Page 105 of Retrograde

“No,” she assures me quickly. “I most certainly did not.”

She shoots Tristan a scalding look, and he withers, deflating. I’ve heard rumours he has it bad for her, but I never took them seriously until now, seeing the effect she has on him.

“Since when are we after making peace with them?” I demand.

“Oh come the fuck on, Krasnik!” he scoffs. “We’ve been fighting a hopeless fight with no progress for years. There is no point, no reason for men to keep dying. What we need is a change in strategy, tearing them apart from within. Phoenix said⁠—”

“I do not give a flying fuck what Phoenix said,” I cut him off. “Why the fuck are you here? You already know all the facts. What do you want?”

“Aron, we—” Lena starts carefully, but Tristan speaks over her.

“I want you to relinquish your command of Retrograde. I’m here to ensure ... a smooth transition.”

“Darling, we both feel that ... maybe the strain of everything has taken too much of a toll on you. We think it’s in everyone’s best interest that you now ... step down.”

Well fuck me. I should have seen this coming. I have seen this coming. Sure, the scenario unfolded a bit differently in my mind. When I pictured it, it usually ended with a knife in my back, and some scared little shit scampering away. But I did expect to be discarded. What I didn’t expect was that when it finally happened, I would no longer give a fuck.

“Bold of you to come tell me accompanied only by a woman,” I snarl.

“It’s beneath both of us for me to bring bodyguards.” Tristan straightens, squaring his shoulders. “My men are just on the outside.”

“That far, huh?”

A charged silence hangs between us as we measure each other, agile on our feet and muscles tense. I’m younger, and likely stronger too, but I know it’d be unwise to underestimate Tristan. But I’m just fucking with him. I have zero interest in fighting him.

“Aron, if there is one thing we know about you, it’s that you are loyal to the cause. You will do what’s best for your men. Which fighting Tristan is not, and you know that.”

Her words land like a chest punch, knocking all air out of me.

There is absolutely no point, but I protest regardless, “I am Retrograde. Without me, all you’ve got is a bunch of aimless men who barely know why they’re here anymore.”

He only shrugs in response. And that subtle, resigned movement says it all: do any of us?

Little does he know he’s only playing into my hands at this point, giving me a diamond ace that I hadn’t even hoped for. All I need for a royal flush is one more card, and I know exactly how to get it.

“Let’s move everyone first and announce it then. You’ll only cause chaos if you do it now. I have the new hideout location picked and ready. An abandoned valley village near the Rift.”

“That sounds reasonable,” Lena chips in.

Tristan pretends to consider it for a moment, but I can tell by the vaguely detached look on his face that he’s not going to object. Because for all his hatred and paranoia not even Tristan suspects what I’m about to do. He has no idea that since the moment I realised I was in love with Riley, I have been doing nothing but spinning my catastrophic plan. I’d already decided long before he showed up that moving Retrograde to deceptive safety would be the last thing I’d ever do as its leader.

RILEY

Even though they dragged me in here blindfolded and shut me in a small windowless room, I know instinctively that I’m back in Everrise. There’s just something oppressive in the air that every cell of my body revolts against.

I don’t know how much time passes, but not a lot. They bring me food twice, and I ignore it both times, lying on the cot and looking at the ceiling stubbornly until they take it away again.

The first guard that comes in doesn’t speak to me. He doesn’t even look at me.

But the second one hesitates on his way out, his hand on the metal door lever. He sets the untouched tray on the dusty, cracked-tile ground, turns back around and reaches me in two steps.

Everything inside me clenches. I force myself to stay completely still as he leans over me.

My heart is galloping away, but I only raise my eyebrows at him and don’t react otherwise. My body may be recoiling in instinctive horror from the pain that I’m sure is coming, but my mind doesn’t care. There’s nothing they can take from me anymore.

“Would be a shame to waste a ripe cunt, I says.” He licks his plump lips, revealing uneven teeth. “I’m going to fuck your brains out, pet.”

“Hmmm.” I hum dismissively, then shoot forward. I grab his crotch, fingers closing around the scared little plums of his balls and the base of his shaft—average-sized at best. His eyes widen in shock.