Page 95 of Wrath

I was a mage, for fuck’s sake, and we practically invented laziness. For as long as I could remember, I didn’t have to lift a finger to do anything because my magic did it for me. This new development was…strange, to put it mildly.

“At least your powers are useful.” A tiny bit of bitterness seeped into Dair’s voice, and the sound of it caused my head to snap up.

I locked gazes with him. “Don’t give in to your envy, brother. You’re better than that.”

I spun in a slow circle, giving the tent a final sweep, trying to decide if there was anything else I wanted to bring with me. I knew Lupe planned to take a couple of guns—unlike me, he was trained on how to use them—and Killian planned to use his powers of persuasion if we ran into any trouble. We also had over one hundred soldiers marching with us to liberate the human work camps.

But would it be enough?

“I wish I could practice my newest…gift.” Dair’s lip curled slightly.

I knew he was thinking about the one time he pulled the blood out of his enemy using water magic. It wasn’t something he could just practice on any random human.

I wagged my finger in his face with a frown. “Don’t do that.”

His eyebrows shot up. “Do what?”

“Act all mopey and shit because you think you’re not contributing.” I leveled him with my best glare. “You’re our conscience, Dair. Don’t forget that.”

Dair’s lips arched downwards slightly. “I think you’re talking about Z.”

“Nah.” I waved a hand in the air. “She’s our heart and the thing that holds us all together, but our conscience?” I snorted. “That has never been her role in our family, and we both know it. You’ve always been the one to help us differentiate right from wrong. You pull us back from the edge before we can fall over.”

I stepped forward to place a hand on his shoulder, squeezing once before releasing him. “You’re not weak just because you’re in a chair. Does it fucking suck? Of course. I wish I could kill your father a million times in a row. But this catastrophe has only ever proved how strong you really are. Z’s going to need that strength in the days to come.”

Dair’s lips parted, and I wasn’t sure if he intended to agree with me or argue. After a long moment of silence, he clamped his lips together and glared down at his lap, where his hands had formed tight fists. I watched him silently, waiting until he finally loosened his balled hands, his fingers spreading out on his thighs. His shoulders sagged downwards with the force of his sigh.

“I just wish…” Dair licked his lips but didn’t continue.

“That the universe didn’t constantly try to anal fuck us without any lube?” I finished for him, arching an eyebrow.

A timid smile flashed on his face for a fraction of a second. “Yeah. That sounds about right.”

“Trust me, I know. Once this whole ‘war’ thing is over, I’m going on vacation.”

“You’re going to be a king by then,” Dair pointed out.

“Then I’ll go on akinglyvacation.” I smirked. “Just you, me, our brothers, and our mate.”

Dair actually laughed out loud, his eyes glimmering with mirth. “Z’s not going to be able to walk straight for months after that vacation.”

“Her poor pussy,” I agreed with a sigh, but I couldn’t entirely smother my grin.

We were going to win this war. Of that I had no doubt.

Then we would grab a hold of our happily ever after with both hands and never let it go.

THIRTY-ONE

Z

It had been two days since three of my mates had left for the Shifter Kingdom. Two agonizing days where I waited for any news on their whereabouts. Bash sent messages often, but it wasn’t enough. Nothing would be enough until they were back where they belonged.

With me.

However, I didn’t have the luxury of worrying about them for longer than a few minutes at a time. There was always stuff that needed to be done.

Running a rebellion was hard work.

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