Chapter 9

An armed escort is assigned to take us across the city and all the way up to the command center. There are a dozen guards with laser rifles, each pointing more or less in my direction as the buggy drags its wheels along the paved road.

I look around, trying to imagine what this place must’ve looked like before. The command center was the crown jewel of this cultural haven, judging by the letters carved atop the main entrance. The Academy of Science and Technology, they say.

The ghost of Pearl City Past lingers everywhere like a distant memory, a silent cry of every wall and every street and every shelf for times long gone, while military vehicles and uniforms, laser weapons and sharp blades have become the norm—of course, this applies to the areas where there is an abundance of soldiers present. Everywhere else it’s the mayhem we saw through the binoculars, as well. Houses burned down. Slums. Misery and aggression.

One thing is certain, and we’ve seen it too often to be surprised at its presence in Pearl City: Sooner or later, everything the Sky Tribe touches turns to rubble.

“Stay feisty until they put you in a holding cell,” Fadai mutters.

Yossul pulls over at the base of the command center’s white marble stairs. The armed guards step aside while he and Fadai get out of the buggy first. I wriggle and curse like a sailor as they yank me out of the back seat and force me up the steps with firm, harsh gestures. No mercy for the Kreek whore, and the guards don’t seem to mind it, not one bit. In fact, I see a couple of them smiling as I’m taken through the front doors.

“Let me go!” I snarl and try to get away, but Fadai’s got a firm grip on my upper arm.

“Don’t make me give you a black eye,” he replies, loud enough for the others to hear.

The command center is riddled with officers and low-level grunts. I’ve already learned the colors and patterns of each of their shoulder tresses, but it’s obvious from the way they carry themselves—the soldiers keep their heads down unless they’re greeting an officer, while the higher-ups walk like they own the fucking place. Typical hierarchical arrogance. Yet one more thing that makes them remarkably similar to humans.

Power is a dangerous drug.

Yossul and Fadai drag me across the lobby to the main desk, where a young man sits, filing various documents into their appropriate folders and drawers. He looks up, and his eyes bulge with shock when he realizes who and what I am. His jaw practically drops to the floor. Man, they would throw a party if they could.

“What is this?” the receptionist asks, his voice trembling slightly.

“What does it look like? Victory for the Sky Tribe,” Yossul replies. “We need to see the commanding officer. Is Helton still in charge here?”

The receptionist stares at me for a moment before he’s able to give a coherent answer. “Yes, he still is. Where did you find her?”

“I will not repeat myself to yet another clerk!” Yossul barks. “I need to see Helton.”

“Oh, it’s not just Helton who will be interested in hearing your story,” the receptionist replies and presses a button on his desktop. Within seconds, the whole lobby is flooded with black-uniformed soldiers, and my knees get weak. “General Hull will be just as pleased.”

“Shit,” I mumble.

We didn’t anticipate this. Our intel had Hull deployed somewhere in Emerald City, not here. Shit, shit, shit. As soon as he sees me, he won’t want to let me go. He’ll tie me up and shove me in his bag if he has to.

My blood runs cold as I try to think of a way out. Yossul and Fadai are just as pale, but they keep their cool and nod in agreement.

“General Shaytan Hull is here,” Fadai manages. “What fortune.”

“Yes,” the receptionist says. “The black uniforms will take you to the holding cells. We need to keep this one nice and snug for the general.”

“Lead the way,” Yossul says to one of the newly arrived guards.

They’re part of Hull’s personal detail, only they wear the black leather tunics with gold-threaded tresses on their broad shoulders. They’re the biggest and meanest fuckers around, too. I’ve had my run-ins with their kind over the years—more than once, I almost got my ass handed to me.

The problem we’re suddenly faced with, however, is that Shaytan Hull knows what the Kreek brothers look like. He’s seen them in battle. He might recognize them, and so might some of these fellas, though none of those present seem familiar. They could be from another battalion or be fresh blood since we did wipe out half of Hull’s personal guard about six months ago during one of our Ruby City missions.

Oh, God, this doesn’t feel right.We didn’t plan for this. It was supposed to be dangerous and risky, sure, but not at such a potentially deadly level. If Hull recognizes Yossul and Fadai, we’re fucked and then some. All will be lost.

