Page 120 of The Edge of Dawn

And she clung to the one thing she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt.

This male, who had let her into his secret heart, a place he’d kept pure against all odds… She wanted to go after him.

To move forward, even if not everything made perfect sense.

Never backward. What was the point of that?

“Let’s do it.” The steel in her own voice surprised her. “Bring me the damn thing. I’ll give it a shot.”

Noa smiled. “I was hoping you would say that. Sometimes, you just have to trust your gut and go for it. With these sorts of things, you never know what might happen. I’ll call Elgon right away.”

FORTY

Invisible and silent, he passed down the corridors of the enemy ship, walking a path that was so inherently familiar.

He must’ve traveled on hundreds of ships similar to this. Typical imperial military craft. Sometimes, he’d even accompanied soldiers on missions, usually to clean up the still-breathing mess they left behind.

He’d never worked with the First Division, though. Never fought alongside comrades who had so willingly accepted him.

He’d always been shunned and avoided. Feared.

They’d acted like he didn’t exist, covertly making signs of the Goddess as he passed.

As if he was unaware.

But he’d seen everything with his sixth sense, and he’d detested them all the more.

Dragek pushed dark thoughts from his mind. Get on with it.

Jade was waiting for him, and every fiber of his existence was stretched taut with heightened awareness. His Talent had always given him a superior sense of his surroundings, but now, with the Mating Fever surging through his veins, his perception was off the charts.

His bloodlust was heightened. He had to fight to suppress his killing aura.

This was rather dangerous. If he encountered the wrong kind of enemy, he might very well lose it.

But he’d spun the thread of her presence around his dark heart.

It centered him.

He passed the cargo hold. He moved amongst chambers and quarters, some of which contained living beings—humans.

With his ka’qui, he could see beyond the walls. There were dozens of them. All female. Some of them were sleeping. Others were quietly biding their time, seated and doing Kaiin-knows-what, or softly conversing in human-speech.

He sensed the children, too. Some of them were closely entwined with the humans. Their presences felt slightly different from the pure-blooded humans. Their auras were unlike anything Dragek had sensed before—a distinct mixture of human and Kordolian.

Fucking children.

The dark anger within him deepened even more. These children were no doubt the result of coerced breeding. Unlike the human mates of Tarak and his warriors, these women were prisoners.

But right now, they weren’t shackled or restrained.

They were mostly left to their own devices, behind sealed doors.

Where were the guards?

Where were the soldiers?

Dragek quashed his curiosity and moved on. He had only one objective, and he would stick to it.

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