Iron Gold (Red Rising Saga 4)

“Yes. They are.”

A silence grows between us, and in it we share an understanding that goes beyond words.

“You are strange,” she says finally. “Your friend is a killer. But you, you are gentle.”

“I’m not gentle.”

I’m suddenly conscious of how close she is. How aware of her body I am. The space between us vibrates and trembles with something raw, newly woken and terrifying to me. I feel the heat in her breath, the cold petals of her pale lips, and the lonely fire in her dark eyes that would pull me into her and consume me. I would let it, and that frightens me more than her family. More even than the death that awaits me if she learns my family name.

She feels the same tension between us, and breaks it by turning away. “Marius says you are spies. That it was not by chance that you found me.”

“You don’t seem to put much trust in what Marius thinks.”

“He is a reptile, but not a fool.”

“I care more about what you think.”

She considers. “Anything gentle that lives long, hides its stinger well.” She turns to the wall to make her exit.

“Why did you take my razor?” I say, feeling a sudden flash of anger at her. “All those people died because I couldn’t get them out.”

“I know,” she says quietly. “But that is the horror the Slave King has made.”

“That’s not good enough.”

“I did it for the greater good. You will understand.”

“Your mother doesn’t know you’re here, does she?” I ask her, nodding to the jammer on her belt. “Why did you really come?”

She hesitates as if she doesn’t even know.

“You saved my life. I…wanted to see if yours was worth saving.”

“And?”

“I have not decided.” She looks at me with strange pity. “You play with things you don’t understand.”

“Your mother made me a guest. I’m protected by old law.”

“My mother is not my father.” She pauses. “Give her what she wants. For your own sake.”

“What does she want?” I ask, but the wall has already parted, and Seraphina has slipped into its shadows. Cassius was right.

We are not guests here. We are prey.

I FINISH MY MORNING LAPS in the pool on the fourth deck of the Nessus in the early morning. The swimming is part of the physical therapy to recover from the razor through the arm I suffered in the fight with the Republic Wardens. My body is a history of aches and pains. Not even in my mid-thirties, I’ve already had three cartilage replacement surgeries for my knees alone.

The swimming makes the arm ache like hell, but also helps displace the feeling of claustrophobia that has crept in during our second week in deep space in our push toward Society territory. That and razor training with Alexandar help keep my mind from my family.

After dressing in my stateroom, I find Sevro in his quarters. He’s lying on his bed watching a video of

Electra when she was a baby. The little girl floats in the air above him, silent and dour even as an infant, as Victra dresses her in a high-collared vest. Sophocles’s tail swishes in the air, blocking the camera’s view. I hear Kavax laugh in the background. It’s been two weeks without communication to the outside world. It’s eating at Sevro.

“You still not out of bed?” I ask. “Lazy bastard.”

He squints over at me, eyes still swollen with sleep. “What’s the rush?”

“Apollonius. We agreed to talk to him this morning.”