Page 47 of True As Steel
“Part of the city,” he corrected. “My pod and I are logistics experts. We can get our people here and make sure we have everything we need to get the city back up and running at maximum efficiency. There are others better suited than we are to actually handle the administration of the city. And yes, you would spearhead our military efforts, from recruiting, training, armament, defenses, to planning our future interventions.”
“That sounds like a lot for a single man to shoulder,” I said, although my excitement steadily grew at the prospect.
“You will not be alone,” Loreus said reassuringly. “We merely need someone to rally behind. Your military history, relationship with Haelin, and now your bond with Tamryn makes you the perfect candidate. Her family is deeply involved in the rebellion and building its own network. You are the perfect man for the role.”
“You’ve already discussed this with your pod?” I asked.
He nodded. “Both last night and this morning, after they discussed this possibility with the others,” Loreus said. “It was a unanimous vote in favor, with you as our General. Once they hear of the attack we just faced, they’ll be even more determined.”
“You have given me much to think about,” I said, feeling slightly overwhelmed. “I’ll need a bit of time. And assuming I go with it, we will need to run it by Haelin.”
“Naturally, I expected no less,” Loreus said with a smirk. “But think quickly, General. Time isn’t on our side.”
I snorted upon hearing the title, and watched him rise to his feet before walking out of the room, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
Chapter 16
Tamryn
Heart pounding, I watched Loreus walk out of Perdition by himself. My gaze flicked over his shoulder, looking for Jarog, but he was nowhere to be seen. In my heart, I knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that he had asked my man to join his pod. If Jarog had accepted, would he ask me to go with him to wherever they would go? Was I ready to follow?
After seeing them train and battle together this morning, I had to admit that it would be unfair of me to ask him to give up that opportunity to be ‘whole’ again with a group of his brothers. Knowing Jarog, I suspected he might decline to join them to honor his word to me. As much as the selfish part of me wanted him to, I couldn’t allow that. The question now was whether I was willing to leave the relative safety of Satos to follow him.
Yes, I am.
That took me aback. I had expected to agonize over it, knowing how uncertain things were out there. And yet, if he asked me to go with him, I would. If nothing else, the recent events had taught me that life was too short to let any moment go to waste. However, if it came to that, I would need to convince him to stay long enough for us to help out Haelin with the current Ferein situation. We owed her that much.
The beep of my scanner snapped me out of my musings, and I forced myself to refocus on the task at hand. Some of the ground had indeed been weakened by the ultrasonic blasts. Thankfully, only a limited number of buildings and residences needed to be temporarily evacuated while we stabilized the lot they were erected on and the surrounding areas. It wasn’t the case with this one.
Relieved, I tapped on the interface of my datapad, looking for what other sectors of the city needed to be scanned but found none. Haelin’s people were not dicking around. Their efficiency blew my mind. Just as I was pondering how to help next, my head jerked up when the tingling sensation of being observed washed over me. My breath caught in my throat at the sight of Jarog, standing in front of Perdition, staring at me with that unreadable expression of his.
He extended a hand towards me. With a will of their own, my feet walked me over to him. I placed my hand in his, and the subtle way his features softened with what I could only translate as tenderness made my stomach flip-flop. Without a word, he led me back inside and down to our suite. A million thoughts fired off in my head. However, the initial panic I had felt that he was preparing to kick me to the curb vanished the minute my hand touched his. Whatever he would say, Jarog was as committed to us as I was. We would deal with this together.
As had become his habit of late, Jarog lured me to the couch, sat down first, then settled me on his lap.
“Judging by the look on your face, that conversation with Loreus must have been quite intense,” I said with nervous laughter.
“You have no idea,” he said with a troubled expression. “He made me a very unexpected proposal—one that I cannot deny is both extremely tempting and terrifying. I haven’t made a decision yet. But if I’m going to do it, I want you by my side. So, you very much have a say in this.”
My heart skipped a beat, and I barely repressed the silly grin that wanted to blossom on my lips. If he was tempted, the chances of me denying him were pretty slim. Either way, my mind had remained stuck on the part of him wanting me by his side should he go through with it.
“Okay. Sounds mysterious. Lay it on me,” I said, caressing his cheek.
At first, my jaw dropped when he recounted Loreus’s suggestion. For a split second, I also feared that personal ambition was driving the Cyborg. But that he would set Jarog as their General reassured me, not to mention the fact that neither Haelin nor any of the other Narengis had detected the slightest deception from Loreus.
“You know, he’s right,” I said pensively. “This would not only be a great solution for Haelin and the Cyborgs stranded with his pod brothers on Svaalis, but it could be a solution for my family as well.”
“I had been thinking of that,” he said with a broad grin. “Loreus is right to say we are too weak as long as we’re all scattered. You can’t go to your uncle because it’s not safe enough where he is, and he can’t come here because there are too many of them for Satos to absorb. But the Ferein territory could welcome all of them and more. We could all look after each other and build our rebellion in a coordinated fashion.”
“This is brilliant! I mean once Grellik is eliminated, we could immediately settle the old trading post you and I slept in without ruffling feathers. Without their leader, the Fereins know Tarkis will fall. I have no doubt they will welcome a Cyborg rule over that of any mercenary cartel that will covet their territory. So, fuck yeah you have my support to go through with it,” I exclaimed before crushing his lips with a kiss.
He chuckled against my mouth, returning the kiss before pulling away. “We still need to run it by Haelin, but this does feel right.”
“She will agree,” I said without hesitation. “She didn’t want you and Loreus to leave. Now, you’re telling her not only will you both stick around, you’re bringing a bunch more Cyborgs to control and defend the one territory that constituted a vulnerability for her. She’s going to be over the moon! It also won’t hurt that it could possibly mean Uncle Cedric will come settle on Xyva.”
“Oh?” Jarog said with undisguised curiosity.
“I can’t swear to it, but I’m pretty sure those two have a thing for each other,” I said with a mischievous grin. “However, their respective duties made it impossible for him to stick around Satos for more than a few days here and there.”