Beyond the Red

Beyond the Red by Ava Jae

Book: Beyond the Red by Ava Jae Read Free Book Online
Authors: Ava Jae
gorgeous eyes can change that.
    “Why do you say I wouldn’t ask you?” she says, watching me. I make a point not to notice her long dark eyelashes and full lips. Wait. Shit.
    “You can’t be serious. You don’t need me to answer that.”
    “Humor me.”
    I search her face for a smile, or a hint of a joke or trick, but she looks disturbingly serious. Instead of hidden laughter, her eyes glint with something else—curiosity? “I’m a half-blood. And a slave. And according to your brother, not worth the air I breathe.”
    “I never said I agreed with my brother.”
    “You don’t have to—it’s the one thing humans and Sepharon agree on. Half-bloods are a genetic perversion that shouldn’t exist. Humans and Sepharon aren’t meant to blend.”
    “And yet, here you are …” She reaches out and traces the thicker line of the light markings on my collarbone. Her touch sends a warm rush into my stomach and a chill over my skin—what is she doing? I suppress a shudder. I hope to the moons that the white powder on my face hides the heat on my cheeks. “You know, the kara bath doesn’t suit you. You’ll be taking normal baths from now on.” Her gaze runs over my neck and back up to my face. “And I’ll have you grow your hair out. The plucked look is rather odd on you.”
    I stare. “You’re serious.”
    “As poison, I’m afraid.” She steps away from me and sits on the edge of her bed again. It sways. I pretend not to notice. “My guards are no longer loyal to me. It’s no secret they would much rather see a man on the throne—they think I cheated Dima of the crown.” She shrugs. “You dislike my guard as much as I do, you’re trained for combat, and I have little doubt in my mind that anyone else would try to buy your loyalty.”
    I cross my arms. “And if I decline?”
    She grins so sharply it’s a wonder she doesn’t cut herself. “Well, that’ll make my decision much easier then.”
    My fingers clench into fists. “Decision?”
    “Of whether or not to report you to the Sirae family, of course. I’m afraid you know too much to be anything less than my personal servant.” I scowl, but her smile softens. “Threats aside, you’re not going to get a better offer, Eros. As my personal guard, you’ll have much more comfortable sleeping quarters, some privacy, and a sense of individuality. I’ll keep you well fed and clothed and you won’t have to subject yourself to the menial, humiliating work that my brother is sure to assign you. Pledge your loyalty to me, and I will do everything in my power to keep your secret safe.”
    As much as I want to hate her for cornering me with this bizarre offer, she’s right—this is better than anything I could have hoped for. I should be grateful. I should be thanking her.
    But despite her generosity , she’s still the girl who ordered the massacre of my camp. She oversaw the slaughter of hundreds of people. The enslavement of dozens of women and children. And now she wants me to save her. Now she wants me to protect her.
    “You killed my people.”
    She sighs and looks at her feet. Digs her fingers into the blankets. “I am sorry,” she says softly, “truly, for the pain I’ve caused you. My soldiers made decisions I did not consent to, but unfortunately I had little choice.”
    A rush of heat flares through my center. She’s the blazing queen and she didn’t have a choice? What does she take me for? “Everyone has a choice.”
    Kora inhales deeply. Looks up at me. There’s something wrong with her eyes—they’re kinduv shiny like—no. No voiding way. She is not going to sit there and try to make me feel bad for her.
    “A group of your rebels tried to kill me. They succeeded in murdering my parents and hundreds of my people.”
    Her eyes are doing that stupid glistening thing. She believes it, but she’s delusional, because that never happened. I shake my head. “We never—”
    “Three cycles ago at my coronation, a group of rebels

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