{Gait}

Korac stepped from Infernus block’s lift bay. The imprint seal required Executive Warden blood. Unable to travel between blocks, he contemplated asking for Sagan’s help in his investigation.

He glanced over to his cell, expecting her to manifest from his thoughts. Did he want to see her? Always. But he also wanted to keep things civil between him and Pehton. She was due to arrive any minute to investigate Inanis, and a visit from his favorite Progeny might incur the Executive Warden’s wrath.

Revisiting that topic threatened to choke the sanity from Korac, as he wandered the block. Then the business with the floor below. Finally, Sagan’s preoccupation with Razor. He meant it when he said he’d support wherever her work took her. He understood dicey situations came with a General’s territory. But her heart was so big and so fragile.

Like with his blockmate. Sagan reached out to Remorse without hesitation. Extended her friendship to him.

Korac stopped in front of the man’s cell. The other prisoner slept curled on his side with his back to the hall. The swirling energy of the nacre shield distorted the image, rendering the man unidentifiable from this angle. Always asleep when the Icarus wandered. Intentional? Korac suspected—

Air released from the lift bay. Gait’s Executive Warden stepped out, sketchbook underarm. She looked a little dejected at his idle freedom.

Korac held up his hands to placate her. “I’ll go right back in.” He waved to the imprint. “If you’ll unlock it.”

The exhausted-looking Lyrik glared at him as she stomped in her boots to the nacre shield. Appearing casually interested, he watched the advanced technology scan not only her DNA but her fingerprints and…

Hormone levels? Interesting.

“Get. In.”

He threw Pehton a smirk as he walked nonchalantly inside. Without glancing back, Korac knew she checked out his ass in these jeans. That’s why he wore them. Skintight and properly disarming. The Icarus pitied her honestly. The neglect in her sex life affected her scent, but the sadistic motherfucker in him couldn’t resist distracting her this way.

Korac practically heard Pehton shiver behind him before she regained full composure and commanded, “No more walks. You say you’re here on your own honor?”

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He turned and nodded.

“Then stop risking my job for your amusement. I’ve done nothing to you—”

“The First Wave Progeny disagree.”

Pehton actually stamped her foot and squared up with him in the cell. It was adorable. “Elden, dammit! I followed my orders.” After she pointed a finger in his face, her voice tightened with anger, “And don’t you dare tell me you kept your hands clean under another’s command. I’ve seen the footage of what you’re willing to stomach projected in every one of Razor’s establishments.”

Korac kept his face and voice neutral, “I serve Cinder. Even under my new King, who offered forgiveness in return for my stay in a cell that cannot hold me. And so I serve Cinder by wasting here. How will you make up for your sins, Executive Warden?”

The Lyrik dropped her hand, threw the sketchbook on his bed, and turned her back on him. Frustrated, she growled. The nature of her race made it a melodic sound. Beautiful. Like a whistle more than a throat crunching noise.

“I hate that woman.”

Korac recoiled at her confession. Any details about her rumored relationship with Celindria intrigued him, but he refused to pry because he valued privacy. However, if she volunteered the information herself… He remained silent and waited for her to continue.

Pehton sniffed with her back to him, and he settled on his cot when the scent of salt hit him. Apparently, their relationship was more involved than he imagined.

“She promised to help me find the children. To topple Razor’s empire and retrieve the memories to solve Inanis. I was just another casualty in her wake. She truly is a monster.” She wiped the tears and faced him. “Did you see her smug face at the Tribunal? Of course, you did. How could you miss it? I don’t wish ill on those Progeny. But I know her. No one could stop her from taking them.”

“Can you get to them?” Neutral face. Neutral voice. But inside, Korac embraced possibly another comrade fallen to Celindria’s lies.

With red eyes haunted, Pehton shook her head. “No one can touch her now. Unless they were already in Enki. I heard she never leaves the lab.” She grimaced until another emotion flickered in her gaze. “There is one way.”

“I’m on the edge of my seat, Executive Warden.”

She coughed, but he heard the giggle she hid beneath. Even as she disguised it, her shoulders loosened a little, and the tears dried. “The Sovereign Ambassador. She holds residence there. I can arrange an investigation with her. Will that better satisfy your part to solve Inanis?”

“Well, that depends.”

Incredulous, Pehton searched his face. “On what?”

“Can you get me in a Divine Booth? In my memory, I can’t see the men’s faces.” He held out a hand about bed-height. “Too short an angle. But I understand Razor can provide us with the technology to step outside ourselves and look around.”

Pehton’s eyes widened cutely the more he went on. Her mouth even gaped.

Couldn’t hurt to add some more items to the already tall order. “And another thing.”

“Dear, Elden. What?”

“We need to interview Karter and Para. They’re among the few survivors I know from Umbra’s Thailea campaign.”

Pehton folded her arms and grinned. “Oh, I certainly don’t mind seeing them again.”

Korac crooked a questioning brow with a smirk.

“Celindria may have used and abused my heart, but my libido still fucking works.”