And seeing Izzy so worked up and ready to fight made every instinct inside me want to pull her close and fly away with her, keep her safe. Now that I’d accepted my feelings for her — as much as it pained me to be monogamous — I was afraid all the time, worried something would happen to her and my heart would shatter.
I was terrified of losing Izzy. I don’t think I’d ever fought as hard as I had today. I couldn’t let anyone hurt Izzy, but also… I couldn’t die knowing the pain she’d feel if I did. I’d been more motivated than ever, all because of a dread fear of loss.
I couldn’t lose her. I didn’t know what I’d do. I’d seen how Izzy had reacted when Myel had died, so lost and broken and even though Izzy and I didn’t share a bond like that, I had a feeling I’d not be much better.
At the same time, I couldn’t let her lose me either. If she cared for me as much as I did her… then how could I ever leave her and have her face that devastating pain.
But we were going to war for fuck’s sake!
People were going to die.
I had to somehow make sure Izzy and I weren’t among the dead, and that no longer seemed as easy as it had yesterday.
I tuned back in to the conversation as I sensed a change in Izzy’s thoughts, moving from rage and ranting to cold determination and planning.
“The dwarves and undines have to come to our side now, right?” she asked. “Some of their kind were killed. Won’t they see that as an act of war and retaliate?”
Again, Izzy didn’t know this world.
“No,” Koar said before I got there. “If anything, they’ll further retreat into their cowardice. This attack was meant to show them they could be reached anywhere, anytime.”
“Fucking hell, really?” Izzy shouted. She shook her head. “No, I won’t accept that.” She turned to me. “Get Svokol here, now. I need to talk to him.”
Before I’d even gotten out my phone, she’d continued on. “And Rook?”
I paused in dialing. “Yeah?”
“You’re part concubi and salmaeri, right? Do you think both races would listen to you if you went and talked with them?”
Me?
I shrugged. “They might. The dwarves are their masters, though. They probably wouldn’t go to war unless the dwarves commanded them to.”
“No more masters, no more commands,” Izzy stated. “Tell them as much. Tell them if they come and fight for me, they’ll be free to do whatever they wish after this.”
“The dwarves—” I began to protest.
“Can suck balls for all I care,” Izzy shouted over me.
I had to smile at that.
“If they don’t like it, they should have been a part of this from the start. But if they’re going to go and hide in their caves, and wait for the outcome, knowing that one of those outcomes is me winning and liberating everyone, then they have no recourse if I happen to liberate their forces a little early.”
“That might turn the dwarves against you,” Koar warned.
“Oh, don’t worry, that’s why I need Svokol. He’s going to take me to see the leaders of the dwarves, and I’m going to tell them how it’s going to be. Their choices are simple: fight for me, alongside those they’ve commanded for so long, or fight against me and I’ll steal their followers out from under them to fight against them, because who wouldn’t fight their oppressors for freedom. Or they can stay out of it, but I’m still taking their followers. Either way, they’re going to lose their so-called minions. Hopefully they’ll see that fightingforme means they’ll be better off afterward.”
I finished dialing Svokol. And while it rang, I marveled at how incredibly sexy it was to watch Izzy take control and tear down thousands of years of hierarchy.
“Rook?” Svokol answered.
“Get to Izzy’s residence now.” I hung up and felt a tadguilty about not giving the man an explanation, but I also was getting caught up in Izzy’s fervor. Svokol was a good man… but he’d also been my master. And all of that was going away. He didn’t control me anymore, not that he’d ever been controlling, but still. I felt… liberated in Izzy’s presence.
“Vyns.” Izzy was on a roll. “You head to Elysial, offer the same thing to the seraphim. I don’t think any sylphim will listen, but if any do, great. I’m not going to wait. I’m liberating folks now. If they’re willing to fight for me, they can do it as free men and women.”
Vyns nodded. “Will do.”
This was happening.
