DarkRevenge (2 page)

Chapter Two

She would not cry. But Alex knew exactly what Tory intended
to do. He was going to rape her. The
Saria
was just a legalized form of
violence, of payback. She was a woman. She knew what that meant.

It’s not like she hadn’t been threatened by that before.
Hell, the Teran Four assholes made sure any Teran One female soldier captured
was “properly punished”. The difference this time was that her past attackers
had been the enemy, not a man she’d once fought with, drank with, kissed.

Once, in a moment of weakness and after a few too many
sangrias, she’d lip-locked with Tory. Even now, as he pinned her with his body,
hers heated. If he only knew.

Tory held all the cards. Alex was helpless, flat on her
back, immobilized by his muscular body. He knew her tricks, had trained with
her, fought with her. Tears burned the back of her throat, but she swallowed
them. She had to hit where it hurt. “Fucking me isn’t going to make your
pedigree any better.”

Nothing.

His whisper was calm, seductive. “No, but I’ll enjoy it.”

Her stomach flipped and she arched her back, trying to
dislodge him, knowing it was hopeless. He didn’t fight her. He just waited
until she wore herself out. She closed her eyes. Let him do it. Let him take
what she might have given him so long ago. He’d have to wrench it from her.
Liar.
She knew the truth. Her body would betray her. She had to fight him, push him
away. But she had nothing left. Besides, she wasn’t sure she wanted to fight
him anymore.

He was right. No one would come. Her brother, her family,
were all dead except for her little sister, who was vulnerable and underage.
With Alex gone, the six remaining founding families would carve up her
inheritance and marry Celeste off to the nearest asshole. Everything would be
gone, even if she managed to survive Tory Ingle. He claimed her as his
Saria
.
No man would touch her now.

A sob escaped her. Hot tears welled in her eyes and she
couldn’t stop them. Damn it. She hated crying. Her chest hurt from the effort
of holding them in, but finally, they poured out. She cursed him, her voice
harsh and choked.

She clamped her teeth down on her lip to stop the scream
rising. She was fucked, screwed, nailed. And not in a good way.

To her surprise, he jerked her to her feet, his fingers
still clasped around her wrists. “Let’s go.”

“Where are we going?” She dragged her feet as he shoved her
out his door.

“Even someone from a low-caste family like me knows the
rules of
Saria,
Commander.” He escorted her down a lengthy corridor, his
long legs eating up the distance as he pulled her after him. He stopped and
slapped a button to open a door.

“You’ve already broken them,” she snapped. “A claim must be
made to a Tribunal or—” She stopped mid-sentence when she saw who waited in the
small conference room.

“Or a Judge of Light.” Tory dropped her into a chair and
handcuffed her wrists to the armrests. The Judge glanced at her, but his focus
was on a file in front of him. The vid screen flicked through images she
couldn’t see.

A Judge of Light. A mind reader with absolutely no loyalty
to any government, only to the truth. They couldn’t be bribed, bought or
manipulated. They were some of the most powerful telepaths in the known
universe. To become a Judge of Light, an Ardasian had to go through years of
training.

“You are Commander Alexandra Zeerah?” The Ardasian didn’t
meet her gaze.

“Yes.”

“Your brother was Samuel Zeerah Jr.?”

“Yes.” She pursed her lips together. She’d seen this process
many times. The Tribunal Judges asked questions, the
Saria
answered. The
proof was presented and the judgment made.

“You are aware of the
Saria
ceremony, Commander?” His
eyes were that weird green color that most Ardasian males seemed to have. When
she met the Judge’s gaze, she swallowed. Aware? Hell yes.

The Judge cocked his head. “I need your verbal answer, please.”

“Yes.”

The Judge nodded to Tory, who slid into one of the chairs
across from her. She glared at him but he kept his gaze on the Judge. There was
nothing he could show her to prove he hadn’t betrayed them to the Teran Fours.
Because if he was innocent, that would mean her brother—

She jerked her stare to the Judge and refused to look away.
The Judge studied her for a moment and then turned to Tory. The Judge of
Light’s voice was calm and completely neutral when he ordered, “Release her.”

Tory jabbed a button on the console in front of him and the
cuffs dropped off her wrists. She slowly rubbed them and kept her focus on the
Judge of Light. If he was incorruptible, what was he doing with Tory Ingle?
Tory’s exploits for the last five years had been infamous. He tormented Teran
One space merchants. Granted, the ones he harassed the most were the ones who
sold goods to Teran Four against the edicts of her government, but it didn’t
change the fact that he was a mercenary, a criminal.

He was a man who broke the rules and he’d claimed her as his
Saria
. She would have thought it was a joke except he had obtained the
cooperation of a Judge of Light. The
Saria
ceremony was a Teran One
tradition, but Ardasian Judges of Light were well-versed in the practice. According
to custom, she and Tory had to play their roles. He was the
Sarat
, the
injured. She was the
Saria
, the gift.

“I am Mayar, Judge of Light for the Teran Planet system,
authorized by Ardasia to serve as a beacon of truth in the spaces of darkness.”
His green eyes focused on her and she sat up straighter. “I have been asked to
perform the
Saria
ceremony. Tory Ingle came directly to Ardasia to
request my help.” The Judge seemed to speak directly to her, though she knew
they were being recorded. “I agreed to be an impartial judge of the evidence.”
He seemed to wait for some response from her. She nodded and he continued. “May
the truth be revealed.” The Judge’s tone gave the words meaning and weight.
Alex knew the next part by heart. “Let the judged be exonerated if the
Sarat
can prove he has been wronged. Let the
Saria
answer for her bloodline.”
The Judge said the words as if he were Teran One born. Alex relaxed slightly
and the Judge continued. “In this way, the bloodline is preserved; the names
are written in the Teran One annals.”

