Without a Front by Fletcher DeLancey Read Free Book Online

about to get a reminder of what could happen when she unleashed her temper. But if it wasn’t…
    She couldn’t even consider it.
    After half an eternity, the footsteps drew near enough for a shadow to fall across her field of vision. Then Micah stood there, looking down at her. She stared back, trying to discern his intentions from his body language and expression, but he was giving her no hints—until he unclipped his disruptor and slowly raised it to aim directly at her heart.
    She watched in disbelief, her mind nearly as stunned as her body. Not Micah! Fahla, not him of all Alseans!
    But there he stood, one twitch of a finger away from blowing her chest open.
    She strained against the blanket thrown over her senses, desperate to understand whether this was real or not. Surely not; why would he use the live immobilizer if he wanted to kill her?
    Unless…maybe he wanted her to see her assassin before she died. To know just how blind she had been.
    Her mind raced over the possibilities as to who might have ordered her death. There were a disturbingly large number of them. Besides the usual pretenders jostling for political position, she had made enemies when she bypassed both the High Council and the main Council to break Fahla’s covenant. Four moons later, the voices calling her a war criminal had not gone away. Granting amnesty to the same Voloth soldiers who had killed so many Alseans hadn’t been a popular decision either. Aldirk assured her that the agitators were a small, powerless minority not worth her concern—but Aldirk cared only about political dangers, not physical ones.
    And the person in charge of her physical safety was the same one who was currently threatening it.
    Micah watched her, his expression giving nothing away, and Tal thought it rather incongruous that she should be so aware of the birdsong at a time like this. The forest was ringing with it as birds of several species voiced their existence, their territory, their suitability as mates. Life was in motion, all around them, and death was simply one more part of that cycle. She wished she could close her eyes and listen. A sense of calm flowed through her, and she felt ready for what came next. If she had to die, at least this was a pleasant place to do it.
    Micah lowered his arm, clipped the disruptor back to his belt, and took a small control pad from his pocket.
    The sudden release of her body was nearly as debilitating as the paralysis. She went limp as a sleeping newborn and blinked repeatedly, grimacing when her lids grated over dry eyes. Finally, she rolled over and pushed herself upright, getting used to movement again as she glared up at her Chief Guardian. Now that the threat had ended, so had her moment of clarity and peace, and Micah’s anger made it worse as it bombarded her still-shaken senses. She couldn’t get her blocks up and didn’t appreciate the feeling of being so out of control.
    â€œWhat the shek do you think you’re doing?” she demanded.
    â€œShowing you what an idiot you are!” Micah shoved the control pad back into his pocket, returning her glare in equal measure. “You think this is some kind of game, slipping your Guards, making me look like a fool? There’s a damned good reason you have Guards, and you of all people should know that. What if I’d been sent by someone else, someone with an eye on your title? You’re not invincible!”
    â€œNeither am I your trainee! You presume too much on our friendship, Colonel. I am your Lancer, and you’ve just committed a level-four state crime. Are you trying to destroy yourself? Because I’m more than tempted!”
    â€œGo ahead! Better I should be destroyed than you!”
    Startled, Tal straightened up from her aggressive stance. “What does that mean?”
    â€œIt means you’re choosing a poor path! You don’t care about your safety, you don’t care about your friends,