Page 28 of Seducing Jenny
The deaths of the conduits weighed heavily on me, but the subsequent lies that followed, the mythology of Justice’s divinity, it was all theater. At the palace, no one believed that shit. Not really. But out here, on these faraway islands, people ate up that propaganda like it was scripture and believed Justice was a young god.
It was the same propaganda I had hoped to use to my advantage when I rowed to land.
I ran my fingers through my wet hair. “I need a shower.”
They nodded silently and escorted me back to the house.
Abacus noted, “You’re lucky Ring likes to go on early morning walks.”
“You’re the one who saw me?” I asked the other man.
He smiled and nodded. “Not at first, but when the tyrgend threw you into the air, you blotted out one of the quarter moons.”
Jesus.“I thought tyrgends were a myth.”
One of the largest fish, it was rumored that tyrgends enjoyed playing with their food before eating it. Tossing and pounding into it to tenderize and stun their prey. But fishers were a superstitious lot, and so I hadn’t been completely convinced of their existence.
Ring laughed. “Bet it didn’t feel like a myth when you were in the air.”
“Certainly not.”
Once I was back in the house and in the shower, I let the hot water run over me for a long while. My whole body ached from the ordeal—the free climb, the rowing, the swim, the attacks from the tyrgend, getting thrown into the air, almost dying, all ofit. But I tried not to think about it. I just let the heat soak into my bones, trying to wash away the failure.
I’d almost drowned. Almost been eaten. And for what?
A glance in the mirror before I’d stepped in to the shower had shown bruises all over my body. Wherever the tyrgend had touched me, my black skin was somehow darker. Then I realized what it really was—the skin there had no sheen. When the light hit it, there was no blue reflected back. The skin was dull.
Like my life without Tiger and Jenny.
Depressed and miserable, I huffed a breath of humid air and turned off the showerhead. I toweled off and got into bed, thinking of my next steps.
When the supply ship comes, find a way onto it.
Make it back to Ladrille, no matter what.
Find Jenny and Tiger. Make sure they’re safe.
Bow to Justice. Pretend to be loyal and follow his orders.
Let everything return to normal.
When he least expects it…rip his fucking head from his neck.
Then?
Live happily ever after.
CHAPTER 9
Tiger
“There are some cultural things you should know about visiting with classed and royal elders,” I told Jenny, as we broke atmo on Orhon. The suns had begun to set, making her hair and skin radiant. I had to focus myself on piloting, so I didn’t throw her to the ground and fuck her.
Her Ladrian body called to mine in a way I had not experienced. Perhaps it was her pearly skin or the lovely pink tinge to it. It was peculiar to see her with silvery gray hair, but it suited her. Those high cheekbones, pouty lips…the sensual way she moved in her new body. Maybe it was the fact that she was the most beautiful Ladrian I had ever seen, but whatever it was, I needed her. I felt it in my blood.
Or, maybe it was the fact that I knew she could finally take all of my cock’s length in her Ladrian form, and since she was theonly woman I had ever been with, I was beyond curious to know what that felt like.
Whatever the allure, I was having a hard time focusing on my job.
