4
“This is bullshit,” Knox announces once again as I throw my pack in my tent.
I remind myself to take a deep breath and not tackle him and put him in a choke hold until he stops sulking.
“Technically, Sabin never specified who could or couldn’t win, so it’s fair play regardless of whether or not you think it’s bullshit,” Kallan retorts while zipping up the door to his and Becket’s tent after throwing his bag in it.
Enoch sets his bag next to mine, and I can feel the eye daggers being chucked at him from all angles.
“A tie is a tie,” Enoch once again voices as he watches Knox add his bag to the tent too. “We both won, so we both sleep in here tonight,” Enoch declares, zipping up the closure to my tent, one of his eyebrows rising in challenge.
“As much fun as it is listening to the nonstop bickering about shit I just don’t give a fuck about, I’m getting hangry,” I announce and then go in search of the pack that has snacks and other provisions stuffed in it.
My legs feel a little jelly like, and my exhaustion is playing a key role in my pissy emotions. Well, that and the drama that started when Enoch and Knox reached what was considered thetop of the hillat exactly the same time. The fragile acceptance between my Chosen and my Shields crumbled to dust, and every old wound that ever existed between these two groups broke open.
The problem is that I understand both sides of the arguments, but we need to figure out how to work together and get over all this bullshit. I just wish I had some idea how to make that happen.
“Anything I can help you with, mate?” Siah asks me with a cheeky smile and understanding in his eyes as I growl at a granola bar that’s refusing to let me open it.
I release a hollow chuckle. “Tell me more about how compulsion works,” I joke. “Because I could really go for someforcing them to get along and work togetheruntil all of this is over.”
He chuckles and shakes his head as he looks over his shoulder at a new argument that’s just started between Nash and Ryker. “Yeah, unfortunately I’m not that good,” he admits, taking the bastard unopened granola bar from my hands and opening it in one try.
He hands the stubborn sustenance back to me, but before I can take a bite, the argument going on behind me gets even louder. I sigh and blink through the eye twitch I can feel starting up.
“I don’t think any lamia is that good,” Siah observes, and I cringe as the name calling and posturing starts.
The short brittle grass and tall trees surrounding our camp site for the night suddenly feel like they’re closing in, and the yelling is not fucking helping.
“Enough!” I bellow, the frustrated declaration bouncing around the trees and surging back at me.
Enoch and Knox are squaring off with each other at this point, oblivious to howoverall of this I am. I send a pulse of Sentinel magic out and watch as it slams violently into both of them, forcing them to stumble back away from each other. That finally does the job of catching their attention, and they both turn to me, anger and confusion in their gazes.
“Follow me,” I command and then turn and trudge away from camp before anyone can say anything.
I can tell by the sound of crunching brush behind me that more than Enoch and Knox are following, which is good. It’s time for everyone to get this shit out of their system. I find a clearing big enough for what I need and stop in the middle of it. I turn around and catch frustrated looks from both my Chosen and Shields, along with a healthy dose of curiosity staring back at me.
“We have no idea what we’re walking into, but even if we’re greeted by a bunch of tree hugging Sentinel hippies, all of you have to cut this shit out,” I demand as frustration boils over inside of me and stains everything. “I have tried to give you time and understanding in hopes that, as grown ass males, you could work this bullshit out. But obviously that is not going to happen. So it’s time to switch shit up.” I gesture at the space around me. “Fight,” I declare and then step back to give them the space to do just that.
“What?” Valen asks me at the same time Torrez gives an amused holler of approval and rubs his hands together eagerly.
I turn back to Valen. “Fight it out. Beat the shit out of each other. Fuck shit up. I honestly don’t care anymore, but whatever it is that’s fueling the hate and mistrust, get it the fuck out so we can move the fuck on.”
Valen raises his eyebrows.
“Don’t give me that look. You all have been itching to do this since our first training session. So go for it. I refuse to be the referee between you anymore.” I look at each of my Chosen. “They are my Shields. Like it or not, we’re all connected. You can see that as a bad thing if you want, there’s nothing I can do about that. But I’m tired of you trying to makemesee it as a bad thing.”
I shake my head and look at Becket, Kallan, Nash and Enoch in turn. “I think everything happens for a reason. I trust my magic and each of you. So beat each other bloody if that will make you feel better, but when the fighting stops, so does the bickering and the petty bullshit.”
“I don’t have a dog in this fight, I’ll just be over here egging them all on though,” Torrez announces as he steps away from the group.
Siah follows him, and they both get comfortable and lean back on the trunk of a surrounding tree, ready for whatever happens next. The guys are all looking at each other and then back at me like they’re not sure what to do. I cross my arms over my chest and wait. Maybe they’ll finally see how ridiculous all of this is and we can just fucking move forward already.
No sooner does that thought cross my mind than Knox walks up to Enoch and gets in his face.
“No magic, just me beating the shit out of you the ol’ fashioned way,” Knox challenges.
Enoch snorts. “We both know who ranked higher when it comes to hand-to-hand combat. I’m happy to remind you of that fact though, since you clearly need it.”