I give Yossul a terrified look as he and his brother continue playing their parts. They flank me and follow the black guards down a narrow, dark corridor leading to the underground level. My breath feels heavy and ragged as we pass by the first few cells—they’re holding dissidents here, from what I can tell. These people look tired and weak. They’ve probably been down here for weeks, months, or even years. Their clothes are tattered, their eyes reduced to slits against the dim lighting mounted in the hallway. Damn, I don’t want to end up like them. My heart is the size of a flea, beating faster and harder as I analyze every single detail around me, down to the very shape of the keyholes. I’ve got a bobby pin that can handle most of them, but what if—

“The general is in a meeting,” one of the black guards says as we stop in front of an empty cell, then slides the door open. “The Kreek whore can stay here until then.”

“Let go of me!” I snap and try to get out of Fadai’s hold once more. I don’t have to work extra hard to pretend I’m scared. I am fucking scared. “I’m not going in there!”

“Shut the fuck up, you’re done for,” Yossul replies and tosses me in.

I land on my belly with a painful thud, my wrists still bound. “Motherf…” I roll over and gather myself into a seated position, the cold stone floor sending shivers up my spine. “You’re not going to win this war!”

“We already have,” Fadai shoots back as the guard locks me in.

“Where will we be staying?” Yossul asks.

“You’ll have a guest room at the Blackstone Inn,” the guard replies. “The command center will pay for it. You deserve high-quality accommodations for this impressive feat. We can’t have you sharing the local soldiers’ barracks. They’re mindless goons and contemptuous oafs.”

“Ah, I take it you fellas aren’t from around here,” Yossul chuckles.

The guard shakes his head. “We’re General Hull’s touring guards. We follow him outside of Ruby City wherever he goes.”

“And you don’t like the guys here?”

“No one likes them,” the guard says. “This place is mayhem. You must’ve spotted the smoke coming out of the eastern blocks.”

“We did, yes,” Fadai replies.

“There’s a gang of troublemakers there, and they”ve been at it for months, and the soldiers of Pearl City have yet to quell that rebellion. It’s embarrassing. We’ll be going out tomorrow to put an end to that nonsense. We”re doing our job for them.”

So, the Pearl City soldiers are as disillusioned and as disinterested as the ones we saw in Diamond City. Without a firm hand, it’s only a matter of time before this place becomes a desolate hellscape as well. I don’t think the black uniforms are meant to be here on a long-term basis.

Sure, they’ll fix a skirmish across town while they’re stationed in the area, but what will happen once they’re gone? Another power-hungry warlord, another sociopath with delusions of grandeur, will try to take over. More of the city will burn down, more innocent people will die, and for what?

It makes me sick to my stomach that the Sunnaites have allowed this nonsense to carry on for so long. I’ve come to genuinely appreciate the creed of the Fire Tribe. I don’t regret fighting for them, fighting with them. At least they’re striving toward peace. We’ve had Sapphire City for a few years, and that place is only getting better. There is peace and even the promise of prosperity behind its blue walls. Opal City follows a similar pattern, and they’re doing all right.

In the meantime, the rest of Sunna is a fucking hot mess. And I’m smack in the middle of it.

“Let us know if you need any help,” Yossul tells the guard. “We’re not used to sitting back and relaxing, not since we’ve been tasked with catching this bitch.”

“You caught her,” the guard says. “Come on, let’s get you to the inn. You both stink.”

They laugh, and I could puke. I don’t like the idea of being here while Shaytan Hull is in the area, but I ran out of alternative options the minute I insisted on being a part of this mission. I dare not admit to regretting my decision.

“Attention!” another black guard shouts from the end of the hallway. “Lieutenant Pyrin is coming.”

“Oh, no,” I mumble, horror quickly grabbing me by the throat as I scramble backward until I hit the farthest, darkest corner of my cell. “No, no, no.”

This is it. The moment of truth.

Blaze Pyrin joins Yossul and Fadai outside my cell while the black guard takes a step back. I freeze in my corner, ice filling my veins as I hold my breath. Lieutenant Pyrin is Shaytan Hull’s right-hand man, his closest friend and advisor. He and I have had a few run-ins over the years, though we’ve never been this close. To say that I’m genuinely terrified would be an understatement.

