Chapter 12 · Pet or Predator?

"Still want to know what I am?" Cain spat the words out, a streak of blood painting his lip.

Sela didn't move her boot. The leather pressed harder into his cheek, grinding his skin against the cold stone floor. She leaned down, her voice a dangerous purr. "I don't ask twice, trash. You’ve got something inside you that doesn't belong to a marrowless dog. Give me a name, or I'll start snapping fingers."

Cain let out a wet, jagged laugh. He didn't even try to pull away. He just looked up at her, eyes shimmering with a dark, hungry light that made her breath hitch. "You call yourself a General. You talk about justice and the Empire's law. But look at you. You're just another thief in a fancy uniform."

Sela’s eyes narrowed. She shifted her weight, the heel of her boot digging into the soft tissue near his jaw. "Careful. I can make your life a very long, very loud nightmare."

"I've already lived through a nightmare," Cain whispered. He stopped struggling, and for a second, the silence in the room felt thick, like oil. "My family ripped the marrow from my bones while I was still awake.