Page 149 of Centaur Bolt

I peered at him. He did look familiar to me. And then I had it. He’d been strung up in one of Xumi’s pleasure rooms. Not the one Ace died in, but another. I’d seen him there, once, when I’d been summoned to her. And I’d heard things, after her death…

He looked right at me. “I’m the one who killed Xumi.”

Fucking hell. “I wanted her dead. Wanted to do it myself,” I snarled.

“What did she do to you?” he asked.

I paced away from him, and then back again, wrestling with my inner monster. I didn’t have to answer him. But… I did.

As the words fell from my lips, the rage crashed through me, and my talons sprouted again from my fingertips. But I was all out of mercenaries to slaughter…

He regarded me without alarm. Which was either foolish, or he hid his reactions well. Likely the latter.

“You had the right to kill her,” he said. “But I was in the time and place to do so. And I did.”

I looked away from him, down to the valley. Breathed in, and out. And then nodded. “It is good she is dead.”

He stood in silence for a few moments. Then he said, “Brock has a long reach. You need a safe place to stay.”

Yes. Yes, I did. The underworld was big, but not nearly big enough. And Brock’s eyes and ears were everywhere.

I ought to know. I used to be them.

“The academy is an option,” he suggested. His deep voice remained calm, as though we were discussing the weather.

“Is this a recruiting speech?” I stared suspiciously at him.

“No,” he stated. “But I have reason to know that there aren’t many places to hide from the underworld.” His wings sprouted from his shoulders. “The academy will do it better than anyplace else, at least until this is over. And from what I just saw, they could really use what you have to offer.”

My gaze snapped back to him, but he was already lifting off into the night sky. Only half transformed, but shifting faster than anyone I’d ever seen.

I gritted my teeth. The academy could hide me. And Fang awaited me there.

But so did the Dreambitch.

Thoughts of her had a predictable effect on me. I turned away and strode into the shadows. Found a nook to lurk in, and took myself in hand.

If I was going back there, I needed to take care of some things first. Or she’d sink her hooks in so deep, I’d never squirm free.

52

Marcus

I made it through the Richin market surprisingly unscathed. Perhaps even the thugs sensed my volatile mood, and the spiral sword I clenched in my fist discouraged interaction.

I rounded the corner, and there it was—the gate to my home colony.

It lightened my soul to see it. All I wanted to do was go home, but my every step was haunted by the pain and anger I had seen in Riley’s green eyes.

You are being a stubborn fool,Iskar said, not for the first time.

I approached the gates. I’d wanted to bring Riley here someday. Sooner rather than later. Once I’d conquered the things living inside me.

You cannot do that from here,insisted Iskar.Worst yet, by coming home, you are putting everyone here at risk.

I can’t stay at the academy. Not with Riley there.

The problem isn’t Riley. It’s you.

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