The Judge pointed to her. “Are you the last of your line?”

“No, I am not.” Almost. Not quite. Tears pricked her eyes.
If she lost here, if Tory won, Celeste would be alone. But the
Saria
served a purpose and she was duty-bound to respect it.

The Judge turned to Tory. “Are you the last of your line?” A
question for form’s sake and Alex was surprised when Tory said, “Yes, I am the
last of the family Ingle.”

What had happened to his brother? She stared at him. This
made more sense now. If he had the remotest chance of clearing his name, he
would do it. His lands, his bloodline, his history were all on the line. If he
couldn’t reclaim his family’s place on Teran One, they would be stricken from
the records, forgotten. The Ingles had struggled to earn their place in
history. Tory would do anything to keep it. Her fists clenched on the table.
She took a deep breath. She had to remember the Judge was completely neutral.
Whatever Tory presented as evidence had to be incontrovertible.

“Does the
Sarat
have evidence to present for
judgment?” The Ardasian focused on Tory.

“I do.” Tory handed the Judge several discs.

Mayar slipped the discs in and Alex stared at the screen.

The first scene was an interrogation. Judging by the uniform
of the interrogator, it was on Teran Four. The captured man was a Teran One
soldier.

“Did you take the money?” The Teran Four Covert shot the
question out like a bullet.

The other man shook his head. “No. Zeerah took it.”

Alex gasped. Samuel? The man was lying. He had to be.

“You’re lying,” the interrogator snarled. “I have a dead
Teran Four soldier and a million leders missing. You want me to believe that a
commander in the Teran One corps took the money?”

“He hoped to use the money to overthrow King Darius.”

The Teran Four interrogator made a derisive sound and said,
“How did he hope to do that?”

“He had someone on the inside, someone who hated the king.”

The interrogator pounded his fist on the table in front of
the captive soldier. “Zeerah used Teran Four soldiers on Teran One?”

“Yes, yes. He sent Teran Four soldiers to drug Commander
Tory Ingle. He wanted him out of the way.”

“Why?”

“Ingle would probably have fought to keep King Darius on the
throne.”

“So, Zeerah used Teran Four soldiers to cover his own
involvement?” The interrogator thrust his face into the Teran One soldier’s.
“Where’s the money?”

“I don’t know,” the man wailed. “I swear, I don’t know.
Zeerah must have it.”

“Where is Commander Zeerah now?”

“Teran Five. That’s where he said he was going to plan the war.”

The vid faded.

The timestamp on the vid was two months before Samuel’s
death announcement.

Alex blinked. Her brain spun a little trying to make sense
of what she’d just seen and heard.

The Judge changed the disc for another. What else could
there be? When she received the word that Samuel was dead almost a year ago,
she hadn’t seen his face for six months. His last transmission from the
battlefield on Teran Five had been fuzzy, hard to see. The date stamp on this
new vid was two weeks
after
his death. She stared at the numbers.

Inside, she shook. No. This had to be a lie. Her lips
tightened and she glared at Tory. She wasn’t allowed to say it, but she knew
Tory could see her denial on her face. He seemed completely calm and only
raised his eyebrows.

“I don’t get it, Sam. Why stick the fucker out in space?
What did he do besides have the hots for your sister?” A man’s voice grated
through the speakers.

Samuel was sprawled in a chair, one leg dangling over the
armrest. In his hand, he twirled a stunner, his weapon of choice. “He was
supposed to be dead. He’s an Ingle, the last one since I took out his brother.
Get rid of him and that’s one less asshole to deal with when I take the
throne.”

The other man’s laugh was loud. “What if your sister finds
out?”

“Alex?” Her brother snorted. Alex’s stomach clenched. Stars.
Not her brother. “She just wants to protect that sniveling brat Celeste. I’ll
marry her off to one of the stronger houses.”

“All this to be king of Teran One?”

Samuel smiled, a cruel twist of his lips that made Alex
wince. “That’s part of it. And maybe control of a planet or two. Or three.” His
laugh grated on Alex’s nerves.

“What did you do? Buy the Tribunal?” The soldier laughed as
if he’d said something hilarious.

But Samuel’s eyes narrowed. “That is impossible, of course.”

“Oh come on,” the man pressed. “You had to have help high
up.”

Her brother’s smile was thin and snide. “You have no idea. I
had the best kind of help.” Suddenly, her brother’s gaze looked straight at the
screen and he stopped twirling the stunner.

His gaze jerked to the other man. “You bastard. I’ll kill
you,” he shouted, the stunner in his hand.

The other man dove behind a bookcase and the stunner burnt a
line into the floor. The soldier aimed a laser pistol and shot Samuel dead
between the eyes. Blood spurted from her brother’s head and Alex made her eyes
stay on the screen as the laser burned the skin and bone leaving charred
remains. Her stomach rolled. She was not going to puke. She was a soldier.
She’d seen death before. But this…this was her
brother
.

When it was over, two soldiers came through the door. “Is
there enough of the body to send back to King Darius?”

The first soldier panted for breath. “He’ll assume the
asshole was killed, just as we reported.”

“You think his sister will buy that he died in battle?” one
of the soldiers asked as he collected bits of flesh.

“She’ll believe whatever Darius tells her,” the first
soldier said with a sneer. “I got everything on vid.”

“Will it work?”

“It’ll work.” The man’s lips tightened. “We have to get the
vid authenticated.”

“Pack it up and take it to Ardasia,” one of the soldiers
ordered.

The vid clicked off.

Alex bit her lower lip. She’d known Samuel was an asshole,
but a traitor? She shook her head. “I don’t believe it.”