Page 135 of The Edge of Dawn

“As if I’m a demon that’s crawled out of one of the Nine Hells. I’m not as terrible as you think. Of all people, you should understand that.”

“That remains to be seen.” Dragek turned to Tarak. “How can you be so certain he’s telling the truth?”

Tarak was closely inspecting one of his swords. It was pitted and nicked in places. Nothing could damage the Callidum edge except another piece of Callidum. “Kail confirmed it.”

“What’s so special about him that he can determine a thing like that?”

“He’s a temanjin,” Tarak said simply.

Dragek gave him a blank look. He had no idea what that meant.

“Hunter of souls, seeker of truth, deliverer of justice. His truth-sense is like no other.”

Dragek couldn’t hide his skepticism. Was the leader of the entire rebel fleet basing his decisions—ones that would affect the entire fate of the Universe, no less—upon a hunch?

“Some things in our Universe defy explanation. One simply has to be able to determine whether to have faith in them or not. With your Talent, even you should be able to gauge Amun’s intentions to some extent.”

“Hm.” Point taken. Everything he was—and everything he’d discovered with his sarien—was equally as mysterious. Tarak was right. He hadn’t sensed any malicious intent from Amun since their first encounter, even though Dragek had held a dagger to his neck.

“You thought I was some typical evil bastard, didn’t you?” Amun said dryly. “A puppet of the old regime.”

“I don’t presume to know what you are. But if it turns out that you’ve deceived us, I’ll make a point to kill you personally. Slowly. That’s all.”

“If it turns out I’ve deceived you, none of us will continue to exist as we are, anyway. Have a little faith in your commander, katach. The sophistication of his strategic mind has allowed for all of this to occur.”

“Those aren’t the words of a sworn enemy.”

“Who said I was your enemy?”

Tired of the back-and-forth, Dragek turned to Tarak. “What are we supposed to do with him now?”

“He’s contained for now. We’ll deal with him later. First, we need to neutralize the imminent threat. We go to Duxuth.” Tarak sheathed his sword and looked at a holo display depicting the topography of Duxuth in intricate detail. “Amun will show us where this portal is located.”

“You’ll destroy it?”

“Perhaps.” Tarak’s expression was maddeningly inscrutable.

Everyone had secrets and plans. Tarak included. But Dragek was beginning to tire of the subterfuge.

Especially when it didn’t all quite make sense.

He preferred to deal in absolutes. The games these higher-ups played were exhausting.

“I ordered them not to do anything until I reach Duxuth,” Amun growled. “They want to send a squad back through the portal to a time when you were vulnerable. When they could easily take your head. That hasn’t been possible for a very long time, has it? They mostly heed my commands, but I can’t promise they’ll wait for me. Especially Isnarek. He’s the most dangerous of the remaining nobles.”

If talk of his own death bothered Tarak, he didn’t show it. But then again, he’d probably been threatened like this a thousand times over. “I’ll deal with him. Give me the coordinates. Now.”

“First, show me evidence that you’ll follow through on your promise to retrieve Dyana alive and well.”

Dyana. Was that the name of Amun’s sister?

Dragek had never heard of a third Kazharan sibling, let alone a female.

These infernal nobles held far too many secrets.

“They’re already on the way.” Tarak brought up a holofeed that showed a sleek cruiser moving rapidly through space. A set of coordinates appeared. “Headed for the ship you identified. Check the coordinates yourself.”

Amun’s single eye narrowed. “I trust you understand the implications of her existence.”

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