Page 18 of The Blind Hordesman

“You’re gonna play his hand?”

“We’ve been predictable and chasing after him. We go where he wants us to go, ultimately never finding him. War is never won with predictable tactics, even if the strategy is solid, and right now, he thinks he’s winning. Well, he is, and I want to keep him thinking that way. I want him to get a little less afraid of me and a little more comfortable thinking he can lead me around. I am at this shitty-ass exposed location, and I want to wait a bit, see if I can draw him out.”

“You’re not good at waiting.”

“I don’t intend to spend a year here.”

“A week?”

Annoyed, I rattle. “Bring me the division Alphas. I’ll decide which division will go after the new info I got from Dreikx. The rest will leave after the Omega bakes all the Betaren. One unit, pick any one, stays with me.”

“Seer, there’s pounds and pounds of Betaren.”

“Then they better don aprons and help her in the kitchen.”

“She’s got sisters for that.”

“Keep those girls away from the Omega.” I’ve overheard the Betas speak ill of Kiki. I didn’t like it, and they’re fucking lucky she puts me in a good mood and I haven’t strapped them all onto poles.

“You want Alphas to start baking?”

“Nah, they can just lie around and jerk off all day while she works alone. Those pounds and pounds of Betaren are gonna take a while to bake into cookies.”

“Damn it, Seer. Nobody’s gonna like this.”

“Oh, they’ll like it just fine, Noslov. Name one male who doesn’t want her attention.”

He doesn’t, and I have my answer. Noslov likes Kiki. And I have a problem with that. I shouldn’t have a problem with him liking any Omega, but I do and so it is what it is. “Anything else?” I prompt.

He taps my drawing. “Her toes aren’t painted.”

Motherfucker.

Chapter 8

Kiki

In the cellar, I hike a sack of Betaren powder onto my shoulder and climb the steps, heading for the kitchen, when the door opens. I throw the sack and rush to hide behind the wine rack, then peek around it. My sisters pour down the stairs and stop by the wine racks across from me.

“The Warlords are staying,” Janice says. “ Father won’t like that. We have to get out of here.”

“How?” Helen asks.

“Gogo’s horses.”

“And how do we get to Gogo’s place? Besides, Menila and Mosia can’t carry us all.”

“They can carry the four of us.”

“And Kiki?”

“The Collectors are coming for her.”

Oh no. I bite my lip.

“And the others?” Helen asks. The others are my sisters who are unable to make decisions on their own.

“We leave them,” Janice says.

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