My mouth opens as I look to my tiny female doppelgänger, and despite my rage I’m slow to speak ill of her mother.
“You don’t have to speak ill of my mother.” A husky incredulous laugh comes from her and I quickly put up a granite wall over my thoughts. “She and Uncle Logan might think there is strength in their union, but the two of them will only sink that much faster and farther. We won’t let them have the upper hand. Shall we kill a handful of Celestra in their honor?” She blinks my way benignly as if she asked something inconsequential like whether or not we should see a movie, and a chill rides through me.
Before I can answer, Wes strides in with the Valkyrie themselves. Barnabas, an eight-foot beast who looks as if he’s in serious need of taking a shit. Belshazzar, the one with the grotesquely huge eyes. And Micah, the one with a voice that sounds like a nuclear blast. Each one is morbidly tall and morbidly inhuman with a grayish cast to their scale-like skin.
Wes nods my way as the four of them take a seat at the table. “What’s going on?”
“Do you still have Luke Jenson working as a mole at the Faction meetings?” He’s the one that let us in on the fact Skyla was putting up her defenses with Noster last summer. And thanks to his two-timing heart, he essentially cost Skyla everything.
“That I do.” Wes pinches his brows as if to ask the question.
“Good. I want a full report. I’m positive they’re about to have a meet and greet real soon in the future.” I glance to Sage a moment. “I want to injure Celestra.” I look to the three beasts seated among us. “Where and when, that’s up to you.”
Belshazzar touches the stone table and a map of Brazil pops up, growing quickly in size until we’re looking at a seaside town down south.
“Big Faction meeting coming up tomorrow. Three birthdays to celebrate.” A greasy grin glides up his face. “I’ll make sure it’s a party to remember.”
“Good,” I say. “How many are we talking? A dozen, two?”
Micah leans into the screen. “Forty-six active members. Most should be present.” His voice booms so caustically low and deep my eardrums tremble long after he’s done speaking.
“I want them hurt.” A vision of that Mustang rocking reverberates through my mind. “Maimed. I really don’t care.”
Wes inches back. “What’s gotten into you? We’ve won the war. The world is responding to our presence.”
“Responding to our presence?” A dull laugh pumps from me. “If by that you mean fallen to shit, you got that right.”
“Why?” Wes is unrelenting with his hardened stare.
A quick glimpse of Skyla and Logan tangled in one naked mass flits through my mind.
“Because she needs to fight,” I roar out the words. “This is a damn war, not a tea party. I’m sick and tired of watching her rest on her laurels, that’s why.” My hands slam over the table so hard the stone splits right down the middle and the screen goes black.
Sage places her tiny hand over my shoulder as she looks out at the four of them. “We’re going to teach Mother a lesson. You don’t forget what we’ve done or who we are. The world must remember us and so must she.”
“Very well”—Barnabas glowers at the table until it’s functioning once again—“we’ll make arrangements. Consider it done.”
Wes gets up and nods me over toward the window that looks out at the dark, angry sky. At first, I didn’t know how I’d feel to have this place emulating my emotions, but now I see the beauty in it. I like my world dark, just like my heart.
“What the hell?” Wes gives my chest a small shove. “I was at that ridiculous dance. You made me leave Laken. She asked to stay in the event Coop got up and warbled out another tune. Why now? What’s gotten in your craw?”
My chest expands with a never-ending breath. “I saw them together, Logan and Skyla. It’s done. There’s no going back.” I glance to the floor a moment as the ominous words pass through my lips. “I thought maybe—”
“Maybe what? You could undo the damage you’ve done? You’re well past recovery. But adding fresh injuries to an already weakened Faction means there will be blowback. Don’t think for a minute that Skyla will be sitting on Logan’s lap for long. She’s not going to take this lightly.”
“That’s the damn point,” I growl it out so hard the words burn through my throat.
Wes looks into each of my eyes as if studying them for some ocular anomaly. “You don’t know what you’re doing. You’re acting on emotion. A good king takes measured steps. He listens to counsel. You have not once asked my opinion on anything. You are impulsive, impatient, too blinded by your grief to see the big picture. I am this close to creating a permanent barrier for our people from the feds, and if this little temper tantrum of yours causes Ezrina to get there first, you will have cost us everything. We have eternity to think about. Let Skyla screw whomever she wants. This hell is temporary. You’re already dead.”
I yank Wes in by the jacket of his suit until his nose is over mine. “I want everyone on that planet dead,” I grit the words between my teeth just as a pair of hands pull us apart.
“Son,son.” Demetri grins that eerie smile that almost certainly means death, an irony that is not lost on me at the moment. “Please remember that your brother is on your side. What you wish will be delivered.” He gives a slight bow. “It is important to assert yourself from time to time, to let the enemy know that you still very much have the upper hand. You have my full support in the matter. Let the proverbial chips fall where they may.” He glowers at Wes. “Let this be a lesson to you. Never underestimate what those around you are thinking. Even your brother can surprise you from time to time.”
Demetri takes off toward Sage, and Wes gives me one final shove to the chest.
“Don’t ever grab me like that again.” He takes off right out of the weapons room and I stagger over to that demonic ball of knowledge in the corner of the room, Tears over Creation.
“Show me Skyla.”
