Page 100 of The Edge of Dawn

Was he… coming with them?

He, the absolute authority, the high commander of this entire operation, intended to fight?

The corner of Dragek’s mouth curled in amusement and astonishment. Such a thing was nearly unheard of. None of the Masters and Mistresses involved in The Program would have deigned to set foot on the battlefield. They’d been above that, supposedly.

Not Tarak.

“You’re…” Dragek hesitated, trying to reconcile Tarak’s fearsome reputation with the man standing before him. The general was known as a ruthless killer, one of the most elite warriors the Empire had ever produced. He’d survived the most brutal experiments in a program that had killed thousands.

He had Callidum-infused nanites in his bloodstream. His body regenerated at unnatural speed. He was almost impossible to destroy.

Dragek knew. He’d been briefed on the First Division and their leader dozens of times.

“You’re not what I’d expected,” he managed to say at last, not quite understanding why he was suddenly filled with this strange emotion.

It took him a while to even begin to identify it.

Because he’d never experienced it before.

No…

Surely, he wasn’t feeling loyalty toward this man.

Tarak was the one who’d ordered the kill-switch to be implanted inside him. For all their lofty ideals, the Darkstar Mercenaries still played by Kordolian rules.

The general took a step toward him. “Do you think I’m weak, katach?” His voice turned cold. The threat was there, hidden beneath layers of icy control. Others might have missed it, but Dragek understood.

On this mission, there was no room for dissent. Not even a particle’s width.

And Tarak al Akkadian was no less dangerous than before.

No. He was even more dangerous now that he had something to protect.

What a formidable aura.

“I think… contact with the humans has enlightened you, not made you weak,” Dragek said carefully. “And in order to protect such a vulnerable race of beings, perhaps… one has to become immeasurably stronger.”

Tarak nodded. “I wasn’t wrong when I sensed you were redeemable.” A strange note entered his voice, and Dragek sensed something of great significance was happening. But what exactly that was, he didn’t know.

It was as if Tarak saw something that nobody else could.

For a brief moment, the pent-up fury of Dragek’s Mating Fever was held at bay, tempered by the promise of change.

“I don’t care about redemption,” he said gruffly. “Freedom, a quiet existence, and to protect my mate from harm—that’s all I want.”

“Then you understand that we need to eliminate every last trace of dissent. None can be allowed to remain because, over time, dissent spreads and multiplies, and I will not tolerate any remnants of that poison in my Universe.”

“Then why are you allowing the other Kazharan to live? If he’s so important to our enemies, why not just let me kill him?”

“If he is indeed the real Amun, as we have almost certainly confirmed, then he is Xalikian’s brother,” Tarak said matter-of-factly. “Remember that you, too, were once a grave enemy of mine. Despite what you might have heard, I don’t wish to slaughter my own people indiscriminately. Our history has always been dark. The existence of the Empire was rooted in the subjugation and slavery of others. In some of our kind, there’s a sickness of mind that will never be cured. But there are also those of us who have been forced to become monsters. I was one of them. So were you. It’s no secret that I need Amun alive for strategic reasons, but if there is any possibility he can be turned, we would be foolish to squander it. Rest assured that if I decide he is beyond redemption, I will not hesitate to make sure he never sees the light of the stars again.”

At that moment, Dragek understood. This was how they should be. Tender toward the ones they cherished. As hard and sharp as honed Callidum against the ones that would destroy everything that was theirs. And fluid like water with the ones that wavered.

Lost for words, he simply nodded his understanding.

In the background, he held onto a tendril of Jade’s sweet, slumbering aura.

Suddenly, all the harshness flowed out of Tarak, replaced with the most shocking sense of familiarity. His expression changed. The corners of his eyes crinkled ever so slightly. One side of his mouth quirked as if he didn’t have a care in the Universe. “So.” He gestured toward the ship’s dark opening. “Are you ready?”

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