Page 74 of Fractured Souls

And yet she remained good.

It had taken him so many revolutions to find even a shred of goodness.

I need you, sweet human.

Ashrael smiled knowingly. Tarak gave Nythian a look that was most unusual for the boss—one of patience and understanding.

“Go ahead,” Alexis said calmly, and he had to admire the way she stood perfectly still as Ashrael reached out and pressed his palm against her forehead.

She wasn’t intimidated by the Silent One at all. Would she be, if she knew that same cursed hand had slit the throat of the Empress of Kythia herself?

Ashrael’s obsidian eyes grew distant. “She sleeps. She is very weak. Existing in Enki’s mind consumed a lot of her life-force. If she hadn’t bonded with Alexis when she did, she would already be dead. It is almost impossible for a Tharian to exist inside a Kordolian. I do not know how she did it so fiercely… and for so long.”

“H-how do you know all this?” Alexis was transfixed.

“I sensed it.”

“Is there anything you can do for her now?”

“No. The only way to help her is to return her to her people. Otherwise, she will fade away without knowing what has become of them. You, on the other hand, will survive. Your life-thread has a long way to unravel yet, human.”

Good. Relief surged through Nythian.

“There was a time when I would have just razed that cursed planet into oblivion,” Tarak said quietly, and suddenly he had the look of the cold, ruthless General about him, the man who had led their people into war and death and cold destruction, and Nythian knew that he could so very easily become that terror again, if the Universe took what was his.

He felt it too, the seductive song of blood and cruelty inside his soul that had never really been silenced.

It was just quiet now, very, very quiet… almost peaceful.

“You wouldn’t…” Alexis stiffened, staring at Tarak in shock. Her eyes flicked toward Nythian, then back to the General, then back to Ashrael. The way she looked at them, it was as if she were realizing exactly what they were for the very first time.

Nythian shot his boss a dark look. Just when they were making good progress with her training and burying the dark shadows that lingered in her fragile mind…

But there was no point in trying to glamor-coat the history of the Kordolian race.

It was what it was.

“But why would I do that now,” Tarak said quietly, “when I was the one who executed Lord Agarel Vethal in front of the entire High Council? The arrogant upstart who dared fire his missiles at Marenja on Tharos while my soldiers were still on the ground. You know why I did it? Because he harmed my soldiers. My people. So understand this, Alexis of Earth. You are one of my people now. You are mated to one of the very few Kordolians I would trust with everything that is important to me. And because your human psyche is fragile, because you risk becoming a hollow, tormented soul if you are not given the chance to send the one who gave you everything to her final resting place, I have no choice but to sanction this mission. You see, Nythian is very important to me, and you are his mate.”

“You see? This is why I let him boss me around,” Nythian said lightly, doing his utmost to hide the strange emotion that welled up inside of him.

This is why I fucking fight for him.

Cursed feelings. He’d been having far too many of them lately.

“Now I must try and understand this reghel of yours, human.” Seemingly immune to all the tension surrounding them, Ashrael reached out with his ka’qui again. Nythian was no Touched One, but he always felt a faint tingle across his scalp and down his neck when Ashrael used his abilities.

“What the hell is a reghel?”

“The Tharian life-stealer in your hand. I presume you would like to learn how to control it.”

“Actually, I already know how to use it.” She leaned closer to Nythian, pointedly slipping her obsidian hand into his. She tingled with the faint promise of that power, driving him wild.

Devious female.

“Hm. How is this possible, I wonder?” For once, the formidable Ashrael actually looked surprised.

Nythian gave him a cryptic smile. Nobody else would ever know what had passed between them—that sublime exchange of power that left him utterly relaxed and content.

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