BloodLust (Rise of the Iliri Book 1) (43 page)

Her eyes widened and met his for a second, before dropping to his mouth.  She nodded.  "Fine, but I won't be your human."

"No.  You can't be, love.  I may outrank you, but that doesn't mean I was right, ok?"

She nodded again.

"I told them, Sal.  I told Command that the Black Blades are all iliri.  I fucked up back in the caverns, and you were right, but I'm still in charge."

A smile made its way to her mouth.  "We gonna show them what it means to be iliri?"

"Yeah.  I think you kinda just did.  We good?"

Sal nodded.  "Yes, sir.  We're good."

"I do love you, Sal."

Behind him, Jase slipped back into the house.  He couldn't bear to hear the words she said next.

"I know, Blaec.  I will never stop loving you.  I can't."

"Iliri never do," Jase whispered.

Epilogue

Blaec tapped softly at General Sturmgren's door.  He glanced down at his chest and brushed away a few specks of dust while he listened to the footsteps cross the room inside.  The handle turned and the door opened.  Ran Sturmgren waited on the other side, his face stoic.

"My orders were to report when the mission was complete, sir?"

"Yeah," Ran said.  "Come in, Lieutenant."

He opened the door wider, and Blaec walked in proudly, well aware of the mess he'd left for the General to clean up.

"Take a seat."  Ran gestured at a pair of chairs before his large wooden desk.

"Thank you, sir."

The General walked behind him, moving to the shelf at the side.  He grabbed two glasses and a bottle of dark amber liquid before easing himself into the padded chair behind the desk.  Without a word, he pulled the stopper, and poured.

"Casualties?" he asked.

"No, sir.  Both of my men were recovered with minimal injuries."

"Happens a lot to the Blades, doesn't it."  Ran didn't give Blaec time to answer before continuing.  "You caused a stir before you left, Lieutenant."

"Yes, sir."

"We couldn't get the units together, either.  We're going to miss the delivery."

Blaec smiled.  "We brought back a prisoner, sir.  Pretty sure we can figure out the route it'll be taking."

Ran smiled.  "Yeah, that'll get you out of a lot of shit.  How long will it take?"

"Couple of days at most."

"K," Ran said nodding.  "Do it."

"Yes, sir," Blaec answered, reaching out for Arctic. 
We got the go.  Find out everything that fucker knows.

"So..."  The General sighed, pushing the glass across the desk to rest beside Blaec's hand.  "All of them?"

"Iliri?  Zep's human."

He chuckled and nodded his head.  "And it's pretty well known that he's an iliri lover.  What about you, Blaec?"

"Sir?"

Ran waved that away.  "I said Blaec, so you say Ran.  That's how this works between us, remember?"

"Yeah.  I don't understand your question, though."

"You an iliri lover, too?"

Blaec grinned and shook his head.  "Take off the lover part and you got it, Ran."

Ran's eyebrows shot up.  "Iliri?  Really?  But your coloring is normal."

"Yeah, half.  My amma was pure."

"Never would have guessed."

"Most don't, that's how we pulled it off so long.  I immigrated from Unav when I was sixteen, when the war started."

"So now that the secret's out, what are we going to do about it?"

Blaec took a long sip and sighed at the taste of the quality whiskey.  "Not a damned thing."

"It's gonna spread pretty damned fast.  You know that, right?"

"Yeah.  I'm counting on it."

"So why now?  After nine years, why'd you decide to tell us now?"  The General lifted his own glass and took a swallow, then a second, before looking back at his friend.

"Because I have the right group.  I thought we were good before, but now?  Nothing can stop us.  It's time the iliri start to get a little respect, and I've got the soldiers to do it."

"Ah."   He leaned back toward the table.  "It's the girl, isn't it."

"Corporal Salryc Luxx," Blaec corrected.  "She's not just 'the girl.'" 

"Yeah.  I think you normally call her Sal?"

Blaec nodded, wondering where Ran was going with this.  The General was rarely curious without a good reason.  "Yeah. She's my newest."

"Changed things up having a pure-bred around?"

"A bit."

"You gonna be able to control her?"

Blaec couldn't hide the smile.  Sal had submitted to him completely in Yager's Crossing and then again when they made it back.  Visions of her pale form sprawled in his bed came to mind when he thought of it, but all he said was, "I can control her."

"You know about the females, I assume?  I hear they get pretty headstrong."

"They do."

"You sleeping with her?" Ran pointed at the drink in Blaec's hand.

