Page 40 of Warlord's Plaything

"You’re gonna have to be more specific, warlord. I do a lot of things that piss you off."

I exhale slowly, dragging a hand down my face.

"You lost people tonight."

Something flickers in her gaze.

Anger.

Pain.

She masks it well, but not from me.

"That wasn’t a battle,"I say, circling her now, slow like a predator closing in."It was a massacre."

She doesn’t flinch.

But her jaw tightens.

Good.

Let her feel it.

Let her fucking remember.

"They knew you were coming, Hira."

Her breath shudders just slightly, a crack in her armor.

But then—she smirks."What, feeling sorry for me now?"

"No."

I close the distance between us too fast.

Her breath catches.

Not in fear.

Not in submission.

But in something else.

"You’re getting reckless."My voice is low, dangerous. “And it’s going to get you fucking killed."

She laughs. A sharp, breathless sound that scrapes along my spine."Oh, don’t pretend you care."

My grip tightens around her chin.

Not hard enough to hurt.

Just enough to say—stop lying to both of us.

"If I didn’t care, you’d already be dead."

Her lashes flicker, but she doesn’t pull away.

Instead—she presses closer."And here I thought you were just keeping me alive to watch me burn."

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