Vania placed a slender finger against her chin and tapped it thoughtfully. A tendril of her chestnut hair curled around beside her pouted lips and seemed to point an arrow straight to her tongue as she spoke. I couldn’t help looking at it. It was bewitching. It was as if it were just inviting me to kiss her.
I blinked my eyes sharply, dug my nails into my palm, and focused on her words, as she started to speak.
“I would say I am more committed to the ways of winning, Alpha Jase. I have found myself in a strange situation, on another planet, that I now must make my home. I am at this time on the winning side, but this world is rife with war. I have always been motivated toward excellence, and now there is nothing more important than keeping my life, finding a new way to love my life here, and to, as one might say ‘make the most of it.' I'm not committed to the ways of war, Alpha Jase. I'm committed to finding ways to win wars so I can care about winning yours, so I can care about keeping my life alive."
Vania’s words fell into silence and the three of us didn’t know how to respond. Aimer crossed her arms and cleared her throat. “Well, Alpha Jase has authorized you to accompany—”
The door swept open and the papers I had so neatly gathered swirled into a mess toward the floor, Cassala spinning forward to catch as many as she could. I groaned inwardly and ruffled my hair in aggravation, then signaled to the clearly anxious messenger that he could speak.
“Alpha! Tarsine has taken the most southern point sentries, and the Port of Tronto has fallen. He burned the entire town and has turned our boats upstream with his own soldiers. It is said he is coming with all the forces he can gather and that the Delk Clan from the East has bonded with the Bordash for this siege as well, though that is unconfirmed. The Delk Clan will add three hundred hard men and women soldiers to the Bordash hordes of hundreds. The battle between Kajo and Rhone was hard-fought and decimated the Bordash ranks, but it also brought together the looser clans from the south pole and wildlands from the East. That is who Tarsine is charging your lands with right now. They all fight for him. Tarsine himself is leading them. He claims he is the rightful Alpha Warlord to these lands because they belong to Bordash blood, not the Curan scum like us.”
The messenger's garb was soaked through. He was breathing hard, armed with many weapons, and carrying an assortment of journals which he handed to me. "These are the notes our spy, Felne, was able to take from Tarsine's camp before he was apprehended. We are not sure if Felne is still alive. If he has the chance, he will surely kill himself, and there is no way he any type of torture will do any good. He is far too trained in counter-interrogation techniques. On the contrary, I do not think Tarsine’s men are as skilled and I have brought one of the men we captured with me. He is with your guards now.”
"Good, then." I held up the rain-soaked journals to Cassala. "Get these to the scribes immediately and see that they are preserved and let's go through them right away. Also, tell LeiLei and the rest of the Commanders that we will be heading out in three hours. Just the Crew of twelve. Full regiments to follow, Xane at the lead, within twenty-four hours. Aimer, you go see to this prisoner. I want him in the interrogation chambers immediately.”
“Yes, Alpha.” Cassala left through the door, taking the messenger with her. Aimer followed them out quickly, leaving me alone with the Earthling. I turned to look at Vania. She lifted her chin slightly, and her green eyes blazed.
“You’re coming with us.”
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Chapter One
Altair
The purple hue of the dusky sky is fringed with orange. The sun is rising, though the daylight hasn’t yet driven out the night. The stars are still visible, winking above the city and the palace. From the roofless tower, I can hear my people below. The sounds of the city echo towards me, reaching high into the sky. Music and laughter. Laughter that will soon fall silent forever.
I narrow my eyes, staring angrily towards the mountain range in the distance. I can almost see Maaz and her Bloodbane witches soaring over the mountain peaks on their deadwood brooms. But it’s only a flock of birds.
I’m running out of time. The night is disappearing, and the days are passing too quickly. I relish the night. Every morning, as dawn approaches, I can’t escape the memory of the day Maaz cursed me. Cursed me to become the beast she saw when I refused her. I close my eyes, envisioning the moment.
Maaz, dressed in the blood-red gown slinked into my throne room as if it were hers already. She had dragged her long, black fingernails across my throat and down my chest, grinning.
I will never forget that grin. Cursed, she had said. Cursed for a thousand years or until I find a Bloodbane witch to break the spell and bind herself to me willingly. Cursed to die, along with all of my people, at the end of the thousand years.
And time is running short.
My stomach twists as Maaz’s cruel smirk flashes through my mind again. The wind caresses my cheek, and I open my eyes to stare down at my
