Page 46 of Failed State

“Because you don’t like to hear that you have flaws other than the magic thing and it wasn’t important until now.”

Damn him for being right. I can’t even stay mad.

“Fine.”

Thad blinks as he hands Elias his food, then takes the smaller cooler bag to Sebastian. “I’ll be damned. You’re mellowing with age, Syd. You hate admitting when you’re wrong.”

“I think everyone dislikes that,” the dragon says as he settles into the big chair at the far end of our gathering spot. “I believe I was right to continue the fight against the humans, but many of my people think I should have followed them into the seato hide from them. They think I abandoned my throne to help supernaturals who weren’t even dragons, instead of focusing on our kingdom. Perhaps they’re right—I can admit that now. But admitting it doesn’t mean I regret what I did, just that I recognize their perceptions aren’t inaccurate.”

That’s a lot of words for him, especially in a row. I think about it for a moment, then nod. “Sometimes, we do the right thing for the right reasons, but others don’t agree with us. They make us the villain in their stories because they need one. It can be because they can’t look in the mirror to assign blame where it belongs or because there isn’t a clear villain, only a breadth of bad choices that no one liked.”

“Exactly,” Sebastian says as he stalks toward the kitchen to heat up his dinner. “A bouquet of bad options leads to a lot of assumptions from people not directly involved in a situation.”

Is he trying to say that’s what happened to the vamps? I don’t believe him.

“The mosquito’s right,” Rory says from his spot on the floor. “When all the options are ugly, you make the best choice you can and hope like hell you survive it. Sometimes, you have to make that decision over and over until it doesn’t bother you anymore.”

Thad bumps my shoulder with his and I wrinkle my nose. He knows I need to throw in my two cents to help and I kind of hate him for making me. “My dad made what I think was a stupid choice to help the stupid meatbags and I still haven’t forgiven him for it. I’m trying, but every day we spend in this place makes it harder. So maybe winning this fucking thing will… let me do that.”

“We all have our darkness,” Huck says as he squeezes my knee. “You, sweet pea, are doing your best just like the rest of us. It was only a matter of time before humans subjugated another race—the timing led to it being supes, but it could have beendamn near anyone. Your dad wasn’t the only being fooled by their platitudes."

Sebastian walks in with a large mug that he’s blowing over, and shrugs as he looks at me. “You’re also not the only one with daddy issues—not in history, nor in this room. The dragon has a savior complex, so it definitely came from living up to his father’s legacy. Demons all have authority issues stemming from their creation and daddy rejection. The bear is lacking one and helping to fill in as one, mine is objectively megalomaniacal, and I’d wager Mr. Sparkle Pants over there is a child of divorce with adultery. Just a guess, but vampires hunt through profiling, so we’re pretty good at it.”

Everyone makes a noise of protest, but the vampire doesn’t let it stop him as he makes his way to his chair.

That jackass just ripped the band-aid off everyone in the room’s wounds and is sipping his blood like it’s English Breakfast—no wonder people hate their kind.

ALWAYS A PUNCHING BAG, NEVER A BOXER

SEBASTIAN

They all lookat me in shock, but as one of the most hated supe races in this society, I can be a lot more objective than they can. It’s easy to see from the outside looking in—their rebellion isn’t driven simply by ‘social justice’, no matter how much they’ve convinced themselves that it is. The supernaturals who are the closest to human—magic users—were the most naive when it came to the regime change that landed us all here. Since they could ‘pass’, they believed they’d be able to hide in plain sight if anything went wrong, so they trusted the wrong people.

Vampires knew better. Being undead always made us the most human-like of the darker supernaturals, which led to being second class citizens even within the minority groups. Our leaders saw the writing on walls as we always have when the capricious and moronic beings that control this spinning rock turned on those who weren’t like them. I don’t agree with their decision and never have, even as a child, but I understand why they chose to ally with the inevitable dictators. We were all destined to be subjugated, but at least our people are the least uncomfortable of all the races now.

The most trusting and altruistic of the supes are the ones suffering more than they ever anticipated and it’s why vampires made that choice.

“Look—”

Sydney pops to her feet with an angry expression. “I don’t want to hear this bullshit from atraitor. Your kind are why we’re here, Sebastian.”

The venom in her voice is no different than what I usually get outside of the closed off undead communities, and I’m not shocked in the least. But she needs to grow up and face the truth—they all do if we’re going to survive this shit. It’s not something my kind likes to share, but there’s a lot of reality these assholes have to face.

“I’m going to tell you things that will definitely get me killed if it goes beyond these walls at this time. You can believe me or not, but I assure you, this is one hundred percent verifiable if you know the right people with the right access. All I ask is that you let me say my piece before you interrupt. Can you at least do that?”

Thad tilts his head, studying me for a moment, then sniffs the air. He shrugs and looks at the demon and their girl, then nods. “I can; I suppose.”

“Whatever.”

I watch as the girl all our lives are tied to stomps to the couch and drops down in between her safety men. My eyes flit to the mage and the dragon, waiting for them to respond. I’m not worried about the demon; he’s likely heard all of this well before now, but was smart enough to keep his mouth shut. The Cubi vacillate between his species and mine; they gossip like no other beings. My story won’t shock the good ol’ boy even a little bit.

“Speak your piece,” Elias says gruffly. “But I will stop you if need be. I do not agree to allow you to abuse anyone.”

That makes the blond girl perk up slightly and I roll my eyes before arching a brow at Stormbringer. “And you?”

He shrugs. “I’m flexible enough to give you a chance to dig your own grave.”

Not surprising—he’s likely flexible enough for alotof things.

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