Page 75 of Above
“Today, we will broadcast your illusion into the minds of everyone present, which means we all—” The general’s voice faded as his son spoke.
“When it all comes crashing down, just remember what I told you the other night.” His breath fanned across my face, his heart beating a slow and steady pace against the crown of my head. Talon’s low growl was ignored, only Altair and I present at that moment. He was talking about my family. About how my death didn’t need to hurt them immediately. “Maybe if you go out without a fight I can help them.”
“As if you would care enough to help them.” His finger grazed my bottom lip, and I couldn’t stop the shiver that crawled up my spine. Stars, even my body was repulsed by him.
“I don’t.” Lips hit my temple, warm and soft. “But I can be persuaded.”
“Get off of her, Az,” Talon ordered, giving in to Altair’s teasing.
“Afraid I might hurt her? Or is it that you think I’ll steal her from you?” Leave it to Altair to pretend like he was interested just to spark Talon’s temper. How could Talon not see right through him?
“She doesn’t want you, so your actions don’t mean anything,” Talon hissed, being louder than he should.
“Funny how he didn’t acknowledge my threat to your life,” Altair whispered once again in my ear, the words mostly for me. “His jealousy is getting worse and worse by the day. Imaginewishing you dead rather than knowing you like the feel of my cock inside of you.”
“She wouldn’t!”
“You would,” Altair cooed, his hand releasing my hair and moving to my stomach. “I’d make sure of it. I wouldn’t be nice, but I’d be thorough. Relentless. Determined. You’d never think of Talon again.”
“Get off of me,” I hissed, wiggling in his grasp.
“Anything for you, Little Void,” he mocked, letting me go and disappearing into the darkness as Talon’s arms secured around me.
“It’s okay. I won’t let him hurt you, Nova.” I nodded, returning the hug, unconvinced but unwilling to admit it.
Would Altair really help my family if I let him kill me without fighting back? Maybe they would trust him after meeting him. But they wouldn’t live for long. Especially Dad. Still, it could be better than whatever I was offering.
“Now, let the finale of the black phase begin!” the general roared, lights blinking into existence across the room. Dammit, I missed all of his speech. Hopefully it only consisted of what Talon had already told me. I had no room for error.
A light appeared on my left, revealing Colonel Zade, his scowl animalistic. He forcibly parted Talon and I with a raspy sound of disgust.
“This isn’t about surviving your illusion, Talon,” he scolded, grabbing his son by the arm and guiding him to the front. His voice remained loud, easily heard by all in attendance. “If you don’t impress me, then I’ll kill you myself.”
Talon was shoved forward, the intel catching him by his head and immediately ripping screams up his throat from deep in his chest. It only lasted seconds this time, as if nothing more was needed.
Again, Talon was pushed, this time forced to slip through the glowing silver dome. Teetering for a moment, he didn’t see what the rest of us did right away. The sight wasn’t blurry like it was when we normally watched. This time, it was like seeing two things at once, the intels sharing the images with us in our minds as our eyes saw the dome. As we sawme.
I appeared there, wearing nothing but a thin, lacy red slip. My body was on full display everywhere my wild curls and dark shadow marks didn’t cover it, pulling snickers from some of the trainees. I didn’t have time to care. Not when I saw the dagger in my hand.
Finally, Talon caught sight of me, a groan escaping his mouth. It was far from sexual. It was a desperate sound. One of begging and relief. Talon knew what I knew at that moment.
These illusions were a loyalty test.
“Talon,” I cooed, walking up to him, “I’ve missed you.”
Shaking his head, he backed away, as if not wanting to be near me.
“Where are you going?” I asked, reaching out for him. “I love you.”
“Please, don’t,” he whispered. But we all heard it. We all knew he was resisting.
“Anything you want is yours, Talon. Take me. Love me. Use me. Fuck me. I’myours.” By then I was against him fully, and I watched with shame as Talon fell to his knees. My hand still gripped the dagger as I bent down to straddle him, my arms sliding around his neck. I was going to kill him. Maybe that was the point.
If it went on any longer, I was going to vomit.
“Make me forget about him. We can kill him together. We can watch the life leave his wicked eyes. We can havesnakefor dinner. You can fuck me in a pool of his blood as I scream your name. Anything you want.” My sultry voice made my stomachfurther roll, and I had to choke back the gags as I started writhing on him. His hands moved to my ass, his head falling back, and I thought for a moment that he had failed. That he had lost sight of what was going on. “Fuck me, baby.”
“Supernova, you have no idea how much I wish this was real,” he murmured. Shock radiated through me as he then lifted me up and slammed my back into the ground. My illusion self screamed in pain, but Talon was quick to silence me with his hands around my throat. He didn’t bother to suffocate me, opting instead to snap my neck.