Blaec tilted his head and met his eyes.  "You do realize that would be a breach of military protocol, right, General?"

"I do.  Do you, Lieutenant?"

"Oh, I'm well aware of it."

Ran took another drink, this time a long one.  "Just so we're on the same page, then.  We both know that's the story that's going to start spreading."

"It started as soon as she was promoted, actually."

"Wait."  Ran looked at Blaec with confusion on his face.  "Which are we talking about, this time?"

"Just the rumours," Blaec said, laughing.  "You're slacking, you realize that, right?"

"Yeah.  Comes with the age.  That, and I always had trouble keeping up with the way iliri minds work.  Everything makes a lot more sense now, though.  I wish you'd told me sooner, but I get it."

"I was worried we'd end up disbanded if it got out, truth be told."

"So what changed?"

Blaec tossed back the last of his drink and rested his elbows on the table.  "The girl."

"Ok, cut the double talk and give this to me straight.  Doors are closed, and I'll take off the damned stars if you want, but I need to know what is going on with my best unit."

"No, I trust you, Ran.  When I accepted Sal, I had no idea what it would do to the Blades.  She made us more.  This won't make any sense to you, yet, but she's a Kaisae, the kind of female that we don't see very often."

"Ok?"

"Thing is, I haven't seen a true Kaisae since I was a kid.  I thought we'd lost them all in Unav.  The Emperor has been hunting them down.  Sal doesn't know it yet, and none of us want to be the one to explain it, but she's something like you humans have never seen.  She's a pack leader."

"So how's that work in the Blades?"

"Took us a bit, but we sorted it out."

"She running the show, then?"

Blaec's lips slowly spread wide enough to prove his teeth weren't quite like a human's.  The edges were serrated.  "No.  She's the third in charge, and I want to promote her to Sergeant, but she's not running the show.  I do.  She thinks Arctic is a better balance for my temper than she is, so he's staying my First Officer."

"How you gonna keep it secret that you're sleeping with her?"

"She's having a pretty public affair with Cyno."

"So you're really not sleeping with her?"

"I didn't say that."  Blaec tapped his glass and Ran poured more whiskey into it.  "Iliri women chose their lovers, not the men.  They take as many as they want."

"That's going to get awkward."

"Nah. We don't tend to get jealous about it either, so long as it's handled right."

"Shit," Ran grumbled.  "I couldn't do it."

Blaec shrugged, a smile playing on his mouth.  "You're human."

"And you're not.  That's gonna take some getting used to.  You still going to be able to handle what we need?"

"Oh yeah," Blaec promised.  "Yeah, and probably better than you'd expect.  If we don't have to keep it a secret, we'll be even more effective than anything you've seen before."

"Good.  Because I have a mission for you, Lieutenant."

Dear Reader,

BloodLust
is just the beginning of an epic adventure I hope you'll stick around for.  To thank you, I have included the first chapter of Instinctual, book 2 of The Rise of the Iliri, after this. 

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BLOODLUST

Instinctual

Rise of the Iliri 2

Chapter 1

Her knuckles rapped against the door loudly.  Sal glanced at the orders she held, reading them again.  There was no reason for the summons, but rarely did anyone but the commanders of the special operations units ever get to meet with Ran Sturmgren.  She couldn't think of a good reason for him to request her presence and quite a few bad ones sprang to mind.  Her ears flicked forward at the sound of feet crossing the room and Sal stood politely at attention.  The door opened.

"Corporal Salryc Luxx?" the aged man asked.  He looked down at her kindly.  The top of her head didn't even reach his shoulder.

"Yes, sir."

"Please, come in."  He stepped back and gestured for her to make her way inside. 

A pair of simple chairs sat before a heavy wooden desk.  Sal stood behind them, her chin up, her ears carefully held still while the general made his way to the padded chair on the other side.  He nodded at her and sank slowly into it.

"Sit.  Please."

Sal perched on the edge, her orders still in her hand.  She pushed her white braid over her shoulder and waited.

"Relax, I don't bite," he joked, reaching for a pad of paper.  His hand paused and he glanced back at her.  "That was a bad joke.  I hope it wasn't offensive."

"Humans rarely bite, sir," was all she said.

He sighed and nodded.  "You're making fun of me, aren't you?"

"Just stating a fact, sir."

He smiled at that.  "Ok.  Fair enough.  Now, you've never been in my office before, so let me explain the rules.  I call you by your rank, we're talking officially.  I use either your name, or your call sign, and we're off the record.  I offer you a drink, and it's a social meeting.  Understand Corporal?"

