Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 89162 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 446(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89162 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 446(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
“But you did what you did for me,” Molly protested as they started walking again.
He shook his head.
“I did it for me, too.”
Molly didn’t understand this statement at all, but just then they turned the corner and Torus stopped in front of a sliding silver door.
“Here we are,” he rumbled. “Keep your head high, Molly—you have done nothing wrong.”
And then the door slid open and they stepped inside.
12
TORUS
Torus walked in to find Commander Sylvan seated behind his desk. To one side of him sat a human woman with long dark hair and light-colored eyes. Both of them wore serious expressions on their faces.
“Hello, Commander Sylvan.” Torus nodded his head. “I am here as you requested. And this is Molly Byrne, my subordinate.”
He was still holding hands with Molly, he realized, but he was reluctant to break contact with her. This summons to their superior’s office had frightened her badly and who could blame her? She’d been terminated over and over—all for something that wasn’t her fault. Torus was determined that wasn’t going to happen again.
“Hello, Commander Torus…Ms. Byrne.” Commander Sylvan inclined his head at both of them. “Please have a seat, both of you. This is Councilor Lizabeth Paige, the head of the Mother Ships’ Legal Team,” he added.
The human woman with the dark hair nodded at both of them but said nothing.
“Commander Torus, I’d like to explain why you’re here,” Commander Sylvan went on. “Yesterday you went down to Earth and beat a human male by the name of Zach Wyndham. You also took a lot of valuable tech equipment from him.”
“I won’t deny either of those charges,” Torus said calmly. “I told you why I did it.”
“Right. Because this human—who is the ex-mate of your subordinate, Ms. Byrne here…” Sylvan nodded at Molly. “Was using the equipment to distribute compromising videos of her—correct?”
“Yes, that’s right,” Molly answered, speaking up unexpectedly. “Zach recorded me without my knowledge and he’s sent the videos he took to every employer I’ve had ever since our divorce five years ago.” Her cheeks were dull red with shame but she kept her head high as she spoke. “So if you want to fire me, I understand,” she went on. “You won’t be the first person whose decided that ‘I’m not good for their image’…or that I ‘don’t fit in with the company culture’…or that they just don’t want me there after seeing those awful videos!”
Her words tore at Torus’s heart and he sat straighter in his chair.
“I want it noted that if Molly is terminated for any of this, I’ll also be taking my leave,” he growled. “None of this is her fault—she’s a victim and I won’t have her blamed or shamed for the cruelty of her ex-Mate!”
“Whoa, now!” Commander Sylvan raised both hands in a “don’t shoot” gesture. “Nobody is getting terminated,” he told them. “We’re just here to try and do some damage control.”
“Damage control?” Torus asked. “In what way?”
“In the way that Ms. Byrne’s ex husband is suing the Kindred and the case is being fast-tracked,” Councilor Paige said, speaking for the first time. “If he wins, we could be in big trouble. It will make it much more difficult for every other Kindred warrior who wants to live on Earth or call a human bride.”
Torus shook his head.
“That makes no sense. It was my understanding that the World Council has ruled that a Kindred warrior cannot be prosecuted for defending a human female against the attack of a human male.”
“That ruling was based on a case where a Beast Kindred killed a human man who was attempting to rape his Mate,” Lizabeth Paige said. “She was in immediate physical danger, which sent him into Rage.” She looked at Molly. “That’s the state of berserker fury that Kindred males go into when they feel their woman is in danger or being threatened.”
“These protective actions taken by Kindred on behalf of their females now have a name in the human courts,” Sylvan put in. “They’re called ‘Rage killings.’”
“Yes, and…?” Torus asked.
“So in the original case, it was a physical attack the Beast Kindred was defending his woman against and she was his Mate—they were Bonded,” Lizabeth Paige pointed out. “As far as I can tell from looking at your background, you two aren’t even dating, let alone Bonded—are you?”
Molly’s face got red at once.
“No, no—Commander Torus is just my boss,” she said quickly. “I mean, he’s never done anything inappropriate—he was just helping me out, that’s all!”
“Molly is correct—she is my subordinate and we are not ‘dating’ as the humans call it,” Torus affirmed.
“So you see the problem here—we can’t really say that you were defending your woman because she’s not your Mate. The two of you aren’t even romantically linked in any way,” Lizabeth Paige said. “So the Rage defense won’t hold up in court.”