Shades of Treason Read Online Free PDF

voice, but didn’t understand his words. Something moved in her mind, and despite all her training, she was helpless.
    But Jevan wasn’t able to rip the cipher from her mind. She knew that only because he was pissed when the CSS Anthem came within scanner range. He’d grabbed her by the hair, dragged her toward the docking tube. At the last moment, she’d recovered enough of her senses to fight, to shove him out of the shuttle and seal the emergency-tube hatch, then she’d crawled back to her comrades with Jevan screaming profanities in her mind.
    “The rate of your breathing has changed, Ash. You’re awake.”
    Rykus’s voice pulled her out of the memory. She opened her eyes to slits. “You getting off watching me sleep, Rip?”
    A part of her hated to provoke him, but she had no choice. If he stayed—if he forced her to give him the cipher—the Coalition would gain access to the Sariceans’ files and to the information that would rip the Coalition apart. Ash wouldn’t let that happen. The KU needed the Coalition, and she’d vowed to preserve and protect it.
    “Get up.” Rykus leaned against the data-table in the center of the room and crossed his arms over his chest. The dark gray dress-downs he wore didn’t disguise his physique; it accentuated his biceps and the powerful muscles in his shoulders. He was fully capable of hauling her ass out of bed.
    “We could have more fun over here.”
    Maybe she should have lifted her blanket or patted the sleep-slab to make her point. His eyes didn’t narrow and his strong jaw didn’t clench. Not good. She’d have to be even more forward to get to him. She didn’t want to go that far. She’d reined in her behavior since she’d graduated—Trevast just hadn’t been as fun to torment as Rip. Plus, Trevast and the rest of the guys were like brothers to her, and it was somewhat awkward to flirt with family around.
    They had been like brothers to her. She fought back the anguish threatening to cloud her mind.
    “Get up. Now,” Rykus ordered.
    Next time, he’d command her compliance. She was surprised he hadn’t stormed in and immediately done so. Surprised and a little dismayed. He was treating her as if she were still his cadet. The instructors on Caruth had a code: they respected the anomalies’ right to free will, only using compulsion if they had to. Rykus shouldn’t be extending that courtesy to her now though, not after the way she’d treated him yesterday.
    She sat up and turned toward him, letting her long legs dangle over the edge of the sleep-slab. The room spun when she did, and she felt a not-so-gentle pressure at the base of her skull. Her hands and feet prickled, but just as quickly as they came, the sensations vanished.
    “You can talk to me or you can talk to the interrogator. He’s waiting outside.”
    She focused on Rykus again and hid her anxiety behind a half grin. That drew a reaction. His lips tightened just perceptibly. They were nice lips even though they didn’t smile often. Soft too, she imagined. It was a shame they’d never kissed, but Rykus wasn’t one to violate protocol.
    “Come here.” He turned to tap in a command on the data-table.
    Damn, his back was tempting—for a number of reasons, actually—but she wasn’t going to attack her fail-safe. The loyalty training discouraged it.
    He threw a glare over his shoulder. “I said come here.”
    Apprehension coiled in her stomach. He was too in control of himself. The compulsion would work if he used it, and once it took hold, his next orders would be all but impossible to resist. Ash had to set him off.
    “Are you married, Commander?” She tilted her head and let her long bangs fall across her cheek.
    “You don’t know when to stop, do you?” His tone was even, unaffected. Hell, maybe she had lost her touch.
    She raised her cuffed hands—damn, her wrists were sore—in a semi-innocent gesture. “What? I just want to know if you’re available.”
    He moved fast,