Page 93 of Taming Chaos

“Sit,” he commanded, gesturing toward a low, curved bench that ran along the wall. Torin sat and put a reassuring hand on Seph’s thigh as she perched beside him.

Why did it suddenly feel as if they’d been summoned?

The General slowly sipped his tea, his eyes traveling over Seph and Torin, missing nothing. “I see you have finally found your human, Torin.”

“I have,” Torin declared, and Seph was surprised to hear the note of pride his voice. “I haven’t yet formally introduced you. Boss, this is my mate, Persephone Winters.” He smiled, managing to look mightily pleased with himself.

Seph returned Akkadian’s scrutiny with a curious look of her own. Deep down, she might feel intimidated, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to show it. After what she’d been through with Torin on the Skalreg Va, she’d earned that right.

“Hm.” The corner of the General’s mouth quirked, and this time, it was definitely a smile. He nodded, as if she’d passed some sort of test. “I am pleased to meet you, Persephone.”

“Seph,” she corrected. “Please, call me Seph.”

“Seph.” Akkadian inclined his head. “So you and Torin are mated.”

It wasn’t a question, but she nodded anyway. “We are.”

“And you understand who he is… what he is?”

“I do.” Why did this suddenly feel like an interrogation? “We’ve been through a few… incidents together, Sir.”

“And you understand what it means to be mated to one of us?”

“I understand it very well, Sir, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Tarak,” he corrected. “You may call me Tarak.”

Oh. And just like that, Seph was on first-name terms with the most powerful warlord in the Nine Galaxies. These days, they called themselves mercenaries, but Seph knew what they really were. Torin had explained everything.

Apparently satisfied with the outcome of his questioning, Tarak turned to Torin. “I will need a full report on everything that occurred on the Skalreg Va, but you can brief me later… in the training chamber.”

“I fucked up.” Torin met his boss’s eyes without fear or hesitation. “Relahek Alerak was onboard. He’s the one who’s been selling Callidum. I had him in custody, but then we were attacked by Plutharan raiders. I think it was a retrieval raid. I scoured the cursed ship from top to bottom after they left, but there was no trace of him.” Torin shook his head, cursing softly in Kordolian.

The General raised an eyebrow. “You may be interested to know that a damaged Plutharan pirate ship came limping into Zarhab Groht a half-revolution ago. Enki found the younger Alerak onboard.”

There was a sharp intake of breath from Torin. “In that case, I almost feel sorry for Relahek, and I may have to owe Enki a favor.”

“Perhaps it is for the best. Enki is a good interrogator.”

“Interrogation’s never been my strong point.”

“A good warrior knows his limitations. Your talents lie elsewhere.”

“I apologize for the disruption. I never meant to go all the way to Bartharra.”

The General inclined his head. “Have you been reading my mind, Torin? Your unexpected detour has led us back to an interesting place. Bartharra has been on my to-do list for some time now.”

“I wasn’t aware of that, Sir.”

“This little war we stuck our fingers into… don’t you think it’s time we put an end to it?”

“But how?” Torin made a soft sound of exasperation. “The Bartharran tribes’ hate for one another runs deep, and they seem to believe that only some prophecy will save them.”

“The tribal chiefs will meet to discuss my proposal.”

“How in Kaiin’s hells will you get them to agree to that?”

“They will agree,” the General said mildly. “I’ll let them know in no uncertain terms that if they refuse, I’ll be ending their war for them.” The way he said it, in that deceptively calm manner, sent a little chill down Seph’s spine. “But setting up the meeting, providing security, negotiations, enforcement… that will all take time, and I expect the process will be long and tiresome. I would need your support, Torin, because our Division is spread thin right now, and Bartharra is about as unstable as it gets. Arkan and the Third Division are with me, but the others have been assigned to missions. I need at least one other First Division warrior to join our team.” He gave them an appraising look. “And yet, I am sure you wish to escort your mate back to Earth as quickly as possible. Just once and only this once, Torin, I will leave the decision in your hands. We can depart for Earth now and return to Bartharra to complete this process at a more suitable time, or we can stay and finish what we started.”

---