Dreams of a Dark Warrior

even more, his muscles growing as rage welled inside him.
    She stared up at him. “Hit me, Magister. Make this easy for me.”
    Again Declan couldn’t.
Damn her!
He roared, “Get her away from me!”
    Webb grabbed her arm, shoving her out of the room. “Declan, come to my office in an hour. We’ll talk once you’ve had some time to process all this.”
    And then they were gone. Leaving him alone in his chambers, where he’d likely go mad.
    So it’s over.
The excitement he’d felt. The pleasure.
The highest high to the lowest low.
    Feeling dead inside, he sat at his console, watching the feed of her cell for the last time.
    Such a fuckin’ fool, Dekko. You knew they weren’t to be trusted.
    He saw Webb shove her into the cell. She was still in that towel, her clothes bundled in her arms. She swung her head up to face the camera, eyes silvery.
    Declan ran his gloved fingers down the monitor over her image. Then he punched the screen.

TWENTY-SEVEN

    I never expected this from you,” Webb told him. His military bearing was even more pronounced tonight, though he used to relax around Declan. “Never from you, son.”
    Webb’s censure was killing him. Declan respected him more than any other man. It was bad enough that Declan had fucked up so completely, but for Webb to know about his transgression was too much.
    “Your clearance will be downgraded. Your print won’t work on prisoners’ bindings.”
    Not mind-wiped? Not cast out?
    “And Fegley will take over your captures.”
    “You’re putting him in charge of Malkom Slaine?”
    “Fegley’s loyal to this cause. Loyal to the bone.”
    “He gets off on the power here.”
    “As opposed to getting off on the inmates here?” Webb rubbed his hand over his face. “You know I look upon you as a son. And your work here isn’t finished. I will try to smooth this over as best as I can.”
    Fixing things for me yet again.
    “But, Declan, I have to know you can beat this obsession with the Valkyrie.”
    “Consider it beaten.” There was no gut-wrenchingpain in his body, no urgency or crippling tension. Inside he felt cold as ash.
    It didn’t matter whether Declan believed she had the power to destroy him.
She
had, which meant she’d been actively endeavoring to murder him. All the seduction, all the charm to win him over … all bullshite.
    He’d been an easy mark, yearning for what she’d seemed to offer.
    And until he’d discovered the truth, he’d at last had the briefest taste of … peace.
    Now he knew exactly what he was missing.
Fuckin’ hate her!
    “How can I trust that?” Webb demanded. “When you broke every regulation to see her repeatedly in your quarters? You of all people should know what they’re capable of. Have you forgotten about your parents? How do you think they’d feel about your involvement with a female
who’s not human
?”
    Declan stared straight ahead, berating himself for this fall far worse than Webb ever could.
    “It’s us against them. There’s no middle ground. You’re either on our side or you align with the detrus that
fed
on your family. Fed on
you
. What’s it to be, Declan?”
    “I’m loyal to the Order.”
    “Good. Then you’ll accompany Fegley in Slaine’s capture, shadow the warden for once. Just as a pre-caution.”
    The idea grated. “Why?”
    “Because you’re the only one who could stop thatdemon if he got loose on our plane. After that, you’ll take some time off base.”
    “
Now,
sir?” Who would interrogate Slaine? Who would make sure his blood got destroyed so no one was ever tempted to miscreate another like him?
    Webb steepled his fingers, a gesture Declan now realized he’d emulated. He’d emulated much about the man. “I’d been coming to see you tonight to tell you some exciting news, the kind you crave most. But now I don’t know if you deserve the mission. …”
    Declan’s body shot through with tension. “You found Neoptera.” Their nests were rare; it’d been years since Declan had encountered any of their kind.
    “Yes. In southern Australia.”
    Only a few hours away by chopper. This could be an opportunity to prove himself—and the chance to do what he loved above all things.
    Slaughtering Neoptera.
Hatred so vicious it burns cold.
    “I need this, sir.”
    “Yes.” The man gazed at him shrewdly. “I think it’s exactly what you need.”
    The stench of rotting flesh engulfed Declan and his men as they closed in on an abandoned warehouse. The smell of