Page 132 of The Edge of Dawn

“No fucking games,” Dragek snapped. “You will tell us exactly what we need to know about this threat.” He glanced at Tarak. “He might be in control, but I’m not so restrained.” He let some of his aggression seep into his voice. Then, he allowed some of his tightly restrained ka’qui to escape.

Even a normie like Amun should be able to feel how close to breaking point he was.

“He’s fairly new to the team,” Tarak said mildly. “Doesn’t follow my orders so well.”

The general actually had the temerity to wink at him.

In the midst of a life-and-death negotiation.

Wily bastard.

Tarak knew all too well that he had complete control over him on account of the kill-switch. He was just using Dragek’s current state to his advantage—to add an extra layer of threat and unpredictability to the situation.

“Wait a moment.” Tarak issued a summons through his comm.

Kail.

Moments later, the big warrior appeared. He shrugged and leaned against the far wall, a big, menacing figure melting into the background.

Did that mean the rest of the ship was already secured?

Had Rykal and Kalan arrived?

Dragek used his heightened ka’qui to scan the surrounding area. The passengers of the ship didn’t seem panicked. They weren’t fighting.

Everything was under control.

For now.

“You’re just lucky that my goals don’t entirely align with the ambitions of the ones that put me here.” At last, Amun spoke. “Do you have any idea what exists on that desolate planet?”

“Enlighten us,” Tarak growled.

“Before their downfall, the Zor used portals to move rapidly from one sector to the next. Theoretically, one could step off a planet in the Ninth Sector and end up in Kythia.” Amun smiled, baring his fangs. It was a cold smile devoid of humor and laced with bitterness. “Our former masters built a network of these devices. One in each sector. If you had read carefully through the documents you stole from the hidden library, you would have known this already.”

Tarak stared at Amun impassively, saying nothing.

Kail’s cold, flat gaze bored into the back of Amun’s head. If Amun was aware of Kail’s presence, he gave no indication.

“Anyway, the planet we’re going to, Duxuth, has one of these such portals. One can travel directly to Kythia from there. Not only that, it’s only two of nine to contain a tesseract.”

“Has it been tested?” Tarak’s aura changed. Dragek couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but suddenly, the air around them was brittle with tension.

“It has indeed. We think it works. We lost two. Got one back. According to the sole survivor, it definitely works. But only to a certain location on Kythia. They want to try it again. To send a team back to a certain point in time.”

“They?”

“Didn’t you keep a record of the nobles that escaped your bloody revolution on Kythia, general? Lord Isnarek, Lord Vuar, and Lady Asola, to name a few. And then, you have an entire retinue of advisors and strategists and would-be emperor-makers, all waiting to carve up their piece of the New Empire.”

“They installed you.”

Amun’s expression darkened. “Yes.”

“They can remove you.”

“Not if I remove them first.”

“They want to cut off your head before you can even think of it.”

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