Mia does not look like she belongs in a place of war, and I feel a momentary fury at Bear for dragging her here.
She fills up a bowl and hands it to me. It looks like normal porridge, but I can’t be certain. I glare at it, sniff it, and then pass it to Cadel. The next bowl she gives me I pass to Mordecai, the third to Jarek. The fourth I keep reluctantly.
Legion takes the bowl she offers and leads us away. No one calls me out on my rudeness. I sit down against the wall and eat with single-minded intensity. It does taste amazingly good.
“How many did we lose?” Mordecai asks.
“Five. Tallow, Speers, Brighton, and the Osgood brothers.”
“Fuck. They were good people,” Mordecai says quietly.
I refuse to reach out and lay a comforting hand on his thigh. This is not my war, and these are not my alphas.
“It’s only going to get worse. We’re going to lose a lot more people unless we can make this work. It’s war.”
I snap my head around, glaring at Legion and Mordecai. “It’s not war; it's genocide.”
“We have a plan,” Legion says. “It’s going to work.”
I try not to laugh, but I can’t help it. They are all insane. And they think that this plan is going to work? It’s not. It will never work. The Beta’s Path won years ago.
I return my attention to the last of my food and deliberately block out the insanity I’m hearing.
Legion and Mordecai walk away, and I glare at them as they go. The sting of Mordecai’s betrayal burns.
“Explain this to me,” Cadel says quietly. “Why don’t you think it can work?”
“Because the Beta’s Path have been in power for seven hundred years. They have the power, the technology, and the rituals to destroy us. There are too few alphas and omegas, and those that are left are broken from systemic abuse and horror. But worse, bringing their entire force into the one place where you are guaranteed to have all the Beta’s Path power base is stupid. It’s not like you kill one person and you win the game. If you kill the High King, another is crowned. If you kill the Beta’s Voice, well, the beta gods just choose another willing victim to possess.”
Cadel studies me. “You have no faith in them.”
“No. I don’t. They need a lifetime of miracles to even survive attempts.”
“And you, what’s your issue with the Resistance?”
Jarek stares ahead, his eyes getting dull. “My mother was an omega, but my father was a beta. The Beta’s Path wanted them dead because of who she was. But the Resistance killed them because of who he is. Oh, I know it was a misunderstanding, and the person who did it was punished with cleaning duties and never achieved rank, but I can’t see how either side are different from each other in their need to get things done no matter the cost.”
“They killed your dad?” I ask softly, reaching out and covering his hand with mine. He turns his hand over and threads our fingers together. I stare at the place where our bodies are joined and can’t find it in me to pull away.
“It was a long time ago,” Jarek says in a thick voice. “But I don’t trust their motives.”
“Is Mordecai going to be an issue?” Cadel asks.
It’s the one thought I’ve been trying to ignore. How involved is Mordecai, and how strong is his loyalty to the cause?
“I don’t know; I guess we can hear what he has to say and find out why they are all here. But if it’s to attempt a master strike and take out the Beta’s Path, then I’m out,” I say softly. “I’ve survived all this time keeping my head down; I’m not throwing myself into a suicide mission.”
I look across the room and see Mordecai frowning at us. What will he tell us, and will it change anything?
Secretly, I’m afraid it will change everything.
Chapter 15
Not a hero
There’s something wrong. The tension in the Resistance has grown minute by minute, and anyone with half a brain can feel it. Waking up after a couple of hours sleep only made it more apparent. I follow Mordecai through the long and empty halls of the school, frustrated by his heavy silence. Whatever carpet there was has long since rotten through, and the floors are full of dirt and dead leaves. The windows are shattered, and all that’s left are some broken frames of chairs and tables and the shells of the rooms that used to hold so much life. I imagine I hear the ghost of laughter, but then it’s gone like it was never here.
I catch up to him just as he reaches Legion, the two of them exchanging a meaningful glance that says more than words can say. My temper spikes as I wait for them to explain.
