Change of Darkness (The Change Series Book 3) by Jacinta Jade (best new books to read txt) 📕

that Siraay actually took two more steps before she also came to a stop. She turned to look back at him but found that they were already face-to-face, the lord having moved swiftly up behind her.

She went to take a step back in surprise, but Chezran grabbed at her shoulders and flung her hard against the wall, his strong arms pinning her there.

‘Do you really think I need an escort to keep tabs on you?’ he hissed. ‘If I didn’t trust you, you would not be walking side by side with me as you are. I would be visiting you in a dark cell, or just having Pyron provide me with updates.’

So Pyron is in charge of torture here too, a part of Siraay thought numbly while her pulse raced at the lord’s nearness. From fear or lust, she couldn’t tell.

Chezran leaned closer, bringing his head down near to hers, his gaze flashing to her lips for just a heartbeat. ‘The majority of the people walking about this palace are trained killers. And most of them don’t wear a bracelet or other tarzneum restraint, because they are, supposedly, loyal to me.’ His eyes bored into Siraay’s. ‘I trust almost no one—but I weigh the risks, keep my mind sharp and my claws even sharper.’

His grin was feral, and Siraay almost thought that some of his teeth were looking a bit more pointed than normal …

Chezran leaned closer still, so that his warm breath tickled her ear, even as those arms kept her solidly in place against the wall. ‘I trust you, because I know I can trust the desires that now motivate you.’

Siraay felt one of Chezran’s hands shift from where it pinned her arm and sink down to brush over her hip, causing her to gasp softly.

He leaned back slightly and raised an eyebrow, seemingly asking her to prove him wrong. ‘Besides, without the necklace, you wouldn’t exist—not as this mind, anyway. And without me, you wouldn’t have the necklace. Or your current standing.’ He finally dropped both arms and stepped back, his voice resuming normal volume again. ‘Your escort is there for your protection.’

Siraay waited a breath to see if he had anything more to say on the matter, but when he didn’t, she launched herself away from the wall, her strong legs propelling her forwards and into the lord so that he was forced to stumble backwards into the opposite wall, a loud thud announcing the impact.

Now in the middle of the wide hallway, Siraay didn’t step closer but rather kicked her right leg up and spun her hip around so that the blade of her raised boot sped to a stop just before the vulnerable point of Chezran’s throat, her heel tickling the lord’s skin just below his chin.

Now it was his back against the wall, and while faint traces of surprise crossed his face, Siraay also saw his appreciation of her skill. Siraay held her leg extended in the air, her months of training, her fitness, and her will keeping that leg steady, and her body balanced, without the faintest hint of shakiness.

‘Fine,’ she growled at the lord. ‘Keep the escort tailing me, if you want. But remember this—I don’t want or need them.’ She glared into Chezran’s eyes a moment longer before she swung her leg back around and returned it gracefully to the ground.

He simply looked back at her, an unreadable expression on his face, before saying, ‘I will consider your request.’

He resumed walking down the hallway, and Siraay felt like shaking her head. Did nothing ruffle that calm exterior of his?

At the end of the hall, Chezran paused once more, turning his head to speak over his shoulder to her. ‘Coming?’

Fighting hard to stop an amused, and frustrated, smirk from crossing her face, Siraay walked after him.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

ALTHOUGH HE HAD sat down with her, Chezran had only been able to eat for a short time before Archon Onan, head of security, had come into the room, requesting some of his lord’s time before Chezran went to his next meeting.

Thus, eating alone, Siraay was able to finish her lunch quickly. After taking a last sip of water from her glass, then setting it down a final time, she stood and stepped away from her chair.

Going to the door, she opened it and looked out.

A female guard stood on either side of the entrance to the room.

Siraay sighed a little to herself but then shrugged. Chezran had made his thoughts clear. She spun to face one of the females who she thought might have acted as an escort the previous day. ‘Lead me to the training area where the elite units are.’

The female nodded, and the pair moved off, Siraay trailing the guards through a number of hallways, down several steps, and then out into the open air.

As she walked through one doorway, she wondered if the guards were leading her to her death, given that the opening led out onto a small platform that had a terrifyingly steep drop straight ahead and to the right.

But the guards merely pivoted to their left, and as Siraay turned to follow them, she saw that a long stone stairwell snaked down the outside wall of the palace.

The stairs dropped down several floors towards another part of the palace structure, and Siraay obediently followed her escort, who halted at the base of the stairs.

One of the female guards pointed to the pair of large open doors that faced the stairwell. ‘You will find members of the elite units within. We are not allowed to pass through the doors, not being of their ranks.’

Interesting, Siraay thought. So the elite units were not used for simpler tasks like guard duty. She nodded her thanks to the pair of females and moved towards the doors, lifting her chin. She was keen to see what set these elite units apart from the other soldiers.

As she walked through the double doors, her immediate impression was one of space. Although the structure