“In battle, you will be less than useless.You will be a distraction.You will be a target.You will go in the back of the transport van with the others who cannot fight.I will not continue to argue with you about this.”
The words stained and reverberated through the air like a hiss, and I fell back as he said them.The words he’d said—I don’t know why—but they felt like a dagger straight to the heart.After all, I had given them… and they wanted to treat me like… like…
Like cattle, I thought.Like a precious resource, they mustn’t lose.
A tear escaped my eye, and I ran out of the room, gasping and heaving as I hit the top deck.The fresh saltwater air stained my face, and I cried into the breeze, hugging myself.
Eddie came above-deck soon afterward.The clouds were heavy in the sky.I could feel him—smell him—feel the way his glamour reached out to touch me.I didn’t turn.
“Hey,” he said.
I said nothing, just stared at the horizon.
“Look.Brother Al—you don’t understand it, because we haven’t told you yet, but.Now that we’ve drank from you.The offer you gave us—it affects us differently.Brother Al had to get mean.Otherwise he couldn’t fight the effects of it.”
“He didn’t have to be such an asshole,” I said, trying not to sniff.
“He did, Stacey.You’ve got a glamour over us now.Whatever you say.It seems like a really, really great idea.I can’t describe it to you… it’s almost like a compulsion.”
“Then why didn’t it work?”I asked.
“Aleister is old.Ancient.Extremely powerful.He knows how to fight against his compulsions.”
“You could have just said that in there,” I said.
“Maybe,” Eddie said.“Hey, will you look at me?Please?”
“Just go away, Eddie,” I said.
I heard him turn and walk away.
“Seriously?”I called.“Come back here.”
He turned back around, swiveling in place.
“Please stop commanding me,” Eddie said.“I’m getting seasick with all the turns.”
“You’re joking, right?”
“I am not,” Eddie said.“This is extremely uncomfortable.”
“You’re saying that whatever I tell you—no matter what—you have to listen to me?”
“That is what I’m saying.”
I smiled really big.
“And when will this wear off?”I asked.
“I’m not sure.Maybe when I process the blood you’ve given me.”
“Great,” I said.“Then when we hit shore.I’m riding behind you, on your bike.”
“Nobody else will agree to that,” Eddie gasped.“I mean, I have to let you, but Brother Al will fight it.”
“He won’t fight it if he doesn’t know it’s me,” I said.
“Stacey,” Eddie whined.
