“I do not tolerate disrespect within the ranks. It is petty and embarrassing. For what we have planned, I cannot use soldiers with personal vendettas or chips on their shoulders.” Reasonable enough, I suppose. The soldier helps the recruit up off the ground and pats him on the back, leading him back into the building. “Thank you for coming.”
“Yes, my contributions were legendary.”
Taylor chuckles. “It is nice to know someone has my back. Like you, Mason, and Delilah. This was supposed to be Hunter’s position, and without her—it’s hard. She knows how to deal with these people and all their incessant questions,” she says. “Why do people talk so much when they could be quiet?”
We look into the room as plates of food are brought to the resistance leaders. The vibe is more relaxed, and hopefully after everyone has eaten, plans can be hammered out without coming to blows.
“You’re not bad at it.” I’m unconvincing, as Taylor gives me a droll look. “Remember the human element. People don’t fight for an abstract idea like freedom. They fight for themselves and the people they love. Make them feel like you don’t just care about results, but that you care about them, too.”
“Everyone has an awful lot of feelings. Seems excessive,” she says with a half-smile. “But I will take your advice into consideration. Thank you.”
“Anytime, boss.”
She snorts. “I am not your boss.”
“Yet, so bossy,” I reply, nudging her.
It should be a crime how attractive haughty looks on Taylor. “Is that a problem?”
“No.” Lowering my voice to a purr, I lean in. “Not at all, Lieutenant General.”
“Eos.”
One of the resistance leaders beckons her and kills the response on her lips. She offers an apologetic smile and approaches the man, transforming from Taylor back into Eos, complete with a rigid posture and hard stare.
People have broken off into groups, eating as they stand, and ruminating over Taylor’s plan. Taylor is engrossed in discussion with the younger lady commander, so I return to my mindless staring. I wonder what my mother would’ve thought of this, if she’d lived to see a rebellion. She’d have sought out Theia, struck a deal. She might’ve succeeded too. My mother was gifted in finding common ground with anyone, a true diplomat in every sense.
I’m so lost in my own world I don’t notice Delilah sidle up next to me a little while later, sipping on a glass of red wine. I give her a tight smile. “How are you?”
Delilah sighs and sniffs her beverage, then tips the rest of the contents down her throat. A servant appears—like he emerged from one of the wooden panels beside the window—and takes her empty glass. “I’m disheartened, but I can’t say I didn’t see this coming. Life’s not without sacrifices. What about you?”
“Obviously, I don’t love war, but mostly I’m worried about Taylor. Aren’t you?”
Delilah is disturbingly amused at my bafflement. “Of course I’m worried,” she replies. “But I trust her skills. Taylor’s never been a good liar, nor predisposed to dishonesty. If she says she can do it, she can.”
“How did you come to know them so well? Taylor, Mason, and Hunter? Why were they here so much?”
Delilah straightens out her skirt, smoothing it down. “It was an agreement I made with Theia. I didn’t think the round-the-clock military training was good for children. She agreed, and they’d spend a few months of the summer here.”
“In a brothel.”
Delilah chuckles. “Yes. It also let me to do training of my own.”
My jaw slips open. “Oh.”
“Luciana Piccolo, get your mind out of the gutter,” she teases. “It wasn’t sex. This was an escape. They could run and play, or nap and read, whatever. Be children, as it were. As they grew older, I taught them the art of, ah, seduction.”
“Seduction?”
“Seduction isn’t always about romance, but it is always about persuasion and subversion. A necessary skill for assassins.”
“Well, I’d say maybe Taylor wasn’t a total success, but I am here.” I’m here because she was attractive enough to catch my attention and charming enough to keep it. I’m here because I’m shallow and easy. “She knew what to say to get my attention. I thought I’d made a real connection with someone.” I look away, shaking my head. “My whole life people have tried to impress me, or faked interest in my interests for whatever self-serving purpose. But Taylor…it was different. I felt seen. It felt real.”
“I think it probably was, darling,” Delilah says gently.
“Then where did it go? I understand she has a reputation to protect, so it’s not like we can be best buddies in front of her subordinates. But, even privately, she holds me at a distance.”
Looking at the woman in question, I find her hilariously exasperated over Santa’s back as he aggressively points down at the map on the table and argues his ideas.