He stares at me in heavy silence for the longest of minutes as tension fills the entire underground level. The black guards remain quiet, as do Yossul and Fadai—though the bulk in their shoulders tells me they’re ready to draw their weapons and fight their way out of here if they have to.

Blaze Pyrin is in his mid-thirties and on the handsome side, with rich black hair and slim, swirling horns dressed in shimmering black threads. He wears the Sky Tribe colors on his short tunic of black and blue leather with matching pants and knee-high boots. His tail twitches anxiously behind him as he narrows his red eyes at me.

“Don’t you look like a scrumptious dessert,” he mutters, a grin stretching across his thin lips.

I’d like nothing more than to set that goatee of his on fire. “And you look like something the hounds dragged in,” I reply dryly.

Blaze laughs harshly, then shifts his focus to Yossul and Fadai. “Lieutenants Hass and Kiel, I’m told?” he asks, and the Kreek brothers nod slowly. “You look familiar. I guess I’ve seen you both at the barracks in Ruby City at one point or another.”

“We’ve even fought together,” Yossul says. “It was an honor to serve by your side, sir.”

“Oh, spare me the flattery. Why haven’t you checked in with your commanding officer?” Blaze replies, a frown pulling his brows together.

“We didn’t have time, sir, and we couldn’t risk detection on any of the comms lines,” Yossul says. “We don’t want the Fire Tribe to know we captured their Kreek whore alive. They might come looking for her like they did in the past for the others, and we didn’t want to risk any tails into Pearl City. Not with the starship here.”

Blaze nods in agreement. “Well thought. I’ll make a note in your files for your appraisal. You’ve earned it.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“What will happen to her?” Fadai asks, his voice low and cold.

“Oh, General Hull and I will claim her as our own,” Blaze says. “Since we’ll be bringing more women over from Earth, Jewel won’t be needed in the breeding centers. We’ll make a family of our own.”

“Sir?” Yossul manages, his eyes bulging with shock. “The Kreek whore is not worth such an honor.”

“But she is. She’s been a worthy adversary, to say the least,” Blaze shoots back, half-smiling as he glances my way. “Beautiful, fierce, resourceful. Yes, the damages we incurred on her account are horrific, but damn, I want my kids to have her spunk and resilience. They’ll be the greatest warriors Sunna has ever seen.”

I don’t know whether to puke or simply breathe a sigh of relief. Blaze hasn’t recognized Yossul and Fadai as the Kreek brothers—not yet, anyway. That should take some of the edge off, but the thought of ending up as his and Shaytan’s wife is a whole new level of nightmare for me.

There’s no way I’m spending any more time in this place than I’m supposed to. One way or another, I will get out.

The problem is that, with Blaze and Shaytan in the house, springing me out of jail will be infinitely more dangerous than we originally theorized. And keeping Yossul and Fadai in Pearl City undercover will be even more difficult, especially if Shaytan recognizes them.

“When is the general due to return?” Fadai asks Blaze.

“Later tonight. Where will you two be staying?”

“The Blackwood Inn, sir,” the black guard politely interjects. “I took the liberty of making that decision as soon as I saw the Kreek whore in their possession. They’ve earned such a treat, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Absolutely,” Blaze replies. “Tell you what, fellas,” he adds, looking at Yossul and Fadai with a broad smile. “The general and I will gladly buy you a hefty dinner tomorrow night, as well. By then, Jewel will be accommodated in our private chambers. We’ll eat and drink with you, and then we’ll put a baby in that stubborn belly of hers. That’ll teach her to mess with the Sky Tribe, don’t you agree?”

“Yes, sir,” Fadai chuckles softly.

But the uneasiness is clearly imprinted on his features. Yossul is quietly seething in his Sky Tribe uniform; hands balled tightly at his sides. They can’t do anything right now. They have no choice but to keep playing their parts. They’ll let the black guards escort them to the Blackwood Inn. They’ll regroup there, and then they’ll come back to get me.

If Blaze’s statement holds true, I’ll be taken out of this cell and moved to his and Shaytan’s Pearl City residence before tomorrow evening, so our time frame has gotten tighter and way more uncomfortable than I’d hoped.

For a moment, I’m tempted to lose hope and expect the worst.

I didn’t come here to lose, though.

Regardless of Blaze’s proud grin, regardless of Shaytan”s proximity, I cannot let these bastards destroy my resolve—not before I destroy their precious starship.