Page 59 of Taming Chaos

Really, how she wished that were the case.

Chapter Fifteen

The elevator doors snapped open, revealing a long room with a grand dining table in the center. Made from a single massive piece of Jentian stone, it gleamed brilliantly as Seph’s wrist-light shone across it.

For a moment, Torin’s eyes hurt.

Fucking Relahek. The thing must have cost a fortune. Clearly, the noble didn’t want to let go of past glories. He wanted to live as grandly on this ship as he had on Kythia.

They stepped out of the elevator.

The doors snapped shut.

And all rational thought fled from Torin’s mind, because for the first time since he’d caught sight of her, he and Persephone were somewhere safe and quiet and all alone.

Finally!

And the scent of her arousal was driving him nuts. Had been, ever since he’d detected it.

“Torin, who the hell are you?” She turned to face him. Eyelids fluttered. Pink lips gleamed. Her heady aroma surrounded him, and he almost lost control right then and there.

But something made him pause.

Dark circles cradled her eyes, and he caught the occasional wobble in her footsteps. He had to find them something to eat soon, because his nanites were hungry, and that wasn’t good for fighting, and as for Persephone… well, she looked tired.

And yet…

Her curiosity burned right though him, making him want to lay himself bare and tell her everything.

Who the hell are you?

Sometimes, he feared even he didn’t know the answer.

“I was a soldier,” he said at last, because that was the truth and the simple explantation. “Ex Imperial Military, First Division. I was part of the team that made first contact with Earth, under the command of General Tarak al Akkadian.”

“You were one of those…” Her eyes widened. “But the Empire is no more. Does that mean you’re now—”

“A mercenary. I fight because I choose to.” Because it’s all I’ve ever known.

“Are all Kordolian soldiers like you? I mean, with the healing and the magic armor and…”

Torin laughed softly. “Perish the thought. We would have destroyed half the Universe by now. No, my kind are—were—confined to a single division.”

“The First.”

“Yes.”

“And exactly how many divisions are—were—there in the Imperial Kordolian Military?”

“Before the Empire fell, there were eighty one thousand, seven hundred, and sixty-three.”

“And how many soldiers made up a division?”

“The number varied, depending on the division. Some were thousands strong. The one I belonged—belong—to is comprised of ten members.”

“Ten… huh. And you were in the First?”

“I was. Am.”

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