“Lies,” Ilwen hisses. “You let them in.”
“They killed me, you idiot!” Lana pushes past me and roots herself to the ground, her hands on her hips in classic ‘angry Lana’ pose. Her barrier ability flickers all around us, red sparks and whorls dancing overhead. “I was dead. The circle brought me back.”
Those words hit us hard. Kyte, Jeren, and I wince at the memory of her charred body, the lifeless look in her eyes.
“She’s telling the truth.” Kyte keeps his hands at the ready in case the situation gets worse. “The Sentients wanted her gone so the fleet would lose the circle, would lose the war.”
“You’re blinded by her and her lies!” Ilwen screeches. “Nothing she says is true. From the moment she got here, she’s been a Sentient spy.”
“My legs were burned off, and I felt every second of it.” Lana’s voice crackles with emotion, her barrier ability growing brighter. “Because of the Sentients. And you think we’refriendswith them? You think I’d spy for creatures who tried to kill me and my Alphas? Do you have any idea how stupid you sound right now?”
Gavros wipes at his nose and blinks, a thoughtful expression on his dumb face. Is he … is he actually thinking it through?
“We fought them. I don’t care what you think you saw or what you think you heard, but we fought for our fucking lives and barely made it. And Ididn’tmake it.”
Gavros steps toward her, and I’m about to smash him into the ground when she holds a hand out. “Wait,” she whispers to us all. It’s difficult, but I follow her lead, although I imagine the sound Gavros’s head would make after bashing it onto the mat a few hundred times.
“I’m sorry about what happened to your mother.” Her voice quiets. “And your sister. I didn’t know. But I swear to you, Gavros, I wouldneverjoin the Sentients. I don’t know why the circle formed or why it chose me as the Omega.” She sighs. “A few months ago, I didn’t even know about the fleet, or Omegas, or circles, or Sentients. But now I do. And now that I’m part of the circle, I want to fight. I want to take back everything the Sentients have stolen, and I want to protect the innocents like your mother and sister. But I can’t do that alone. I need my Alphas. And more than that, we need all of you.”
“You’ve got me,” Tilda calls from somewhere off to the side. Uaxin waves from her spot in the crowd.
A few cadets seem to loosen up a little at Tilda’s impromptu yell. But Gavros is still tense, and Ilwen has a look on her face that verges on murderous.
“You died, Omega?” Gavros stares down at her, and she stares right back.
“Been there, done that, have the t-shirt.” She nods.
He cocks his head to the side. I get the reference thanks to my bond with Lana, but Gavros is just as confused as he usually is.
“And I would do it again if that meant the Sentients wouldn’t hurt anyone else. I swear it by the Pillars.” Lana’s voice rings out strong and true, but her words cast a pall over my heart. Losing her isn’t something I can even consider. Not now. Not ever.
Gavros’s bushy brows pop up to the spikes along his forehead at the vehemence of her vow. Then he sucks in a big breath, the metal circles in his nose jingling. “If there was going to be a power circle, I should’ve been in it.” His mouth twitches just a hair, his shoulders relaxing. “I’m stronger than any of those assholes.” He waves a hand at us.
“Smell-wise? Definitely,” Kyte cracks.
Gavros doesn’t look at him, his eyes fixed on my mate. “I am sorry you died, Omega. And I believe you. If your circle with these Alphas is what defeats the Sentients, then I’m with you.” He holds out his meaty hand.
I don’t want him to touch Lana, but she knows what’s right. Letting her make her own decisions is just as important to me as protecting her.
She reaches out and clasps forearms with him, and when she squeezes, he coughs.
“You really are the centering Omega.” He pulls his hand back and shakes it out. “Pillars, you’re strong.”
The temperature drops a few degrees below the boiling point, and some of the cadets seem to let out a collective breath.
Lana turns to me, a smile on her face. “See? I am pretty much a triple threat. I can fight, I can make peace, and I can—”
Ilwen surges past Gavros. I shoot out and grab her by the throat, and Jeren has a blade to her spine before she can so much as touch Lana.
She may have stopped moving, but her voice still works just fine, the shrill notes promising ruin. “I challenge the Omega Lana to a duel!”
16
Lana
“Aduel?” I pace back and forth in our dorm room.
Tilda lounges on one of the extra beds on the far wall. “It’ll be fine.”
