s from the Tenebris Sector flickered on a secondary screen, but his mind was still back at the testing center. Red icons pulsed ominously, marking the latest in

ommand center. A shrill, high-freque

t red. It wasn't a combat alert. It was a signal he had never seen before, a priority level that supersede

Bradford barked,

onfusion, but they obeyed without question. They filed out of

er in the corner of the room. He raised his wrist, and the comm

th a seal he had only ever read abo

hadn't glitched after all. He had felt her power when he knelt at her

S-Class Female, Anja Compton. Ma

ed animal. The genetic corruption that was a constant, low-level hum beneath his skin, a legacy of a thousand b

h from her official file. The same face he had looked

into a soul-binding law. He instinctively reached out, his fingers clad in bl

nt alert this time. An incoming holograp

shed with an emotion he had never seen on his stoic, a

orted. "The girl you escorted! The results just went li

r own Consorts, a retired admiral named A

. "And the shipping fleet. It's all being liquidated. We have to assemble a proper dowry for yo

ces, was deeply humiliating. But he didn't argue. He knew the truth. For the chance to bond with a

demanded. "Forget the bugs. Forget the border. Y

aking a single, deep, shuddering breath. He calmed his

n an impassive mask. He walked directly to the base comm

aptain? You only just returned from the

widened. He stared at the screen, then back at Bradford, his expression shifting from annoyance to

said, his voice hushe

his dusty, blood-flecked combat fatigues. He took the fastest, hottest shower of h

ection, adjusting the collar, smoothing a non-existent wrinkle. He even fumbled with the knot of

quidated Vaughn family assets, was pressed into his hand by a

ade scout ship, was kept fueled and ready. He bypassed all pre-flight c

pushed the inertial dampeners to their limit. He set a direct course for the Compton estate.

urney, he kept her picture displayed on th

hield. Her sword. He would be the most loyal, the most devoted, the mo

liar stone steps where he had first k