fact. It was just her anger clouding her judgement. Vivek would never disobey Commander Tynan and he had only been honest in his report. It had pained her to hear the cold hard truth and know that he felt she was unfit to act as a captain. That pain was pushing her into reacting in a way that was unlike her. She was directing all of her anger at Vivek, pinning the blame on him to deflect it away from herself. This was her fault. She had acted rashly, behaved in a way unsuited to a captain, and had got herself injured and taken off duty. Now she was paying for it. If she hadn’t rushed into the fight, Vivek wouldn’t have had to rescue her, he wouldn’t have had to file a report on her actions, and her squad would have remained faithful to her.
The scar on her back burned with the memory of the scrape of the holy wood arrow shaft and the fiery heat of the toxin. Fear threatened to seep into her veins again. She shunned the emotion, unwilling to allow it to control her. She had survived and she had learnt a valuable lesson, one that would see her survive her next fight against the vampire hunters.
When she found her men, she would see that Vivek wasn’t responsible for their actions and that she was wrong to aim all of her anger at him.
She had to hold on to the faith she had in him and needed to remember what he used to be like. He was still that man inside. She was sure of it. Something had changed him and if she could discover what it was, she could set things right between them and restore the friendship they had once shared. That felt like too much to hope for. Vivek had changed so much that thawing the ice in his heart seemed impossible.
Seth was staring at her.
Sophis shunned her thoughts and looked him square in the eye.
His lips quirked into a smile. “Perhaps it is that female who distracts him.”
Female? Anger lanced her gut again, spreading fire into her chest. She hadn’t noticed Vivek chasing a female. If he was, it could prove that she was wrong and he had disregarded his orders tonight. Around twenty years ago, a female had caught his eye and he had shirked his duties then in order to pursue her. The feeling inside Sophis increased, burning through her blood, and she turned her frown on herself. What did it matter to her if Vivek was chasing anyone?
She pitied the poor female he had targeted. That was all this feeling was. She was just confusing it with something else, something she definitely wasn’t about to consider, not even for a split second.
“If you see my men, can you please come and tell me? If I find Vivek, I’ll reprimand him and send him to Commander Tynan to file his report,” Sophis said.
Seth’s look turned sour and he frowned. “The idiot will get what is coming to him one day.”
Sophis couldn’t agree more.
She saluted Seth and he pressed his hand to the chest of his crisp black jacket, nodded, and walked away.
Sophis stared after him, her focus wavering as her gaze tracked him until he disappeared down a corridor. She blew out a long sigh, her thoughts weighing her feet down. There was no point in putting things off. Her men were here somewhere. She wasn’t sure what she would do if she found them with Vivek. It would be the final blow to her already damaged self-esteem but she couldn’t stop looking for them now.
The basement guards’ quarters, the rest rooms there, and the armoury had produced no results. She hadn’t sensed her men or Vivek there. No trace of their scent lingered in the air, which meant they hadn’t been there in at least an hour. The grounds had held a hint of Vivek’s scent, but Seth had explained that for her. Regardless of what Seth thought, Vivek had been out there at some point this evening, although that didn’t mean he had patrolled as ordered.
Sophis closed her eyes and focused her senses. It was difficult to pick out a specific scent in the mansion. There were so many people coming and going because of the masquerade preparations
The scar on her back burned with the memory of the scrape of the holy wood arrow shaft and the fiery heat of the toxin. Fear threatened to seep into her veins again. She shunned the emotion, unwilling to allow it to control her. She had survived and she had learnt a valuable lesson, one that would see her survive her next fight against the vampire hunters.
When she found her men, she would see that Vivek wasn’t responsible for their actions and that she was wrong to aim all of her anger at him.
She had to hold on to the faith she had in him and needed to remember what he used to be like. He was still that man inside. She was sure of it. Something had changed him and if she could discover what it was, she could set things right between them and restore the friendship they had once shared. That felt like too much to hope for. Vivek had changed so much that thawing the ice in his heart seemed impossible.
Seth was staring at her.
Sophis shunned her thoughts and looked him square in the eye.
His lips quirked into a smile. “Perhaps it is that female who distracts him.”
Female? Anger lanced her gut again, spreading fire into her chest. She hadn’t noticed Vivek chasing a female. If he was, it could prove that she was wrong and he had disregarded his orders tonight. Around twenty years ago, a female had caught his eye and he had shirked his duties then in order to pursue her. The feeling inside Sophis increased, burning through her blood, and she turned her frown on herself. What did it matter to her if Vivek was chasing anyone?
She pitied the poor female he had targeted. That was all this feeling was. She was just confusing it with something else, something she definitely wasn’t about to consider, not even for a split second.
“If you see my men, can you please come and tell me? If I find Vivek, I’ll reprimand him and send him to Commander Tynan to file his report,” Sophis said.
Seth’s look turned sour and he frowned. “The idiot will get what is coming to him one day.”
Sophis couldn’t agree more.
She saluted Seth and he pressed his hand to the chest of his crisp black jacket, nodded, and walked away.
Sophis stared after him, her focus wavering as her gaze tracked him until he disappeared down a corridor. She blew out a long sigh, her thoughts weighing her feet down. There was no point in putting things off. Her men were here somewhere. She wasn’t sure what she would do if she found them with Vivek. It would be the final blow to her already damaged self-esteem but she couldn’t stop looking for them now.
The basement guards’ quarters, the rest rooms there, and the armoury had produced no results. She hadn’t sensed her men or Vivek there. No trace of their scent lingered in the air, which meant they hadn’t been there in at least an hour. The grounds had held a hint of Vivek’s scent, but Seth had explained that for her. Regardless of what Seth thought, Vivek had been out there at some point this evening, although that didn’t mean he had patrolled as ordered.
Sophis closed her eyes and focused her senses. It was difficult to pick out a specific scent in the mansion. There were so many people coming and going because of the masquerade preparations
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