Page 16 of Souls of Steel
Brendan
When Knox had told me about the woman who’d claimed the Sphinx as her chimera, I hadn’t known what to expect. As soon as I’d ended the conversation with him, I’d sought more information on her. Unfortunately, the priestesses of Gaia tended to be very secretive about their offspring. There was very little information on Selene beyond the fact that she existed. She was 19, and her father, Raul Graves, was the secretary for The Grand Judiciary ambassador in New Washington. Under normal circumstances, her path should’ve never crossed mine.
And yet, she’d managed to tame a chimera—the Sphinx, no less—and because of that, she was now my responsibility.
I was getting a headache just thinking about how much trouble she’d cause.
That train of thought lasted until the moment Knox’s shuttle boarded the Venom. It wasn’t my style to have Knox come to me. Decorum dictated that I put at least some distance between me and anyone not a royal, but my fellow Chimera Warriors had always been an exception to that rule. I went to greet him upon his arrival and, naturally, ended up running into her.
Knox and Selene came out of the shuttle together and the moment I saw her, I felt like I’d taken a blow to the solar plexus.
Her sharp dark eyes showed no sign of being affected by Tartarus’s Gift, but I sensed its presence in her anyway. Her beautiful red hair tumbled down her shoulders in wild waves and her Terran clothes accentuated her bust in a way that made me think of thrusting my dick between her breasts.
Our women tended to be less gifted in that field and the Terrans who came to Tartarus Base lost weight quickly too. It was a constant irritant for me, since I liked my lovers to have some meat on their bones. Selene was definitely a daughter of Gaia, much prettier than any of the other women I’d had before.
I wanted to throw something at Knox, because he hadn’t warned me she was so beautiful. Then again, I couldn’t blame him. He tended to be very reliable, but his instincts were more powerful than mine and on occasion, that showed. It wasn’t his fault. Cerberus would’ve had that effect on any tamer, not just Knox.
My friend was studiously ignoring Selene and alarm bells started to ring in my head.“Our Cerberus seems to have some issues,”Typhon hissed at the back of my mind.
“Yes, I can see that,”I told him.
Outwardly, I showed no sign of my restlessness. I met Knox and Selene halfway, all the while trying to find a solution for the problem Selene posed.
With Knox it was bad enough, but once we added August and Pollux to the mix… Fuck, it would be a disaster.
Selene curtsied in front of me, completely oblivious to the danger she was in. “Your Highness, it’s an honor to meet you. I’m Selene Renard, daughter of High Priestess of Gaia, Tanya Renard and the recent tamer of the Sphinx.”
“Ms. Renard, welcome to the Venom,” I answered. “I am Prince Brendan Chimera. I trust your trip from New Washington has been enjoyable so far.”
My words were bland and meaningless, more so since her trip had been very short. She seemed to read more into them than I’d intended. Her fingers twitched and her veins glowed with a flicker of crimson energy. Anyone else might have missed it, but I was Chimera royalty. I was attuned to the specific feel of tachyon discharges, no matter how small they might be.
“Yes, Your Highness,” she said. “It’s been great.” She was lying through her teeth. Her new powers betrayed her.
Had something happened between her and Knox on the way here? I needed to get Knox alone and ask.
“Is that really what you want?”Typhon whispered. “You already know what he’s going to say.”
“And that’s exactly why I have to step in before the situation escalates.”
“You don’t owe this girl anything,”he replied.“In fact, why not take her to your bed and share her with your wolf?”
The thought appealed to me. It was so easy to imagine her naked, with her legs spread, welcoming us inside her tight, wet heat.
But Selene Renard was the pilot of the Sphinx, not one of my regular women. That tachyon discharge might have been involuntary, but it also served as a useful reminder. If she was going to Chimera Academy, it was because she was a tamer and she needed to train that skill.
“I suppose that’s true,”Typhon told me.“Well, this might be a good thing. I did miss Sphinx. She and I used to play such excellent chess games before she went dormant. As much as I like Scylla, it’s not the same with her.”
He sounded excited now, and I couldn’t help but be happy for him, at least a little. Selene might be a problem for me, but the Sphinx was a huge asset and she was Typhon’s friend.
With that in mind, I shot Selene a quick smile. “I must thank you, Ms. Renard, for returning the Sphinx to us. She’s been greatly missed.”
She blinked in surprise, having obviously not expected that comment. “You don’t have to thank me. She just… came to me.”
“Even so, our chimeras will undoubtedly be very eager to welcome her home.”
Selene frowned and tilted her head. Her eyes glazed and I could tell she must’ve been talking to Sphinx. She was unaccustomed to it, so it wasn’t as smooth and effortless as it was for me and the other Chimera Warriors. There was more leakage and I suppressed a grimace of my own as her untrained power licked over my skin.
“Chess?” she finally asked, unaware of what she’d just done. “They play chess? How is that possible?”
