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for?”
    “He’s set up a bidding war.” Darius’ tone was shrill and
desperate, almost panicked. And young.
    “Then outbid the others,” she told him. It occurred to Tory
that this wasn’t a new role for her to play. She sounded confident the king
would follow her advice. She must have done it before. How that must have
chapped Pontoon’s ass.
    This time, her advice was wrong. She didn’t know what was in
that box, only that Darius needed it back. And she’d failed to deliver it.
Would her advice change if she knew what was in it?
    “Alex—” Darius said, his voice pleading. He was asking her
to do something and she knew what it was. Tory heard it. Again, he blessed the
stars he had Jezar listening in on her thoughts. Whatever the Teran One King
wanted his cousin to do, she would do it. It would be her “duty”.
    “What does Pontoon say to do?” Her question was sharp, edgy.
    “He says to get the box back at any cost.”
    Tory could hear Alex thinking. What was it like inside her
head? Did thoughts whirl around like butterflies? Or was her thinking like
everything else about her—straight lines and boxes?
    I could show you. Jezar’s mental tone seemed amused.
    Fuck you, Jezar.
    You’re not my type, Teran.
    Back at you, Ardasian.
    A low, rumbling chuckle echoed through his mind and Tory
shook his head.
    Darius broke the silence. “Alex, I promise I’ll get you
back.”
    Like hell he would. Alex belonged to Tory. She always had.
She just didn’t know it yet.
    “I’m his Saria , Darius. He chose the mate ceremony.
You know what that means.” Yes, a Teran One King knew exactly what that meant.
After all, the Stender line had created it to save the bloodlines.
    Centuries ago, families would wipe each other out, eliminate
entire bloodlines. To stop the carnage, the first Stender King created the
concept of Saria , or single revenge. One member of a family could be taken,
owned, to pay for the sins of the bloodline. Murder, slander and other forms of
harm done by a bloodline to another would be appeased by the sacrifice of a
member of the offending family. In this case, Alex paid for her brother.
    “He knows your family is dead? All of them?” Darius sounded
shocked. But why? Regardless of what Darius said, she would pay the price. It
was her duty, after all. And Alexandra was all about duty.
    Apparently, Tory was still a bit bitter about that.
    “Celeste isn’t. If I didn’t accept the contract, he had the
right to claim Celeste. I couldn’t let that happen. To get the box, you’ll have
to negotiate with Ingle. Outbid the other Teran planets. Get Pontoon on some
diplomacy with Teran Five.”
    “They’ve cut us off.”
    “We’ll need an alliance with them, Darius.” She was giving
him diplomatic advice while she was hanging from cuffs in her enemy’s quarters?
What the hell was wrong with that woman? It infuriated him that she continued
to put that motherfucking planet before everything else.
    And why wouldn’t she? Hadn’t she done just that five years
ago?
    “I’ll do what I can, Alex. But what about you?” Yes,
Alex, what about you? Darius made a good point. Had she written off her own
life?
    “I’m not going anywhere. Focus on the problem. Get the box.”
She was lying. She had to be. Jezar would know for sure.
    “Alex—”
    “Don’t let Pontoon marry Celeste off, okay?” It was the only
favor she asked from her King.
    “I won’t.” And the line disconnected.
    She’s trying very hard not to cry.
    Damn it. Tell me what I want to know, not what I don’t
want to know.
    Kyler is someone she asked to watch over Celeste.
    Who the hell is he? Jesus, he sounded like a jealous
piece of shit.
    She thinks of him as a relative, someone from her
childhood.
    Why hadn’t he ever heard of this guy? It still rankled. He should have been the one she turned to, but her brother had made sure that
wouldn’t happen. Five fucking years wasted.
    Jezar stayed silent for a moment. And then, She