Page 89 of Princess Broken

“Who made the rules then?” I ask. “The one you call your master?”

He blinks as if startled, but then nods. He lowers both legs to the floor, his posture stiff again, tense.

“Why didn’t the master, your Maker, want you four to have other friends—or lovers?”

Crusher stares ahead for a moment, but then his shoulders visibly relax as he turns toward me again. “Relationships make people weak. Emotions lead to bad decisions.”

“Really?” I shake my head. “That hasn’t been my experience. To me, caring about others generates more motivation to protect them. And to be your very best version of yourself.”

I saw that happen with my sestra, Selina, and her loves, and also with Ember and hers. And I saw it in others over the years.

Crusher blinks a few times, and his jaw twitches. I’ve made him think about this—I hope.

“And since you’re no longer under your master’s control,” I add softly. “Why still follow his rules?”

Crusher’s chin rises, as if he’s finally found answers to my questions. “Because the code keeps us safe. It keeps us strong. It allows us to safely and successfully complete our missions.”

His deep voice reverberates through the room, and stirs inside my belly. Clearly, for Crusher, this matter is closed. I’ve enough diplomatic experience to know that one cannot expect to turn minds with a single conversation.

“Flame’s actions weren’t why I wanted to speak with you,” Crusher says.

“They’re not?”

“Not beyond offering my apology.” He shakes his head as if annoyed that he let me go off his intended topic. “Flames indiscretions are between me and Flame. I’ll handle him.”

They’re between Flame and me too, and between me and Blade as well, unless I’m reading Blade wrong. Blade seemed upset when he found me with Flame, but for different reasons than Crusher and Phil. Blade was hurt and jealous.

I don’t point that out to Crusher. “Okay. What do you want to discuss?”

“Our mission,” he replies. “We gathered some information, but I require more.”

“What did you discover?” I lean on the arm of my chair, shifting my body toward him.

“Mariano is most definitely looking for you. We had confirmation of that from several sources. In fact, one of the people we questioned called his interest in finding you an obsession. Mariano has spies not only inside DEFTA but elsewhere in the city. If you were Above, no doubt he’d have found you by now.”

Spies inside DEFTA? I wonder if any of the security team who went with me that day knew the ambush was coming?

A shiver runs through me, thinking of Mariano’s ugly face, the malice dripping from his expression and from the tone of his voice. I fully understand why the vampire boss would resent me. I posed a threat to his authority. But what happened that day didn’t make logical sense.

Mariano knows I have the entire Vampiric Council behind me, not to mention the monarchy. He knew that killing me would only hasten the end of his ill-gotten authority. Assuming Mariano is motivated by power and money, his actions did not make sense. Neither did attacking our delegation with weapons only lethal to humans.

“Before I go Above to confront Mariano directly,” Crusher says, “I need to ask you some questions. And you must be forthcoming so we can properly protect you.”

“Ask me anything.” I smile. “I’m an open book.” Especially if answering his questions means I can go back above ground.

“Good.” He nods. His eyes flash a smile, but only for a split second before his expression turns back to business. “First, what was the purpose of the meeting at the Mariano Syndicate headquarters?”

“You know that.” I tip my head. “You were there.”

One of his shoulders tips up slightly. “I need to hear it from your side.”

“Sure.” I see no reason to withhold information about that meeting. “During the time that Octavia controlled DEFTA, she made agreements with unsanctioned syndicates. Syndicates run by vampires who were human mobsters. Many of those unsanctioned syndicate bosses were in fact turned by Octavia herself—including Mariano.”

“That tracks.” Crusher looks at me intently, his amber eyes and olive skin making me wonder what part of the world his human family came from. Not that it matters beyond my wanting to know more about this commanding vampire who insists he’s not in charge.

I smile inwardly, loving how Crusher directs the others without overt force or any of the pompous behavior I’ve seen in other males. In this way, Crusher reminds me of King Dunkan. But my father would never deny that he’s the one in charge—even now that he’s passing some authority to the Vampiric Council.

“Octavia,” I continue, “she granted significant powers to these newly formed syndicates. Powers that allowed them to operate outside of vampiric laws and systems.”

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