Page 2 of Elas

A wave of nausea washes over me, and I step back, shaking my head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Ronan’s deep brown eyes meet mine, blinking a few times before gesturing at me. “I watched the two of you for a few minutes. You’re obviously the better fighter. Why’d you sit there and take it?”

“He’s bigger than me—“

“You’re lying.” My mouth drops open as he crosses his arms and pins me with a stare.

“You’re a ballsy little shit, aren’t you?”

He shrugs. “I’ve heard that a time or two in my life.” Another dart of those judgmental eyes sweeps up and down my frame. “You never answered me. Why didn’t you fight back?”

“Because he’s an idiot. It wouldn’t be fair to knock more of his brain cells loose when he has so few to spare.”

“Nah, that isn’t it.”

“Who the fuck are you to come in here and question me?” My temper flares as I take a step closer, towering over him. “I’m a soldier, and you’re nothing but a scrawny kid that doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut.”

He huffs another laugh, shaking his head so his tiny ponytail bobs. “Some soldier. I just watched you let a guy whale on you, and now you expect me to be intimidated?” I swallow hard as I’m hit by a strange contradiction. Partof me wants to deny his allegations, while the other part is desperate to scream my confirmation from the mountaintops.

What sort of evil twist of fate put someone who detests violence under the most notorious of the leaders? Bravis might not be in the highest ranks of our military, but his reputation is widely known.

Infamously heartless, with no tolerance for weakness.

My fists clench at my sides, tempted to punch the Anunian kid in his face and knock one of his stupid little fangs out just to prove him wrong. I can’t fail here. It’s not an option, not for me.

Soldiers who can’t keep up with the demands don’t just get to leave. You can’t pack up and go home again, not from here. There’s no early retirement plan, other than a sword to your neck—and the neck of everyone you ever loved.

There are always consequences, and some prices are not worth paying.

“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” I hiss, charging closer and shoving my finger into his face. He goes cross-eyed for a moment, then blinks a few times in surprise. “And you’d do well to keep your fucking mouth shut about things you know nothing about.”

His tail coils around my wrist, much like it did Khors’s, only gentler. He guides it from his face and tilts his head once again. “It’s okay. I don’t really like fighting, either.”

“Then why are you here?” I snarl, refusing to confirm his observation.

His lips pull into a sad frown, and his eyes drop to the ground. “My village was attacked. By the time Officer Bravis’s platoon arrived… there weren’t many of us left.”

“Your parents?” I ask, voice gentler.

He shakes his head, still looking down. “My mom died when I was a kid, but my dad didn’t survive the attack.”

My heart pinches as an image of my own mother flashes through my mind. Thin limbs and sunken cheeks, head heavy against her downy pillow. The blue tones of her skin had faded to a sickly gray, but she smiled when I walked in wearing my freshly issued military leathers.

It wasn’t a happy smile, though.

She knew what I was sacrificing.

“I’m sorry,” I finally say. He releases my wrist, but I catch his tail, holding onto it as his gaze snaps up to mine. A deep breath fills my lungs as I look into his sorrowful eyes, far too big for his face. A kindred spirit hides there, shining back at me.

Someone who might understand my plight.

“The violence makes my skin crawl,” I whisper, despite knowing I shouldn’t. A tiny huff of air leaves his nose as his tail flexes in my hand, curling around my fingers. “You hate it too, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” he whispers back, seeming to grasp the importance of these words not reaching any other ears.

“No one can know.”

“I won’t tell.”

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