Page 26 of Bonded By Savages

Damian said the five women were recovering in the hospital. But what if they’ve already been sold off at an auction to fanatical followers?

It’s a better life than being stuck on a Toad planet, but still, I need to protect them. If I’m the Mate of the two Aurelians, I have some shred of power.

I bite my lip.

I’ve got only one thing to bargain with.

Myself.

9

Tarak

“Who can we trust?” I ask again, tapping my fingers against the coffee table in front of us.

The question that kept us up all last night. We didn’t need the pots of strong black coffee to stay awake. Laura brought them up to the library on the top floor of our estate, though we didn’t choose the location because of the masses of ancient tomes or the comfortable leather seats we’re reclining in.

We chose it because we’re not thirty feet away from our Mate. The smells of Laura’s warm broth wafts upwards, making my stomach rumble. She doesn’t complain once about the long hours, giving us cheerful smiles when she brought up a new pot of coffee and delicious sandwiches of fresh bread and rare meat.

The fire crackles. I grab another stick of wood from the metal bucket next to me, tossing it into the flames.

“No one,” growls Damian, his aura like the fire in front of us.

I suppress a grunt of anger. I’ve got back the coldness that defined me through my centuries. It’s not a detachment, but an aloofness that let me charge into Scorp nests knowing full well that I could be embedded with a barb and die screaming, that I could be rent in half. Raython had a brutal fire to him that propelled him onwards, but it was always my faculties that helped my triad.

I cannot waste time with empty rage anymore. I need to be quick and calculating to get us through this—with our mate—alive.

I search my memories for anything I can use. The fire crackles and spits under the new log, keeping the huge room pleasantly warm.

“There must be others like us. Others who saw joining the legions of Obsidian as the only way to find their Mate.” I state the words slowly, grabbing the silver handle of the ornate pot and pouring myself another cup into the pewter mug. Each time we return from war, there is something new in the home.

I want to see what our Mate brings. The little touches that make this her home.

But can it ever be a home for her, surrounded by Fanatics?

I stare into the fire, searching through my thoughts for a shred of information that can help us. When we stood in front of the huge mirror, next to the War-God, all I could think of was saving my Mate’s life. I knew we would have to cut through a dozen Bullfrog guards to do it, and I faced those odds without fear.

The stands were packed with soldiers who ached to be in our place. A sea of faces…

One I knew.

“General Ra’al.”

“What of him?”

I take a sip of coffee, making sure I’m right before I speak again. “He was in the stands.”

“Your eyes deceive you. That man bled honor. He would never leave the Aurelian Empire.”

“He earned his stripes on Abascus. That’s when he gained his rank of General. He was there with his triad. They cleared it.”

Cleared it. A euphemism.

“Gods, that was a disaster. What was the final count?” Damian spits out the words bitterly, hating the losses of innocent lives.

“Eight. Nine. Billion. Dead to the Scorp.” I shake my head, forcing down the useless anger. “It was not a democratic planet. The rich who threw off the Empire’s protection probably got away in ships, leaving the rest to die.” I lean back in the thick leather chair and cock my head to the side, hearing the door to Nelly’s room open. There are low voices chatting.

Good. Laura must have brought her hot broth. A few moments later, the shower turns on. I imagine the water cascading down her body, streaming down her breasts, her curly copper hair matted to her gorgeous, elegant face. She’s so thin, so weak, but through it all, she’s got an endless strength. You need to be strong to survive as a servant to Toads. They like to play with your mind, torturing your body and your soul, pathetic, ugly creatures that can never be beautiful and so seek to own it instead.

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