It was dark, and Erik was alone with his thoughts.

Was this how Aaron had felt, when he’d publicly announced their allegiance to House Davion? He’d knowingly, and with his eyes open, taken a step down a dark road from which there was no turning back.

He was a man of many secrets. He felt giddy, powerful, dangerous. He felt like a man with a live grenade in his hand, and the pin was pulled.

He could still damage Aaron’s alliance with what he knew—still exact some kind of revenge. Yet it wasn’t the deadly responsibility of the secret that bothered him; it was its already fading power. Soon, it would be history, irrelevant except to those who already called the Duke their enemy.

His safety, and his plans for self-determination, depended on having leverage against his uncle. Fortunately, Aaron Sandoval was a man who had no end of dark secrets.

Erik knew now, he had to have them. He had to have them all. Knowledge was power, and if he knew Aaron’s secrets, he would be in a position to damage the Duke, or, alternately, to protect him, depending on which best served Erik’s interests.

Right now, he wasn’t sure which would be the better course. He wasn’t sure he cared.

Erik smiled grimly and quickened his pace, sand crunching under his boots. Dinner awaited, and he had business to discuss with the Duke. Things would be different now.

For the first time, Erik felt firmly in charge of his life, if not his destiny, and soon that would come as well. But Erik’s aspirations did not stop there.

He was no longer content to control his own destiny. He would control Duke Aaron Sandoval’s as well.

About the Author

J. Steven York has written and published novels, short stories, nonfiction books, and software manuals. He’s also written for computer games, radio, video, and film. He’s dabbled in Star Trek, Marvel Comics X-mutants, and several universes of giant combat robots. Someday he should really figure out what he wants to be when he grows up. He lives on the Oregon coast with his wife, fellow writer and occasional collaborator, Christina F. York. They share their living space with two cats, several hundred toy robots, and a regiment of GI Joes.