Read Online Defiance by C. J. Redwine - Free Book Online

think you’re that valuable to me, Logan McEntire?”
    There’s no right answer. If I say yes, I’ll be killed to prove my words false. If I say no, any chance I have of accompanying Rachel will disappear, and I’ll probably be killed for my interference.
    “My value is for you to decide. Sir.” I nearly choke on the
sir
.
    The Commander slams the flat of his sword onto my shoulder, slicing into my skin. Rachel gasps and slides her hand beneath her cloak. I have a terrible suspicion there’s a weapon hidden in there.
    She’s going to get herself killed defending me if I can’t defuse this, but I don’t know how. My stomach clenches as I frantically run scenarios and try to see a way out of this. There isn’t one, unless the Commander believes we’re both necessary to getting him what he wants.
    Please let him believe we’re necessary to getting him what he wants.
    “Jared Adams has something I need,” he says. “You and the girl will get it back for me.”
    Relief rushes through me. “I understand.”
    He spits his words at me. “You listen to me, inventor who likes to play with words. You are replaceable. The girl is replaceable. I won’t hesitate for a second to spill her blood and find another willing to take her place. Do you really think the life of any one citizen matters in comparison to what I decide Baalboden needs?”
    Before I can do more than draw in a sharp, panicked gasp of air, he spins on his heel and lunges toward Rachel, his sword raised.

CHAPTER ELEVEN
RACHEL
    “R achel!” Logan throws himself forward, struggling to get free of the Brute Squad holding him in place.
    My back slams against the table as the Commander’s sword flashes by me and plunges deep into the chest of the guard beside me. The man makes a wet gurgling noise in the back of his throat and reaches one hand up to grasp the blade embedded in his chest. Blood pools beneath his palm and slides along the silver in a single, sinuous streak as he slowly crumples to the floor. His eyes lock on the Commander’s until the knowledge within them hardens into the far-seeing gaze of the dead.
    I can’t remember how to move.
    The Commander places one booted foot on the guard’s shoulder, grabs the hilt of his sword with two hands, and tugs. The blade comes free with a damp, sucking sound, flinging stray droplets of blood into the air as the ring on the Commander’s finger glistens wetly beneath the torchlight.
    I gag, and the Commander holds his bloody sword to my throat. My knife feels useless in my numb fingers. It was so much easier to imagine killing a man before I realized what that looked like.
    “I warned you I’d teach you your place,” the Commander says softly.
    I can’t speak around the sickness rising up the back of my throat. The metallic tang of blood swamps my senses. I hold my breath, but that just forces me to swallow blood-tainted air until I feel like screaming.
    He smiles. Reaching out, he fingers a long strand of my hair. The spit dries in my mouth, and I feel foolish clutching my knife beneath my cloak as if it could possibly save me.
    The Commander looks at Logan, letting my hair slide slowly through his fingers. “I was going to threaten her life to gain your complete cooperation, but I’ve changed my mind. It would be a shame to extinguish such spirit before one has had the opportunity to tame it, don’t you think?”
    Something desperate and dark awakens within me, biting through my stomach like bile. I want to slap his hand away from me, but with the sword still at my throat and Logan restrained by guards, I can’t move.
    Logan looks like he’s going to be sick, but beneath his pallor I see something I never knew he was capable of: rage. If the Commander notices, he doesn’t react. He’s too busy looking at me like I’m his next meal. I shudder at the predatory gleam in his eye. I can’t decide if he wants to kill me or Claim me as his own.
    “Sir—” Logan begins.
    “Instead, I’ve