"Yes, sir," Sal replied.

"Good.  Now, would you care for a drink, Sal?  That is what the Black Blades call you, right?  Sal?"

She nodded and flicked an ear at him, inhaling his scent.  He smelled like nothing but human.  There was no fear, no anger, and no concern lingering on his skin.  "Thank you.  I would love one," she told him professionally.

"Whiskey?"

She shook her head.  "It's made from grains.  That doesn't set well with my kind, sir - "

He wagged a finger at her, smiling.  "Nope.  You broke the rules already.  It's Ran."  

"Sorry," Sal said, trying again.  "I don't handle plants well.  Fruits are better, but not by much.  Ran."

"I see.  So, that's why Blaec makes sure I have a bottle of mead in the office.  Will that work?"

"Thank you, Ran.  That would be wonderful."

He stood and pushed at the bottles arrayed on his shelf, pulling a small clear one from the back and a short glass, then returned to his chair.  While he poured, he said, "Now you need to learn to relax, Sal."

"I thought I was."

"Nah.  You're as tense as a dog guarding his bone."

Sal nodded and leaned back in the chair, curling her feet under her.  Ran pushed the glass of mead across his desk and Sal took it, sipping delicately.  "Why am I here?"

The general didn't reply until he'd filled his own glass from a different bottle.  He glanced up at her and took a long gulp, sucking in a breath at the bite of the liquor.  "I wanted to meet the reason your Lieutenant found his spine.  He blames you."

Her ears twitched in surprise and her pale eyes widened slightly, but the only real response Sal gave him was to nod, slowly and carefully, as if waiting for the catch.

"I'm not sure what to think about your revelation to the, well, the world basically, that the Black Blades are all iliran, but I am happy to see your recent combat effectiveness rating go up.  What's the story, Sal?"

"We're that good."

"Bullshit."  The General looked her in the eyes. 

Sal tried to remind herself that he didn't mean to challenge her, but she couldn't bring herself to look away, either.  "It's just the truth," she told him.  "We're better than you."

"Are you so good then, that a new elite soldier could make the best unit in the Conglomerate of Free Citizens four percent more effective?"

"Yes."

He chuckled.  "That's not the answer I expected."

"Doesn't mean it isn't true," she pointed out, still holding his gaze.

"What else."  He leaned closer.

Sal clenched her jaw, stifling her urge to growl, and stared.  His eyes bore into hers, his lids squinting slightly at the intensity, and he his muscles strained to get closer.  Her lip pulled upward in a snarl she couldn't prevent.  The bastard was challenging her.  Her!  Sucking in air, she smelled nothing but the calm scent of human, but he refused to even blink. 

"Back down," he warned kindly, the tone of his voice at odds with both the words and the expression on his face.  Slowly, carefully, he lifted his left hand from his lap, a long resin dagger clenched in his fist, and set it on the desk.  "You'd never make it."

Her ear flicked up, and she looked down, accepting her loss, her eyes resting on the slender blade.  Unexpectedly, she grinned.  "I could.  I may submit, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't make it."

"I don't really understand your species, Sal," Ran told her, shoving the dagger to the side of the desk.  "I'm playing blind here."

"Not that blind," she pointed out, gesturing to the weapon.

He laughed, and lifted his glass.  "Blaec warned me about a few things.  Does this mean I have at least a bit of your respect now?"

Sal took another sip of the mead.  "It means you truly out rank me."  She tilted the glass again, then realized that her words likely made little sense to him.  "You won, general.  I am impressed.  I will also obey you, well, pretty much without question."

"Pretty much?"

Her answering smile flashed sharp teeth.  "I can always challenge you again.  Being more dominant does not mean more intelligent, nor does it make you right.  We're different, we're not stupid."

"So how does that work in the Blades?"

"Well," Sal sighed, wondering how to explain it.  "The Lieutenant is the most dominant of us all.  He's usually right, and his tactical knowledge is impressive.  He not only has more human rank than the rest of us, he has more iliran."  She shrugged.  "It works just like you'd expect it to if we were humans."

"How do you fit in?"

Her head tilted.  "I don't understand."

"You're a female, one of the few, from what I hear."

The tiny, pale woman glanced down, looking at the blue envelope laying carelessly in her lap.  "I don't know."  She shrugged.  "I may be purebred, but that doesn't mean I have the answers, sir."

