“You have no idea who you’re fucking with,” I warn her.
Like my words are the magic key needed to unlock all of my Chosen from unconsciousness, one by one they wake up. Relief slams through me as each of them gets to their feet. Ryker is the last to pop up, having to order Vaughn off of him before he can join his compeers in assessing what the fuck is going on around them. The guys don’t say a word. They look around for a couple blinks and then light up just like I am.
I try not to look shocked as each of their runes explodes with purple light. I had no idea they could do that. I shove away my shock and questions, and embrace the power that washes over me as each of them readies himself for whatever is about to go down. The other Sentinels look more and more unsure and nervous with each passing second. They dart glances at the redheaded female and the winged male. These two must be in charge, and I quickly put together a game plan of priority targets if this all goes to shit.
The red haired female Sentinel studies my newly conscious Chosen and deflates infinitesimally.
“You can leave if you’ll swear an oath to keep any knowledge of this place to yourselves,” she proposes.
“Suryn, no!” the winged asshole protests, but she silences him with a slash of her hand.
She turns back to me. “As for them”—she gestures to Nash, Kallan, Enoch, and Becket—“they need to be dealt with and will not be allowed to leave.”
Each of my Shields sounds off, outraged by that statement, but I just watch her. “You have no say in where they will or will not go,” I counter simply.
“My magic would say otherwise, or do you not seemymarks on them,” she snaps back.
“Then your magic and my magic are going to have a problem. I marked them first.”
I reach out and hold up Enoch’s hand, the runes on his finger punctuating my statement. This all feels a little too elementary schoolfinders keepers, losers weepers, but if this chick thinks I’m leaving them behind, then she’s got another thing coming.
I watch this Suryn chick closely as I lay out my challenge. I see shock, anger, and worry quickly flash through her hazel gaze. She stares at Enoch’s hand, tracing my marks there when suddenly her shoulders relax. Her eyes move from Enoch’s hand to mine.
Shit.
“Shields...not Chosen,” she points out, the arrogant disgust back in her tone. “Not even full Shields, you’ve not accepted them.”
Her statement teaches me several things at once, the first being that Adriel didn’t lie when he flung theShieldkernel of wisdom at me. Second, thereisa reason why I don’t have any of my Shields’ marks. And lastly, we’re fucked. Can I kill the Sentinel that just marked Enoch and the others? Will that hurt them? I’ve never asked Sorik what happened to him when Grier died. It felt wrong to ask him to dig through what he experienced for my own curiosity. Obviously, Enoch and the others wouldn’t die, but would it do anything else? They’re not full Chosen yet, but still.
“Looks like we’ll fight for ’em then. Winner claims them all, and the loser fucks off,” I state simply.
“Nice try,” the winged Sentinel spits out as he steps toward me. “This issue will be decided by the Sovereign. Only she has the authority to make this decision,” he declares, shooting the Suryn chick a glare like he’s daring her to say otherwise.
“Is this the same Sovereign that ordered you to kill us?” I ask with mock sweetness, sending a flare through my magic and forcing it to pulse out like the threat it is.
Suryn and the winged wanker don’t say anything, but I take their silence as confirmation.
“Nah, I’m cool, tell her thanks but no thanks on the attempted hit.” I turn my back on the other Sentinels and stride over to my guys. I’m trying not to freak out and to make sure they’re all okay, but I don’t want to be so far away from them anymore. I expect Kallan, Becket, Nash and Enoch to follow, but only Becket, Kallan, and Nash do. Enoch hesitates like he’s unsure of what the right move is here.
The Sentinel with the wings gives me another of his patent smirks. “It seems we got off on the wrong foot. You see, no one has ever breached the barrier before, let alone signaled their arrival the way that you all did. I’m sure you can understand our jumping to the defensive.”
He pauses for a second like he’s expecting us to agree with him. I stay quiet.
“There’s clearly more going on here than we initially realized,” he states, gesturing to Enoch and Nash and backpedaling from his previous superior attitude. “You mentioned you were looking for answers. I can safely say thatnowso are we. Let’s put this unfortunate first meeting behind us. That way we can all find the answers that we need here.”
“Unfortunate first meeting?” I ask, scoffing at his word choice. “You mean the one where you showed up and tried to kill us?”
The arrogant prick smiles like he thinks that’s funny. “Technically, you attacked first,” he throws out there smugly.
I don’t say anything as my face morphs into a look that sayscome the fuck on.
“My name is Ory,” he offers after a moment of awkward silence. “This is Suryn,” he announces, gesturing to the redhead with the new marks down her throat. “And you are?” he asks, dazzling me with a smile that I’m sure usually gets him what he wants.
I’m not surprised that he doesn’t introduce anyone else. I doubt the self-importance that’s radiating off of him would allow him to see too far past his own nose. I run my gaze up his black armored body to his ebony hair, fair complexion, and dark purple eyes. I then dismiss him with an unimpressed glance away. I study Suryn and the other armored Sentinels all standing at attention, well, except for the wounded and a couple who are missing heads. I wonder who went full Queen of Hearts, but I’ll swap battle stories with all the guys when we’re safe and alone.
Ory grins, like my silence is exactly what he wants. Maybe it’s the bad experiences I’ve had in the past where giving my full name has clued someone else into things about me while leavingmein the dark, but I’m hesitant to give them any info about me.
“I’m a Sentinel. These are my Chosen, and the rest aremyShields,” I offer vaguely. I wrap Sorik and Vaughn inwhatever title these people want to see, not wanting to explain any further who they are to me.
