The Conscripts: Fight or Die (Blood War Book 3) Read Online Free Page B

your wounds. I am very glad to see you also.”
    “Thank you, Senator,” Istas said. Istas had been gravely wounded saving Usiche, and she was just now completely recovered.
    Raina’s eyes met Istas’s and held them for a long moment. There was no sympathy in them. If anything, Istas saw hatred.
    “Yes, if it hadn’t been for Istas I would have been killed in the attack. How are your wounds healing, Senator?” Usiche said.
    Istas met Raina’s gaze with her own unwavering stare. Nothing passed between them except the look she had seen in the eyes of men and women she had fought over the years. Raina radiated a physical confidence beyond her beauty, the confidence of someone who had fought battles as Istas had. Who was this woman?
    “Completely healed. They were nothing. Thank you asking,” Senator Carroll replied.
    Istas broke off her gaze with Raina and pretended to listen to the discussion between the senator and Usiche. She lost track of the conversation as she examined this woman as closely as she could while still seeming interested in what was being said, trying to understand her instant reaction to her. Finally, as the conversation continued, she began to see the micro eye movements, the subtle muscle tensing, and dozens of other small tells that someone without her Anjin training and experience would have missed. This woman was having a difficult time controlling her dislike for both Usiche and herself. In fact, Istas realized, she was the focus of her anger. Without being obvious, Istas moved closer to the woman. Raina immediately moved back. Finally, Istas decided she would push the envelope of her reactions. She touched Raina’s arm and released her sexual pheromones.
    “I love your dress. Do tell me where you purchased it,” Istas said, giving her what she thought was her best flirtatious look.
    The pheromones’ effect was startling. Instead of reacting the way any other human would have, the woman frowned and jerked her arm away from Istas.
    “Really, why would someone like yourself be interested in fashion?”
    Raina turned and strode away. Istas stood there staring after her. Anjins had been surgically altered to control sexual pheromones—it was a potent weapon in her profession. The pheromones were human and intended to affect humans. Raina was not a human. She must be a hybrid! Istas watched the woman as she crossed the room.
    “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what got into Raina. Please excuse me,” Senator Carroll said.
    Senator Carroll quickly followed his wife. Istas took Usiche’s arm and squeezed it hard. Usiche looked down at her and said, “What?”
    “Let’s find a place where we can talk. I need some air,” Istas said.
    They slipped out of the main room and found a place to have a cigarette. Usiche lit Istas’s then her own. Istas blew a thick stream of smoke before she met Usiche’s eyes and said, “She is not what she seems.”
    “I don’t understand.”
    “I think I will have to kill her.”
    “What!?”
    “I can’t prove it yet, but I think our senator’s wife is a hybrid. If she is, we may have cracked into our hybrid embeds.”
    “But.…”
    Istas looked up at her and said, “Do I say things lightly?”
    Usiche glanced in the direction of Senator Carroll and his wife. They were chatting amicably with another senator and his wife.
    “What do you intend to do?”
    “I’ll tell you when we are home.” Istas kept her eyes on Raina.
    #
    Kat led Dasan into the crowd. The first person she took Dasan to meet was Senator Anu Kago from the Wolf system. When Dasan approached the senator, he placed his fist over his heart and bowed in the Wolf tradition. The senator did the same. Kat watched with interest.
    “It is my honor, Senator,” Dasan said.
    “Thank you, warrior brother,” Kago replied.
    “You give me an honor I am not sure I deserve from someone of your stature.” Kago was a famed warrior on Wolf and he had helped save Admiral Raurk during the recent