Chapter 264: In Her Shoes
I curled up in the arms of my mate and rested my head on his shoulder. The queasy feeling that I had had seemed to have completely disappeared as I sat in his arms. It was nice, to say the least.
"I was thinking of taking out Stargazer and Pippa first. Then a nice lunch, followed by the rest of the Alliance," I shrugged my shoulders like it wasn’t that big of a deal.
Most of my men grunted their agreement, but Raguk remained quiet where he stood in front of me. Night, who had fallen off my lap thanks to GA, climbed up the male’s leg and settled himself back in.
"I don’t think it is going to be as easy as you have suggested," said Raguk slowly, looking around at all of us. It was almost as if he was expecting one of the other guys to agree with him. "The Alliance is not going to just fall because you want it to."
"Oh, ye of little faith," I chuckled. Did people really underestimate me that much? Did they really not think that I hadn’t thought of every outcome of every action? But Raguk was new to our little band of merry men, so I would forgive him this time.
"Pippa is currently sitting at the head of the Alliance," I said, letting everyone know the information that I had gotten. "She used Stargazer to get into their system and take it over from the inside out. The Alliance is nothing more than a shell."
"That’s not possible," said Raguk, his eyes widened slightly before narrowing.
"Take out Pippa and Stargazer, and we will have the Alliance weak for a short window of time," I pressed, closing my eyes as I buried my nose in GA’s neck. He smelled like a frigging cupcake right now, and all I wanted to do was lick the frosting off.
"You make it sound so easy."
I opened my eyes and rotated my head just enough so I could see the massive Uugazt. "It is," I assured him. Would it be that easy if it was just me? Not a chance in hell. But it wasn’t just me. I had Jun Li. Between the two of us, we could accomplish anything.
"We’re here," said Jun Li, coming through the speakers.
"And you’re still good?" I asked him. As much as there was something inside of me demanding that I do this, I could understand if he was hesitant about killing his family.
"I am," he replied. That was it. Just those two simple words and, in a matter of hours, the entire universe was going to change.
"Then open a line of communications to Pippa Flynn," I said, not bothering to move. I had nothing to prove to the other woman, but that didn’t mean I didn’t want to get under her skin.
I heard the signature beeping of an open communication and waited for her to answer.
"Ah! This is amazing! I think it is the first time you have ever called me," said Pippa as soon as she accepted the call. I watched the cheerful look on her face fall as she studied the guys around me. "Who are they?"
"They would be my mates," I replied with a shrug, a shy smile on my face as if I were embarrassed.
"You have an orc as a mate?!?" she screeched, and I could see the mask she had so carefully cultivated on her face slip. Okay, maybe no slip so much as fall off completely.
"He prefers the term Uugazt," I said with a smile. "But yeah, he really does look like an orc."
She peeled her eyes away from him and looked at me instead. "You fucking bitch. I guess only you are enough of a freak to want to fuck something as gross as those things behind you."
I burst out laughing even though I could feel GA stiffening under me at her words. But they didn’t really bother me. I mean, she was dying anyway, might as well let her get everything out.
"Ah, but wasn’t that what you wanted? That was why you were using the other girls to experiment on? You wanted to be the last Ethawainian." She went as pale as a ghost at my words, and I was probably supposed to feel something other than glee looking at her.
Too bad I didn’t.
"I didn’t want that. The Alliance did," she responded after a second.
"Nice," I nodded, "But using your scapegoat isn’t going to work this time. You see, a little birdy told me exactly what you have been up to since you were freed. I have to admit, taking over the Alliance was a stroke of genius."
"Bitch," sneered the woman on the screen in front of me. "Why do you get to have everything handed to you on a silver platter? You don’t deserve it."
"And you do?" I asked, nuzzling GA. I parted my lips, and the tip of my tongue came out to take a lick. Frig. He tasted as good as he smelled.
"Of course," she replied as if it was completely obvious. "Do you know who my father is?"
"I really don’t," I sighed. Fucking name-dropping. We weren’t even on Earth anymore, and she still thought that who her father was was important?!? Hardly. "Nor do I care."
"You really should."
"Oh well, if I ever get back to Earth, I’ll tell him you said hi," I said with a shrug.
I never understood why people looked at me like there was something wrong with me simply because I didn’t have a full range of emotions. Clearly, the woman in front of me was just as much of a monster, and yet, I was the psychopath.
Mind you, I was pretty sure that if a therapist was able to look at her, she would be classified as a sociopath.
Knowing what was coming, I studied Pippa, wondering how it would feel to be in her shoes.
Unfortunately for her, empathy was one of those emotions I was missing. Too bad, so sad.
