The Desert (Song of Dawn Trilogy Book 1) by Liv Daniels

Author:Liv Daniels [Daniels, Liv]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mustelidae Media
Published: 2017-05-18T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

“Max, I have someone new for you today.”

Sasha stood at the door of a small classroom, Leina peering in behind her.

Max, who stood at the head of the room, looked at Sasha like she was crazy. He was not a large man, but everything about him was formidable, and intensity radiated from his every movement. “Sasha, I told you—“

“I know what you told me, Max. But I want you to give her a try. Trust me on this.”

Max started pacing rapidly back and forth, waving a stack of papers that he was holding. “Sasha—“

Leina waited in the doorway quietly, regretting having caused such tension.

“Just one day. If you don’t think we can use her by the end of today, that’s okay. She’s only here on trial.”

Max stopped pacing and looked as if he was about to agree, but then he seemed to see Leina for the first time. “You’re incorrigible, Sasha. How old is she?”

“Eighteen,” Leina piped up, but her voice came out as little more than a squeak.

“Oh,” Max moaned, putting a hand to his head.

Sasha smiled weakly, motioning for Leina to sit down. “Don’t make me look like a fool if you can help it,” she whispered.

Leina nodded, secretly wondering what she had gotten herself into. She paced to the front of the room and sat down at a desk.

Max regarded her tersely. “Don’t let Sasha fool you. You’re just another one of her experiments. She’s handed me dozens before. Don’t get your hopes up, kid.”

Moments later, four trainees filed in to the room all at once. They were all in their mid-twenties, but were as lifeless as stone. Keeping their heads down, they trudged to a row of desks in the back and sat down simultaneously. Leina did her best not to gape at them. They must live an idyllic life here, she thought. How much the slaves of Dangerman would have envied it if they knew! And yet their faces were so blank, as if they couldn't care less.

Max cleared his throat. He ignored Leina, instead directing his glare to the stoic row of trainees in the back. He began speaking in impassioned tones. “Now I’ve heard a rumor running among the younger generation that we at the Agency are soft. That we’re never going to get the job done because we still believe in mercy. In the coming months every one of you will learn why that’s utterly wrong. Sometimes being merciful is the hardest, cruelest thing you can do, for both yourself and your enemy. Your enemy, because it defies everything he lives on, and yourself, because it’s hardly ever what you want to do, and you’re the one who has to live with the consequences. Is that easy? Is that soft? No. It takes more courage and grit than your enemy has, or will ever have, in him. And he won’t have a prayer of knowing how to deal with it. Don’t think for one minute that mercy is easy. It’s impulsive cruelty that’s the soft and easy choice.

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