"Ran."

She nodded and continued.  "I've heard the whispers, too.  That's how I even got into the trials.  My records sure weren't good enough to get an elite unit to look at me."

"Nor your listed species.  Not many care for your kind."

"I know."

"So you're playing blind, too?"  His voice was gentle, almost paternal. 

Sal lifted the glass again and took a long drink, emptying it.  Carefully she set it on the desk.  The General refilled it and pushed it back at her.

"This going to be a problem in the Blades?" he asked.

"Nah," she grumbled.  "Just with me."  She waved away his look of concern.  "Not like that.  I hate that I know so little about this culture they all take for granted.  I have no idea about my parents, my history, none of it.  Half the time, I don't even understand my own instincts."  She stopped and glanced up at him.  "I shouldn't have said that."

"It's just a drink between friends, Sal," he reminded her.  "Least, I'd like to think of you as a friend."

"Humans aren't typically friends with iliri."

"Zep is."  Zep was the only human in their unit, and most of the time, the iliri forgot he was different from them.

Thinking of her big brother made her smile.  "Zep's kinda special."

"You know what this is?"  The general tapped a file on his desk.

"Probably my personnel records?"

"That's part of it."  He flipped open the cover and turned a few pages.  "This is your official military history.  Every background check, every report, every promotion.  Anything tied to you during your time as a conscript is in here." 

He pulled out a small set of papers then closed the file.  "This has been sitting on my desk for a while, Sal.  I've read it all."

Her ears dropped.  She knew some of what was in that file and most of it would not be complimentary.

When she didn't answer, he went on.  "You're not what I expected from this."

"Why do you have my file?  I wouldn't think you'd keep the complete file of every soldier in the elites."

"No," he agreed.  "But when you managed to beat Zep in your trials, Blaec Doll asked me for a favor.  You know how many times that's happened?"

"No."

"Twice.  This" he tapped the file, "was the first.  The second, was after your little escapade in Yager's Crossing.  Anyone that mattered enough for Blaec Doll to take an interest in has my complete attention."

"Fuck," Sal whispered.

"Yeah, I know about that too, even if it's not in your file."

Sal looked up at him, shocked.  There was no way General Sturmgren could know she was intimate with Blaec, but her relationship with her partner had become rather public.

"Cyno?" Sal asked.

"And Blaec," Ran said.  "Iliri thing, he told me.  I don't get it, and I don't care.  Not unless it effects your performance as a unit."

She chuckled ironically.  "We already handled that."

"There's one thing in here, though, that I think might interest you."  He pushed the papers at her, face down.  "They're yours.  It's not an official copy, Sal, but I thought you might be interested to know where you came from."

"I grew up in Merriton," she said, confused.

"Yeah.  As a slave of some rich merchant.  I have that too.  I mean before that."

She reached up and took the documents, almost afraid to read them.  On the other side, the heading for Lamarck Corp. screamed from the top.  Sal glanced up at Ran once more, then read the first page quickly, the paper seeming to grow heavy with the words on it.

"It says they were performing experiments."  Her voice was controlled and steady.

"Controlled breeding," Ran said sadly.  "To see if iliri would breed pure."

"What does this have to do with me?"

"Read the next page."

She did.  It was a list off offspring.  A set of numbers was the only description for parents, followed by gender, date of birth, and date of death.  Only a few had the death column still empty.  Sal scanned the list of survivors, and realized only one was female.

"I was an experiment?"

"It seems like that.  I'm sorry.  I debated giving that to you, but if it was me, I'd want to know."

She looked up at him with true appreciation, her white eyes fading into her alabaster skin.  "I do.  Thank you."

"We know you were purchased from Lamarck Corp.  Since there's only one female listed, I can only assume that's you.  I'm sorry, I can't tell you anything about your parents.  The company went out of business about eight years ago."

"Do you know what they were studying?"

"Mm."  He locked his hands behind his head and leaned back, staring at the ceiling.  "Officially, no, but twenty something years ago?  Was a lot of interest in your kind.  Probably either for birth control, or the whole aphrodisiac thing."

"I don't understand."

"Iliri females have always been considered alluring.  I doubt it's because you have no pigment.  Perfume companies paid a lot for supposed pheromones, and the fact that you don't reproduce like us has always been of interest."

"So they treat us like livestock."

"Yeah."

She glared, the anger in her eyes not for him.  "And you wonder why we hate you?"

"No.  I don't.  The only thing I wonder is how I can help."