Page 25 of Brutal Empire

“I’m always ready,” I bit back with a smile against my water bottle.

“You seem happy to go.” And although she didn’t smile, I could hear the gentleness in her tone. Fuck. I felt like a dick whenever my innuendos went over her head.

“We’re not going to save the world sitting on our asses, are we?”

She seemed to ponder my question. She sat and turned her profile to me. Even though she still kept a distance, I knew the time together had started to make her a little less cautious around me. Since last time, I had not touched her again, and that was for the best.

“You want to save the world?” she scoffed. “We are not good people.”

“I’m not a good person, but you, I’d say otherwise.”

She bit her lip and looked away.

“I’ve killed people too,” she admitted.

“Monsters,” I said, and she turned toward me once more. “What Daphne had you kill were monsters. Those people don’t deserve to be living.”

She seemed to think about this. I was about to get up since I was starting to learn her tells, and I knew that once she was done having a conversation, she wouldn’t speak anymore.

“Are you killing monsters too?”

I shook my head.

“No, I’ll kill anyone and anything that gets in my way.”

* * *

Cam

One month later

“Your form is all wrong.”

The sound of Bastian’s voice grated my ears.

I should have gotten used to it by now. He silently watched me as I trained, and then he would point out something wrong every day without fail.

And every day, I would stay quiet for minutes, maybe an hour, until I worked up the courage to ask how I was wrong. Because it always followed with Bastian standing up and making his way toward me.When Roman left us, it almost felt like the buffer we had was gone, which was weird because I didn’t know Bastian Kingsley enough to have any sort of reaction—except every time my gaze locked with those dark ones, something in me couldn’t stand it, and I had to look away.

A few minutes passed as I continued training when I found myself asking,”What is wrong this time?”

There was a hint of a smile as if he was gloating, but it was gone instantly, almost making me believe I had made it up.

“You don’t have to listen to anything I say,” he flippantly mocked as he got up.

It was always the same. He would get up, come near me, and then say, “May I?” while pointing to the part of my body he would touch. After I gave the okay, he would put his arm around me.

“Daphne never touched me,” I huffed out, annoyed.

“And that’s why you have many errors,” he countered.

“Daphne doesn’t strike me as the type of person who would continue mediocre training.”

Bastian started to laugh. The corners of his eyes crinkled, the lines defined as if it was something he always did. It was odd. I tried to recall the last time I laughed, the last time I smiled, and I came up empty.

I might not remember anything of mine, but I did rememberhis—my master’s. His laugh wasn’t anything like Bastian’s. His every smile and laughter was laced with venom, and it always rained down on me.

My wrists, legs, and abdomen burned. The room was cold, and I was on top of a metal table in my stupid dress. Time ceased to exist underneath the devil’s lair. It could have been hours or days, but time didn’t matter anymore. All I wanted was death.

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