Gilded Serpent Danielle Jensen (i can read with my eyes shut .TXT) 📖

Marcus saluted as well, then gave the order to return to camp. Moving through the men, he caught hold of Quintus’s arm. “We need to talk.”

“I don’t want to.”

“It wasn’t a request. Let’s walk.”

Glowering, Quintus allowed himself to be led a distance from the rest of the men, then crossed his arms over his chest. “What?”

“I’m sorry about Miki.” Wiping away the rain running down his face, Marcus added, “And I’m sorry I couldn’t send you with him.”

“Rules are rules, aren’t they, sir?” It was impossible to miss the sarcasm in Quintus’s voice.

“Gibzen wants you out.”

Quintus snorted. “Ungrateful prick. I’ve saved his ass more than once. He’s a piece-of-shit primus compared to Agrippa.”

“He’s here whereas Agrippa abandoned us for a girl, so maybe give Gibzen some credit.” Scuffing his sandal against the cobbles, Marcus added, “None of the other centurions want you. They all think that with Miki gone, you’re going to…”

“Lose it?”

“Something like that.”

Quintus pulled out a knife and began pruning his fingernails. “So I’m not discharged, but neither do I have a place in the Thirty-Seventh.”

“That’s right.”

“Screw you all.”

Quintus started to walk away, but Marcus caught his arm and hauled him back, well aware that if the other soldier decided to fight him, that Marcus would be the one who’d end up bleeding out on the street. “Teriana wants you back as her bodyguard.”

“Because I did such a wonderful job of it last time?”

“You did as well as anyone could.” Especially given that they’d been betrayed by someone who they all trusted. Except if Marcus revealed that information, Quintus would probably kill both Titus and Felix, never mind that one of them was innocent. “Teriana trusts you. And so do I.”

“Your trust is misplaced, Marcus, because I fully intend to desert at my first opportunity. And you and I both know that even if you had the manpower to spare to hunt me down, you’d never find me.”

“If you were planning to go alone, that would be the case,” Marcus admitted. “But we both know that you’d never abandon him.” And seeing the anger rising on Quintus’s face, he swiftly added, “Besides, there’s another option. A better option.”

“I doubt it.”

Knowing he was treading on dangerous ground, Marcus took a deep breath. “You keep Teriana safe while she’s with us, I’ll alter the Thirty-Seventh’s books to say both you and Miki are dead. You’ll both be free.”

Silence hung between them.

“Why can’t you just do that today?” Quintus asked. “Don’t you think you owe me that much after years of doing your dirty work?”

“Freedom has a price, Quintus. This is the cost of yours. Keep her safe for me and you’ll have the chance at a different life.”

Wind whistled through the streets, ripping and tugging at his cloak.

“There is no limit, is there,” Quintus finally said. “No line you won’t cross to have things your way.”

There were lines. Except Marcus kept finding himself on the other side of them.

From nowhere, the memory of Lydia’s pleading eyes filled his vision along with the sensation of her nails digging into his skin as she fought to hold on. As she fought to survive.

Murderer.

He shoved the memory away, burying it deep with all the others. “Do we have a deal?”

“Yeah.” Quintus spit into his hand, then held it out. “We’ve got a deal.”

 21TERIANA

She’d said good-bye to Miki as they’d exited the camp, the resignation in his expression and the hollowness in Quintus’s shattering her heart. She’d managed to keep her tears in check, but once she’d stumbled back into the command tent, great gasping sobs had torn from her chest.

The world was so incredibly cruel, and she wanted to scream at the gods for allowing it to be so. Wanted to scream at herself for her part in this particular cruelty, because Hegeria’s marked healers had the power to help Miki. And what did it say about her that she chose keeping a secret over her friend ever walking again?

And for what?

The shifter had told her to watch. To learn. To be ready to strike. But what did knowing everything there was to know about the legions matter if she kept hesitating to strike against them?

“Why did you choose me, Madoria?” she whispered to her goddess. “I’m not suited to this. I don’t know what I’m doing. Anyone would’ve been a better choice than me.”

But no answer came.

Footsteps at the entrance to the tent caught her attention, and she looked up to see Amarin approaching with a steaming cup.

“Some tea, lass,” he said, not commenting about the fact she sat on the floor. “You’re upset about Miki, I take it?”

Teriana gave a tight nod, knowing that if she spoke, her voice would crack.

“He’s known adversity all his life, Teriana. He’ll be all right.”

“And Quintus?”

Amarin sighed, then sat next to her, toying with the buckle of his sandal. The bronze skin of his hands was marked with age and use, and around his wrists were faded scars that suggested he’d spent time in shackles at some point in his life. “Time will tell how Quintus fares. It’s good of you to have volunteered to take him on, Teriana.”

“He’s my friend.”

His mouth quirked. “He’s your enemy.”

“That too.”

They sat in silence for a time, listening to the patter of rain on the canvas above. Then Amarin spoke. “I was part of the last remaining rebel forces in Sibal. Fought against the Empire’s legions for years before they finally ground us down. Anyone who survived was forced into indenture. The Senate sold most off to civilians, but they kept me because I was learned and, they believed, young enough to be redirected from my rebellious roots.”

“Were they right?” she asked, curious to learn more about this man whom she’d never known to talk about himself.

“No.” He huffed out a breath. “And yes.”

She waited for him to say more, and sure enough, he continued. “Indenture is nothing more than slavery with the nebulous promise of freedom if only you work hard enough