Page 117 of Decadence

He did, of course, just not very often.

Commanding everyone’s attention, Tarak stood, indicating that the meeting had come to a close. “You all have your respective command missions. I will be traveling to the Eighth Sector soon to deal with a pressing matter. You know how to reach me.”

“Just like old times,” Mardok drawled, raising his fist to his chest in a lazy half-salute. “And to think I was starting to get bored.” He turned stared at Ikriss in a strange way.

In fact, all of them were looking at him strangely now.

Even Tarak.

His left ear twitched. He did not appreciate all this fucking scrutiny. What, did he have a third horn growing out of his forehead?

“What?” he thundered.

“Brother,” Jerik said slowly, sounding uncharacteristically cautious, “your horns are growing back.”

“What are you talking about, Jerik? They are freshly shorn. I even applied liquid skin.” His hand flew to his left temple. Sure enough, there was a small, exquisitely tender bump protruding from his skull. “Ah, shit.” This was not supposed to happen. Kordolian horns usually took a whole revolution or longer to grow back to their full length.

“I would suggest you discuss this with Zharek,” Tarak said quietly, giving Ikriss a pointed look.

“I intend to,” Ikriss growled. That infernal medic would be receiving a visit from him very soon.

As Ikriss began to rise from his seat, his comm buzzed.

“Report,” he snapped, a little too forcefully.

“Do you want the good news or the bad news first?” Zarken’s gravelly voice filtered across the comm. “One request: don’t rip my head off.”

“I physically can’t right now, so tell me the bad news first.” Ikriss nodded at his comrades as the commanders said curt goodbyes, the holos of Tarkun, Jerik, and Mardok flickering and abruptly disappearing.

Iskar and Tarak hung back, engaging in a quiet, intense conversation about something or other.

“Your mate’s little female is in a secure—well, human-secure—facility. It’s not secure to us, of course, but it’s secure in the way that we’d draw a lot of attention to ourselves if we tried to breach it in a hurry. It’s right in the middle of a densely populated area. Habitation towers everywhere. It’d be all over the infernal human Networks.”

“And the good news?”

“We found her, and she’s not dead. But Kainan’s contact suspects they’re getting ready to take her off-planet very soon.”

“Half your good news is bad news,” Ikriss grumbled. At least they had a location now. A feeling of urgency swept through him. This Eva was Sienna’s cherished friend, and anything that belonged to Sienna was his now. It was illogical, but he didn’t care.

Where his mate was concerned, he would always be irrational.

At last, he understood some of Tarak’s earlier decisions—which he’d thought were rash at the time.

The boss had simply been protecting his mate.

Ikriss met the General’s piercing red gaze. Tarak gave him an almost imperceptible nod.

You have my permission to proceed in whatever way you see fit, he was saying.

Even though he was speaking with Iskar, the General noticed everything.

And now Tarak was giving Ikriss exactly what he needed.

After almost dying at the hands of his enemies; after his mate was nearly snatched away before he even got a chance to know her—the chance to exact revenge was one he couldn’t pass up.

He would pour cold hell upon these pathetic humans.

Really, the fact that Sienna’s friend needed rescuing was only too convenient. Ikriss was itching for a fight.

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