And while the Andarion warrior had a kill bounty on his head from many governments, none were from The League directly. Rather, The League wanted him captured for questioning, or – more along Kyr’s style – torturing, so that Hauk could indict every member of The Sentella High Command. Until they had a full confession and hard factual evidence directly from Hauk himself, The League didn’t dare issue a kill bounty on a member of a family the Andarion people viewed as a national treasure.

That would be suicide. In fact, they’d be better off assassinating the entire Andarion royal family than giving a paper cut to a great War Hauk.

The only way for The League to legally execute Dancer Hauk was if they could get his birth mother to disown him first. And for that to happen, Commander Zemin would have to prove to Hauk’s mother that her son had committed treason against his Andarion heritage or acted cowardly in battle.

She glanced back at his unprecedented fighting prowess.

Um, yeah…

In short, given his intrepid nature in a fight, an act of God.

And all because Zemin couldn’t reach the emperor directly, so he was going after those closest to him. What a callous bastard.

Biting her lip, she glanced up at the commander and forced herself to speak. “Excellency? May I have permission to ask a question?”

He sneered at her. “If you must.”

She took a deep breath and braced herself for what might be a bad reaction from him. “Why me?”

“You’re one of the best I have, agent. I’ve never sent you after a target you didn’t take down immediately and effectively.” His euphemism for as bloody as possible to make her COs happy.

His gaze darkening, he leaned over to pin her between him and the desk where she sat. “And because you look enough like your sister that it should rattle that freakish bastard into making a mistake.”

Or, much more likely, get her killed for a relationship she couldn’t help. Andarions weren’t exactly known for their compassion or forgiveness. One of the fiercest warring cultures in the Nine Worlds, they lived for violence and bloodshed.

Especially human blood. For centuries, the Andarions had viewed humanity as cattle and food. A delicacy meat.

Most still did.

The commander grabbed her jaw in a fierce grip and forced her to meet his insane gaze. “You want your daughter spared, agent? This is the price of it. Deliver Dancer Hauk to me and I will see to it that she’s removed from League training and given to a real family to raise… Betray me or fail and I will have her head delivered to you and mounted to your cell wall.”

CHAPTER 1

“C’mon, Darling. You can’t do this to me. I’m desperate for you, man. You’ve got to give it to me. Right here. Right now. I need you like I’ve never needed you before.”

In the hallway of the Caronese Winter Palace, Maris froze as he heard the deeply masculine, pleading Andarion accent through the door speaking with his male best friend.