Chapter 30
Rex stood there, totally frozen, his jaw practically on the floor.
He’d been so worked up and thrown off that he’d completely forgotten about that Vyrdenia law protecting military higher–ups.
Now Raven was in the clear, and he had nothing to pin on her.
A second later, he looked at her again, this time with a cautious edge.
‘This woman’s playing chess while I’m stuck on checkers,‘ he thought.
Raven didn’t even blink at his stare and turned to Lorne instead.
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“General,” she said, cool as ever, “Dane tried–and almost managed–to kill a six–year–old. Jax showed up with a crew to take down a military general. Up to you how to handle it.”
Rex snapped out of his daze at her sharp tone.
His chest tightened in an instant.
Scared the General might decide right then and there, he jumped in quick.
“General,” he rushed out, panic clear, “Dane and Jax messed up, no doubt, but it’s not as awful as she’s making it out to be. Nobody died because of them–please, let my last family off!”
Raven’s eyes went colder at that.
“It’s exactly because they’ve got a military general like you in their corner that they pull this stuff!” she fired back, her voice hard.
“If every bigwig’s family ran loose like this, Vyrdenia wouldn’t need an enemy attack–we’d fall apart from our own military circus!” she added, sounding all high and mighty.
Rex wanted to throttle her after that self–righteous rant.
He’d say something, she’d hit back twice as hard.
He’d never felt so cornered.
“Sir…” he tried again.
Rex opened his mouth to keep going, but Lorne shut him down with a raised hand before he could get it out.
“The Grayson family’s in the wrong,” Lorne said, low and steady. “If I let this go just because you’re pleading, what do I do when the next military hotshot tries the same thing?”
Then he turned to the soldiers behind him.
“Guards,” he ordered, voice booming with authority, “take Dane, Jax, and this young woman. Lock them up in Bastion Prison. The courts can figure it
out!”
Rex’s heart dropped like a rock.
Dane and Jax went rigid, their faces draining of color.
Vivian’s expression turned to pure, wild panic.
If this hit the courts, once that ‘attempted murder of a military general‘ charge landed, it would be death or life without parole at best.
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Chapter 30
In a desperate move, she threw all caution aside and shouted at Lorne.
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“Sir,” she begged, her voice shaky, “my uncle Drake’s a lieutenant general! I just had a small clash with her–she broke both my hands! You can’t do this
to me!”
Lorne barely glanced her way, not fazed at all. “Drake? I know him. So what?”
“Sir…” Rex gave it one more shot.
Rex’s face twisted with even deeper desperation.
Lorne’s vibe went icy, and he said, “If you’re still not satisfied, we can let Lieutenant General Valor handle it.”
Rex’s look changed, and he backtracked quick.
“I accept your call, sir,” he said, dipping his head in respect.
He shot Raven a glare, his eyes full of resentment and bitterness.
“But sir,” he added, voice thick, “Lieutenant General Valor’s not exactly clean here either!”
“You heard her yourself before you stepped out–she said even you wouldn’t be able to change anything.”
“And when you came out from behind that tree, she talked to you rudely, no rank or nothing,” he said, hammering it home.
“And then she even threw ‘peeping Tom‘ at you, her superior!” Rex raged.
“Sir, she’s got zero respect for you!” he charged.
In the end, he added, “With that attitude, she’s gonna mess up bad someday and drag the military down with losses we can’t even guess.”
Lorne’s brow creased, and he said steady, “What’re you getting at?”
“Lieutenant General Valor’s too young,” Rex said, his tone weighty. “I’ll give her props–she’s done plenty for the country–but she’s raw, way too raw.”
“You remember how those old colonels felt two years ago? Guys who’ve been in the trenches forever, hearing some kid not even twenty snagged lieutenant general?” he pushed.
And he added, “They’ve bled for this nation their whole lives, and they’re still below a punk who’s barely an adult. You know how much that killed their faith in Vyrdenia’s military?”
He stated, dead serious, “To keep those old soldiers from losing heart, and to give Lieutenant General Valor some time to cool off, drop that cockiness and impulsiveness…
“I say bump her down to colonel for now. Wait till she’s at least thirty before even talking about moving her up again.
“Otherwise, the military will fall into a mess!”
“Ha!” Raven let out a sharp, cold laugh at Rex’s preachy tirade and pitch.
Then she tilted her head, her icy eyes settling on Lorne.
“Sir,” she said smooth, “since so many think I’m not up for this job, no point in bothering with a demotion–just let me walk away from the military for good!”
She’d only stuck around guarding Vyrdenia because of a promise to A FRIEND. If the military figured she didn’t belong, she wasn’t about to keep putting her life on the line for it, she reasoned.
She wouldn’t even sweat unseal that Starcard if she left.
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Chapter 30
The moment Raven said it, a strange quiet blanketed the place.
Everyone–except the Valhalla crew–gawked at her like she’d gone nuts.
Rex couldn’t believe what he’d just heard.
Leave the military? She actually went there.
‘Is she out of her mind?‘ he thought, stunned.
Even if Lorne took Rex’s advice, she’d still be a colonel at worst.
Colonel–ranks most in the military would die for and never touch–and she acted like it was nothing.
But quitting flat–out? Rex couldn’t process it.
“No, hold on“, Rex muttered to himself, “she’s already climbed this far; no way she’d just walk away.”
Realization hit Rex–she was bluffing to spook Lorne into keeping her rank.
Rex’s look at Raven filled with sarcasm and contempt.
‘She really thinks Vyrdenia’s military can’t roll without her,‘ he scoffed inside.
He exhaled a sigh of relief. If Lorne could be shaken by a cheap move like that, he wouldn’t be the top dog.
Pulling this lame trick to flex on him? She was just screwing herself. Her ego would sink her sooner or later–Rex was sure of it.
“She’s gonna regret this,” he smirked.
But right as that crossed his mind, Lorne spun his head around and fixed him with a glare.
In that split second, those steely, untouchable eyes flickered with a touch of menace.
“Didn’t I tell you to zip it? One more peep, and the one losing rank is you!” Lorne barked, his voice cold as ice.
Lorne was so mad he could’ve choked Rex out right there.
Truth was, at this stage, the military didn’t have much left to give Raven.
But the military relied on her for a whole lot–and it was holding her back with invisible ropes she never signed up for.
She could drop it all, go live free as Valhalla’s master, and he knew that plain as daylight.
But Vyrdenia’s military couldn’t handle losing her.
If she bailed, the Sirius Pack she’d been leading would fall apart quick.
With Vyrdenia already taking hits from a bunch of nations ganging up, things would get ugly fast–he was stressing hard over it.
That’s why, a year back, he’d started pushing for Raven to step up as the fourth general.
Problem was, Raven saw the job as just more chains–she’d turned him down twice already.
Today was his third shot, eating his pride to show up here.
He’d figured standing by her now would show where he stood and maybe get her to agree to be Vyrdenia’s fourth General.
But then Rex, that idiot, had to open his mouth about demoting her.
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Chapter 30
O
So yeah, Lorne had every reason to be mad.
Meanwhile, Rex just stood there, thrown off by Lorne’s reaction.
He couldn’t wrap his head around why Lorne was growling at him like he wanted to tear him a new one.
Even weirder, after Raven flat–out said she’d quit the military, Lorne didn’t just show her the door–instead, he was telling Rex to shut up.
Rex scrambled to figure things out and came up with nothing.
What was Lorne even thinking? He couldn’t get a clue.
Before Rex could sort it out, Lorne turned to Raven, and that hard, all–business look of his eased into something almost embarrassed.
Then the words he dropped next hit like a lightning strike, wiping everyone’s brain clean blank.
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