“Yeah, well, Aspen believes if I don’t, she’ll do it anyway.”
And I was concerned he was right. But I was concerned with more than that. I couldn’t get his fucking words out of my head. They sat in my gut and made me question everything.
He lifted his head from the book.
“Hells, you just said his name conversationally. I must be in an alternate-fucking universe.”
At my silence, he sprang from the bed, barely wincing.
A huge improvement from the last time I saw him.
“Ronen! Be reasonable.”
Reasonable.
I released a deep, frustrated sigh.
“I told him no. And I plan to tell her to.”
“But?” he prompted, standing over me.
“She killed Lilith, Lex. That wasn’t some simple fucking feat. She trained to the point of passing out these last two months. Physically and with her powers. She is more than capable.”
She survived the Tenebrous Kingdom.
He grabbed my shoulder.
“Yeah, and she paid a big price for it. Plus, she used powers she’s not allowed to use here! And we both know her physical fighting skills still need improvement. That’s not even touching on their inability to work as a unit.”
She survived Elora.
I pushed to my feet, brushing him off and gazing out the window at the snowless trees.
“More than half our squads don’t know how to work as fucking units.”
“We’re training them.”
She survived the scars Michael carved into her back.
“And how long will that take?” I flung a hand toward his books. “We haven’t even found how they’re getting in! They could strike at any time, and we’d be fodder because I can’t use my fucking shadows against them without risking my own death!”
Alexei quirked a brow.
“So are we arguing about Lucy or our military now? Or your inability to protect us to your full extent? I can’t keep up.”
Twenty fucking years old.
I fell back into the chair, gripping my head as my shadows snaked around my body.
“What is this really about, brother?”
“Are we blind?” I murmured.
“I’m not. I can see your ugly, stressed ass just fine.”
I lifted my head. “How long have the gates been closed, Lex?”
He frowned. “A little over twenty years now. But you know that.”
