Page 2 of Consumed By Fire

They know each other.

I frown. What the fuck is going on here?

“I’m sorry. This is a mistake,” the human says; her voice is anguished.

“You know this Red?” I ask her, trying to keep the growl from my voice and failing. I clench my fists at my sides. “What is going on? Tell me right now!”

Kim nods. “I know her. You have to let her go. She’s good. She helped me escape from the Red males who held us hostage. Please, Octane.” It all comes out in a rush. “She brought me back to Blaze. She didn’t have to, but she did because I asked her to. I begged her. I promised her that she wouldn’t be hurt. That she wouldn’t be detained. I promised, Octane. She trusted me. She helped me and look where it landed her. You have to let her go home right now,” she begs. Her voice is high-pitched and grating.

“It’s not my fault you made promises you can’t keep,” I tell her. “We had a plan. Capture a Red and gather the information we need. Here is our Red.” I point at the female.

“Not her. She’s my friend!” Kim shouts so loud I wince. “What are you not understanding? I promised. A promise means everything to me.”

“I told you that you made a promise you should never have made. It’s not my promise to keep, Kim. My promise is to my people. To Draig. I swore an oath to protect them at any cost. This female is the answer,” I tell her.

A Red, her friend? I think not. I am going to have to proceed with caution, as it is clear that this Red is capable of serious manipulation.

Good information to have.

“No!” Kim yells. “I won’t let you,” she says in a much softer voice.

“You won’t let me?” I shake my head, locking my eyes with hers. “Sorry, human. That might work on Blaze, but it sure as shit won’t work on me.”

“You can’t keep her,” Shadow says, her voice commanding.

“Why not?” I growl. “It’s a perfectly good Red.” I point at the female in question, who is looking at me with venom.

“Not it!” Kim says, her voice animated. “She! What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Why can’t I keep her?” I ask Shadow a second time. The human’s opinion means nothing to me. I frown, folding my arms.

“She’s with child,” Shadow says, her eyes moving to the Red.

What?

No!

I let my eyes trace down her naked form, really looking at her body for the first time. Her breasts are heavy, tipped with dark nipples, and her belly is lightly curved. So lightly curved that you might miss it if you weren’t looking for it.

I wasn’t!

Fuck!

“Trinity?” Kim says, the word coming out in a gasp.

The Red puts her hands on her belly in a protective gesture. “Please,” she whispers, looking from Shadow to Kim and back again.

“I’m keeping her,” I say, taking the Red by the arm.

The female resists, pulling away.

“Stop!” I warn her. “I captured her. She is now my prisoner,” I tell Shadow. “We had an agreement.”

“To capture a male Red and to question him,” Shadow tells me.

“We never specified male or female,” I retaliate.

“I didn’t think we had to specify,” Shadow retorts. “Red females are rare. Besides, she is with child, Octane. You have to be reasonable.”

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