I stood rigid in front of the central computer as it scanned me, the comm burning as it sparked on my arm. Head to toe, three times, checking to make sure there wasn’t any outside technology on or in me. Finally, the blinding light died, and I was left trying to blink my pupils wider so I could see.
“Welcome back, Alpha Vital.”
I hated that voice. The smooth, rich tone that had called me. I turned slowly to face its owner.
General Roman sat at the plain wooden desk in the corner, his elbows resting on the wood and his fingers steepled together in front of his rugged face. With his shoulder length golden blonde hair and eyes just a shade darker than Devin’s, it was easy to see where the boy had gotten his looks. I hated his father far more than I hated my partner, which was an impressive feat.
“You called me?” My tone wasn’t as rigid and polite as it had been the five years I served under him.
He noticed, an eyebrow raising, mouth pressing into a tight line. “I did. We have an assignment for you.”
“Well isn’t that just a complete surprise. You want to tell me something I don’t know?” I couldn’t help it. I had spent fifty years training myself to stop being a soldier. The mannerisms, the social niceties they had taught me, had been burned out of my mind by sex, and alcohol, and ice cream.
The General’s disapproving expression would have scared me fifty years ago; now it only pissed me off. “We’re sending you after the leader of the Grey Blade. According to rumors collected from the Greys living out in the blasted lands past the city’s walls, she’s finally come out of hiding.”
“The Grey Blade? Are you talking about the Grey Queen?” Despite my resolve to turn down the mission no matter what it took, my curiosity was peaked.
I’d only spent the last few hours agonizing over this. Over the Grey Queen, the White King, this god damned rebel group that was ruining my life. That had probably been involved in Kameron and Anaya’s deaths. And he was going to send me after them. The angry, bloodthirsty warrior inside of me that I had done my best to smother was coming back again, making my heart beat fast and a smirk tip up my mouth.
“Exactly. I thought you would be interested- Luca told me you were asking about the Grey Blade earlier today.”
My smirk faded into a cold expression. “Did he now?” I was going to have to pay him back for that. How many times did I have to tell that damn labcoat I didn’t want anything to do with the military anymore? That I would be more than happy outside the city if it meant I didn’t have to deal with them, and only stayed as a courtesy?
“He did. He said you had an… altercation with one of the Grey Blades that put you under for three days, with no explanation.” His eyes were sharp as he looked at me. Searching for an answer.
One I didn’t have. “I don’t have a clue what that asshole did to me, trust me. If I knew, I would have told you. I’m not keeping secrets.”
“Oh, I’m sure you’re keeping secrets,” the General leaned forward slightly, a slight smirk tipping up his mouth. “At least, you think you’re keeping secrets. Like those meetings with Ren and Jack that you think we don’t know about. We’ve known the entire time. We allow it, as a sort of stress relief; Luca suggested it would be better for your mental health if you had a safe, secure outlet for any of your more… basic urges.”
Oh, yes. I was going to tear that labcoat limb from limb, no matter what he had done for me in the past. He didn’t deserve to live. Not if he was going to fine tune every single aspect of my life.
“Don’t worry.” The General waved his hand in the air, a dismissive gesture. “We couldn’t care less where you stick your dick, as long as you don’t run around getting girls pregnant. What we care about, is the mission, the safety of the city. As long as you help us with that mission, you can conduct your private life however you want.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “That’s generous of you, General. What kind of mission are you sending me on that you’re being so spectacularly nice about not poking your nose into what we do in the privacy of our bedrooms?” And sometimes in the pool. Or on the lawn. Or… the list could go on for a while if I let it. Some of the places we picked weren’t quite as safe as others- all I could say was that, no matter how fine the ass, staring at it for extended periods of time while you picked splinters out of it took away all the fun.
“I’ve told you already. We’re sending you after the leader of the Grey Blade.”
“Right. Because this leader’s going to come waltzing right into the city with a target painted on the back of her head.”
“She won’t come anywhere near the city. And that’s why we need you. You’re the only one we trust to go outside the walls.”
My body tensed, my eyes widening as my hands clenched into fists at my sides. All my life- all eighty years of it- I had been told that the world outside the city walls was dangerous. That leaving the city was akin to signing a death warrant. It was suicide. And they wanted to just throw me out there to be eaten alive by the Soulless?
The General must have read the disbelief, the beginnings of fear on my face. “We’ll let you take your partner with you, of course. Devin should be good back-up, as the best of the guardians, and he’ll know how to work with you. If things get dicey, you can send him back to the city for reinforcements.”
“Right. And how, exactly, am I supposed to get close enough to this Grey Queen to take her out?”
“Think, Alpha Vital,” the General prodded.
I pressed my lips together tightly, but I put some real thought into it. The answer was obvious almost immediately. “I pretend to be defecting from the city. After all the trauma you assholes put when through, it’ll be easy to fake a scarred, bitter person who wants escape. With my connections on the inside, all of my knowledge, they’ll want to bring me in close. I just have to play along with them long enough to meet their Grey Queen. Shoot her a few times and blast out of there, easy as pie. Mm, pie…”
My words trail off as I wistfully think of the pies they sold in the bakery right down the street. They were best when they were apple, fresh out of the oven and steaming, served with vanilla ice cream and-
“Alpha Vital!”
I jumped slightly, startled out of my thoughts, and gave him a shameless smile. “And what happens if I don’t agree to take the mission?” I asked.
“We send out Farah and Ren.”
“I’ll go.” The words came out soft, barely audible.
His grim expression said he had known that would be my answer. Because what other answer would I have given when he bartered the lives of my comrades, the people I loved and trusted? I couldn’t let them walk off to their death. I was their leader, however reluctant I was to be placed in that role, and sometimes… that meant taking one for the team.
“That’s what I thought you would say. Luca will run one final check on you before you leave, to make sure your assailant didn’t give you anything slow-acting. You’ll leave in the morning, 0700 hours. Do you understand your orders, Alpha Vital?”
“I do.” My tone was as stiff and formal as his.
“Then you are dismissed.”
I turned, my posture as stiff as my words had been, and strode out of the room. It wasn’t until I was out of the building that I let my emotions control me. Fear, pain, hatred and resentment; they flared through me, boiling my blood and making tears burn in the backs of my eyes.
My wings flexed, and I took to the air with no intentions of returning home until it was time to leave. Because I wouldn’t be able to handle saying goodbye.
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