Her smile faded. “Hey—about that Azure pissprick who called you a traitor…”
“I know.” My voice came out quieter. “Sometimes I wonder if he’s right.”
“He’s not,” she said flatly.
Before I could answer, two strong arms wrapped around our shoulders, pulling us together. “Group hug,” Quinn said cheerfully, resting his chin between our heads. “Azures don’t betray each other. We just emotionally blackmail one another into eternal friendship.”
Calla elbowed him in the ribs. I smacked his arm. He didn’t let go.
“All of you are so eager to lead,” Blake said at last, his voice quiet but cutting. “But none of us have the luxury of pride anymore. The Anchors must be fixed. Not only because of the demons but because the imbalance they cause is wreaking havoc. Our Silver lands are flooding, our crops failing as our people go hungry.”
Auron gave a sharp nod. “The Red Phoenix Dominion is burning. We haven’t seen rain in months. Our volcanoes have awakened.”
“We Onyxes not only lost our king, but we are being slowly poisoned by our own water. Our lands were already colder, harsher than any of yours. That’s why we are stronger. But since the Anchors started failing…” Vidor exhaled sharply. “Yama help us. Pestilence is upon our people.”
“Perhaps it should be Calla then,” Blake said after a beat, speaking over Vidor and Auron’s continued bickering, which had grown in volume. “An Azure, to start us off.”
Vidor’s lip curled. “You suggest the ones who lured our king to his death with this ridiculous fantasy of dominions unitingthrough that cursed Wedding of Flame and Sky.” His voice dripped with contempt.
One of the Azure men—an eagle shifter, I thought—stalked to Calla’s side. His eyes flashed.
“What exactly are you implying?” he bit out. “Our entire royal line was slaughtered: our queen and king, the crown princess and the prince. The Azure Dominion has been overrun with demons. It was lost. We are a people without a homeland now.”
Vidor’s contemptuous gaze shifted to him. “Then why were their bodies never found?”
Tension crackled between them, but Blake cut through it with a steady, commanding tone. “This argument serves no purpose.”
I turned to him in surprise since he had expressed these exact suspicions of the Azure royal family when we first met.
“The Azures have suffered greatly,” Blake added. “That is beyond question. And I, for one, trust them.” His gaze met mine.
I almost smiled even as I could feel everyone watching me.
It was Vidor’s eyes that I felt the most. They were two wells of hatred searing into me.
“Sure. And what exactly are we to learn from theseshapeshifters,then?” He smirked. “How to turn tail and run?” His gaze turned brighter as he lifted his chin toward me, then cut his eyes to Blake. “Seems like you got a firsthand lesson in Azure tail—”
Vidor cut off as a dagger zoomed at his throat, stopping just shy of drawing blood. Blake’s eyes were smoldering with fury.
The situation seemed hopeless.
Even the deepest shadow awaits the dawn. There is light in every darkness because hope is eternal.I sought Edith’s voice.
“All right.” I stood and cleared my throat, stepping to the center of everyone gathered. “I have an idea.”
“Oh, wonderful,” Malissa grumbled. “The feeblest of us leading the training.”
I took a calming breath. “I am not suggesting myself. Malissa is right, I’m the weakest. But I’m also an Azure who has trained as a Silver. I think, instead of one singular leader, we need you all.
“The demons we will face are unknown to many of us. Each dominion has skills that we need, distinct weapons, distinct magic. Maybe we should be focused on training each other instead of showing off.”
Jace slowly nodded.
Calla grinned while Quinn winked at me. “I’m with Rubi.”
Auron agreed as well. I didn’t need to worry about Ire and Malissa—I was Flame’s Bonded, and she was their tygers’ queen. They would do what she said.
“I won’t play these stupid games,” Vidor snapped, and with a wave of his hand, the Onyxes left, his yins scurrying behind.
