth, and my breath puffed from my mouth and then dissipated into the cold air. I had already made three laps around the walls of the academy and my side screamed at me to stop.

Keep going, I told myself, as I pumped my arms higher. Inferno Force does not stop when it hurts. Inferno Force only stops when they die.

I sucked in another bracing breath, grateful that the cold was keeping me alert, and grateful that I could run outside again. After years of running on holo-treadmills on spaceships, it felt good for my feet to pound on soil again. But I hadn’t come for a morning run before the sun had risen because I had missed the sensation of running as the sun rose and breathing in the familiar scents of the woods and streams that surrounded the academy. I had come because I needed to push myself. I needed to remember what it was like to push through pain. I needed to do something to take my mind off the woman I’d entangled myself with, the woman who had haunted every moment of my fitful sleep.

The looming, black stone walls were on my right as I followed them around a tall tower tipped with a ferocious spike. There were two more towers between me and the School of Strategy, which was attached to the outer wall, and then I would round the corner and encounter one more tower until I was at the shipyard. From there, I would pass the School of Flight and start another circuit around the walls.

I snuck another glance at the mountain range, taking a moment to appreciate the light spilling across the ice-capped peaks so they glistened as if they were tipped in liquid silver, as if they were, in fact, gilded. The ancient Drexians had named the mountains well, just as they’d aptly named the sea that tossed waves roughly against the cliffs. The Restless Sea was rarely anything but turbulent.

The mountains gained my awe, but the sea matched my mood. I had been restless and tormented since Fiona had stormed from the card game, and returning to my quarters and climbing into bed had done nothing to quell my racing heart and erratic pulse. I had been through so many battles and had meted out as much death as I’d seen, but rarely had I been so conflicted.

“Over a female,” I scoffed, my warm breath dissolving instantly .

But my protest wasn’t as forceful, and my words not laced with as much disdain as they should have been. I should have been furious with myself for letting a female get into my head. I should have been focused on my work. But instead, I was running around the academy in the cold in a vain attempt to purge myself of feelings I was sure I’d long since abandoned.

I should not feel anything for the human. I should never feel anything for any human female again. I should have learned my lesson. Being betrayed once should have been enough, but here I was, opening myself up for more pain. And there was no doubt in my mind that Fiona would cause me pain.

She was already a pain in my ass. How could spending more time with her be anything but more pain?

Pain you brought upon yourself. Pain you sought out. Pain you want.

I growled and ran faster, kicking up hard clumps of sod that flew behind me. Why would I want pain? Did I think I deserved it? Did I want to torture myself?

You did betray the first-years, a little voice whispered to me as I raced past one tower and then the next. You are one of the reasons Drexian cadets are dead. Don’t you deserve to be punished? Fiona certainly thinks you do.

I gritted my teeth so hard they hurt as I rounded the corner and raced toward the shipyard. The sleek, black hulls of the ships reflected the gold light that was washing over them, and the sight of so many fighters made my chest swell. I thought back to the first time I’d seen the rows of ships lined up on the stone.

I’d been a fresh-faced cadet, with no clue about the academy or what I would have to endure. I had no idea that I would go on to join Inferno Force and spend so much of my life living in shiny, black Drexian ships. I had no idea of the challenges that faced me. If I had, would I have walked through the arched entrance?

“Of course I would have,” I said out loud, my deep voice breaking the peaceful silence.

All the sacrifices had been worth it because I believed in the Drexian Empire. I believed in our mission to protect the universe from cruel aliens. I believed in our duty to protect Earth from the Kronock. Above all, I believed in Drexian honor and might.

It was why I’d returned to the academy. I believed I had a duty to give back and train cadets.

A duty you neglected, the small voice whispered like a venomous snake curled around my ear.

“I will not fail again.” My feet pounded on the stones of the shipyard as I crossed it, and rounded another tower to hug the wall that abutted the sheer cliffs leading down to the Restless Sea. I could hear the thrashing water as it was hurled onto the rocks, even if I couldn’t see it.

I shielded my eyes as the sun hit the water and bounced off, sending blinding gold light off the surface. As bright as it was, I didn’t want to look away. I couldn’t. It was both cruel and beautiful, like everything I was attracted to, and just like Fiona.

She was as tough as she was striking, and it was her hard edges that pulled me to her, even more than her beauty. It wasn’t punishment I wanted when I’d challenged her and made the bet I knew I’d collect. It was the thrill of possessing something both alluring and deadly that I craved .

Not that I possessed Fiona, or probably ever would. She had made it perfectly clear that trying to claim her would be the end of me. But I had never been one to shrink from a challenge. I’d danced on the edge of danger for so long when I served in Inferno Force, but the academy held fewer chances for risk.

Fiona was a risk. If I pushed her, she could cut my throat. If I succeeded in winning her over, I would have to admit that what I truly desired was a human. If I fell for her harder than I already had, I would never recover if she rejected me. If there was ever a lose-lose-lose scenario, I was in it.