Page 38 of Echoes of War

“Ididapologize, Reina,” she challenged. “You just weren’t ready to receive it.”

I took a second to think about my next words. I didn’t want to fight with her anymore. In fact, I was all fought out. The family I had left was all that mattered to me now, my fight with all of them was over. “I … I am now.”

“Well, it’s too late.” She dropped the chains, Abel rushed over to drag the Pansies to the other side of the lab where he’d placed the nails.

“I think that we should take a beat, find a moment to think this all—” Alexiares tried to reason, but didn’t have a chance to finish.

“Shut up!” Again, we were both in sync as we silenced him.

Abel let out a low whistle. “Sheesh.”

The thing was, Amaia did apologize. She had tried to make peace several times, had practically begged for it, and I’d slammed the door in her face. Both metaphorically and literally, it had felt great at the time. Powerful even, but now, I felt terrible about it. I knew I owed her an apology, I just didn’t know where to begin. Alexiares was right—we’d all done terrible things that led us here. We both had a lot of healing to do, but maybe, we could start now.

Tomoe released herself from her stance against the center table and strode over toward us, remorse all over her pale, delicately freckled face. I sensed it roll off her body too.

“I love you both,” she said, a rare moment of vulnerability. “You areboththe only family I have left. We’re only as strong as we are unified. Now, if we’re all done being sorry, it’s time to move on and stop hurting each other. We don’t know how much time we all have left.”

That statement drew everyone’s attention—a question we all wanted to ask, but knew she would never tell the answer to.

The problem with making peace was that it only worked if everyone was willing to oblige. Though I knew Amaia wanted to, she needed to remain a general right now, not a friend. Definitelynot a sister. She had every right to because, unlike the rest of us, Amaia had millions of lives in her hands, and she was doing her best to balance it all. The least we could do was our part in helping her succeed.

“This will work,” Amaia said. “I’m trying to save us all. Ensure that we canallhave the happy ending we deserve. We’re fighting for our home, for our family. Nothing worth it comes without risk, and I won’t riskanyoneelse’s life when I don’t have to. Not even prisoners.”

“That’s a hopeful outlook if I ever heard one,” Sloan mumbled to no one but herself.

Amaia shot her attention to her fiery-haired friend from another life. “Hope is everything. Can’t you all see that?”

“I see someone who wants to believe that hope is everything, but hope is not enough,” Tomoe said poetically.

Amaia’s stare rested on me, and I nodded in understanding. As much as it pained me, I knew I had no choice but to agree, even if no one else in this room understood. We didn’t have the right to bring anyone else into this mess we had created who weren’t already entangled. We could not play God, but we could act against the devil.

“Let me know when you’re ready.” Amaia said, grabbing hold of my shoulder and squeezing in familiar comfort. The next instant she was gone, leaving the rest of us in shocked silence in her wake.

“I’ll take care of this,” Alexiares spoke after a few moments, breaking the tension in the air.

Tomoe had already seen every version of this; it was up to the rest of us to determine how it would all pan out. “You have less than forty-eight hours before Reina figures this out.”

“I said, I’ll take care of this.” His words were fierce, a man determined. “Worry about what happens here, I’ll worry about the rest.”

Amaia

The best way to act as if something isn’t happening is to play dumb and pretend that you can’t feel it encroaching on your personal space. For me, that something was actually a someone, and his name was Alexiares.

I turned the lock to my door swiftly, closing it in his face as quickly as I had opened it. He slammed it open, and it rebounded off the wall, barely missing my head by a few inches. His rough hand closed over my wrist and he tugged me back to face him.

“I suggest you take your hands off me before you find yourself on the other end of my magic. It’s been boiling right underneath my skin for days now,” I said, straightening my posture to try to meet him eye to eye.

“I’ve heard that threat before,” he snarled, “it means jack shit to me atthis point.”

Oof, he was angry. I shrugged him off, deciding the easiest path forward was to act unfazed.

“What? You get your magic under control and think you can take me?” I took a step closer, my fingers trailing up his chest playfully, “Oh. You do think that. Can you, Alexi? Take me?”

He didn’t take the bait, slapping my hand off him. “Are you having another mental breakdown or something? What the actual fuck is wrong with you?”

“I’m growing tired of people asking me that.”

“Then stop acting like a maniac.” He backed me into a corner, my head pressed against the wall. “This has to stop. Experimenting, pushing the limits. At some point, Amaia, you have to question where the line is between you and them. And don’t give me some bullshit about your intentions, because intentions don’t stop the worst from happening.”

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