Prima was already shaking her head.
“Pavosis too well defended,” she said. “You aren’t ready for—”
“NotPavos,” I interrupted. “Sanctuary.”
Prima’slips parted in the first real show of surprise I’d ever seen from the immortal leader of the Fallen.
“Sanctuary…” she repeated slowly, eyes flicking up toGryfonbehind me, but her loyal warrior remained silent.
“Are you out of your mind?” another voice questioned. Just the sound of it made my fists clench at my sides. He'd reached the tent again.
“I assure you,” I spoke slowly as I turned my gaze to meet Dante’s, hoping he saw the danger in my expression for what it was, “I'm saner than I've ever been.”
He just watched me, that impenetrable frown on his lips, hiding behind that mask of cold, cruel indifference I'd managed to crack back in Sanctuary. I hated it. I hated him.
“Can she do it?”Primaasked, ignoring us as her focus remained on her general.
“I don’t know,” Gryfon answered honestly.
I rolled my eyes at his lack of support. I never should have expected more, I supposed.
“But it’s worth a shot,” he continued, surprising me. “Adrian’s right. It’s time we struck back. The people of Sanctuary have been imprisoned long enough.”
“Sanctuary isn’t a prison,” Dante argued even asPrimanodded thoughtfully in response.
“Not for its wardens,”Gryfoncountered, casting a glare toward Dante that had my former partner actually backing up a step.
I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my lips at that.
“Our families are there,”Zyaspoke, her voice soft and pleading, far more gentle than I'd ever heard it before. “My parents, my sister. Adrian’s mom and her brothers. Darius’ parents and his sister. They don’t know,Prima. They don’t know about any of this. They don’t know the truth. That their whole world is an elaborate cage meant to keep them locked out of reality. We can't let them keep living like that. We can’t.”
Her tone was so full of pleading, her words so moving, I sawPrima’sjaw clench and knew the decision was made before she spoke.
“We need a plan,” she barked, eyes snapping toGryfon. “A good one. Security around Sanctuary is all but nonexistent these days but we'll lose if they bring even a few Geist to the battle. Even a handful of Victors would be devastating to our cause. There aren't enough of us.”
“They’ve sent a couple of squadrons since Adrian escaped,”Gryfoninformed her as she rose from her seat.
“How many? Any Geist among them?”
"No Geist. Three, as far as I could tell, but I saw the same one more than once. Their best."
Prima's jaw clenched and I imagined I could guess who the Geist's "best" squadron might be led by. She frowned for a moment, considering, and hope began to blossom in my chest in a way I'd begun to think was no longer possible. She might do it. She might agree to help us take back Sanctuary. I might see my mother again, my brothers, my friends, and all in this lifetime. I might not have to live all of eternity never knowing what happened to them, if they were happy, if they grieved forme forever. I nearly fell to my knees and wept when Prima met her general's gaze and gave a curt nod.
"A plan," she repeated. "Gryfon, we need the humans."
"I beg to differ," he growled.
"General, you know as well as I do that we don't have the numbers for an operation of this scale. Skirmishes in the desert are one thing. This is the conquest of a city which has stood, untouched, for millennia. We need infantry support and we needherto be ready."
Prima glanced my way at that, narrowing her gaze to show she meant business.
"You just saw what she could do with your own eyes," Gryfon drawled, crossing his arms and staring Prima down as if she weren't his immortal commanding officer with more legend attached to her name than anyone else in camp. "I've never seen Darkness like that before and I suspect it's only a fraction of what she's capable of. She wasn't even trying."
Turning toward the general, I gaped. I couldn't keep myself from blinking in shock. Had the surly general just paid me acompliment? And to Prima of all people? I must have misheard him.
"I want you planning this," she told him. "You're the only one I trust to do so."
He nodded as though he'd expected as much.
