Page 7 of Echoes of War

“Good, keep your guard up.”

Keeping a mental shield up around our minds was the only way we could be certain that Seth wouldn’t intrude. Much of our bare minimum, half-assed plan relied on making sure he didn’t get a glimpse of anything important that may be discussed in his mental presence. He couldn’t mind-read, but if he was already connected to you, had talked to you mind-to-mind in the past, his rare Scholar ability granted him access to whatever was going on in your current conversation. Like placing a phone down against your chest to have a private discussion without pressing mute. It was muffled, but if he focused, put some real energy behind the effort, he could put the pieces together.

I doubted he’d attempt it; though, under the influence of his father, who knew. He understood my thought process, the checklist I would go through once he left. Our defenses would be up. After all, he’d been the one to train us to be resistant against his gift all those years ago.

“Aye, aye, General.” Tomoe snarled before turning on her heels, Reina’s mousy brown hair flowing as she followed close behind.

Alexiares crept up behind me, his hand falling to the small of my back, the sensation sending a shock through my spine. So many secrets, so many lies. So much betrayal, from all sides. Tomoe had betrayed our trust too, but somehow, that had been an easier pill to swallow forReina.

I guess I could understand that. Tomoe’s betrayal had formed with both fear and love in mind. Love had blinded her. For me, it wasn’t as simple. My friends didn’t want to be protected. They’d never asked that of me.

I’d stolen their ability to make a choice for months, let them form new memories that they may not have wanted to form had they been the wiser to my suspicions. Possibly changed the course of their entire lives.

My choice had changed the course of at least one aspect of Tomoe’s. Seth’s too. Maybe he’d still be here had I confronted him in a more controlled environment, given him the opportunity to redeem himself.

But that wasn’t what was best for the people of The Compound, and that was something I reminded myself to ease the pain every day. My decision may not have been the best for my family, but it had been the best for my people. Without the choices I’d made, Seth may have been able to rally soldiers from his cavalry and others around The Compound to support his cause. Andthatwas something I could not have.

My family was safe and alive. That was the important thing. We were a broken family, but the damage was not irredeemable.I don’t think. No, the love within my family was unconditional, we were stronger as a unit. Still, weeks had gone by and yet Tomoe and Reina remained at a distance.

“I’m fine,” I said, not bothering to shake off his touch.

He moved to lean on the table in the center of the room, arms crossed across the wool lined coat I’d become accustomed to him wearing. He’d grown his dark brown hair out. The waves of it now tucked behind the tips of his ear, covering the part of the tattoos that traced up the nape of his neck. He’d cited the crisp December air as the reasoning behind needing the extra warmth. Despite how many times we’d practiced, keeping himself warm with his fire magic was a skill he had yet to master.

His chin tilted, brows furrowed as he searched my face. “Talk. You’re worried about something. You’re making the face.”

“What face?”

“That one. Your lower lip pouts out and your brows scrunch together. Then you glance to the side, all perplexed.” His pink lips pulled into a proud smirk.

I sighed, the son of a bitch had grown to know me better than I’d initially intended. “Riley should receive the letter any day now.”

“Okay, that’s a good thing, ain’t it?”

“Duh, obviously.” I pushed his shoulder playfully. “I just, I don’t know. We’ve never been away from each other this long. He’s my shadow, and it’s odd to have to keep faith that everything with him is okay. Not only him, Prescott too. What if I never see them again?”

“You have to keep the faith that they’re okay, because that’s what’s getting them through right now. Riley would rather die than let you down.”

“That’s exactly my fear,” I said, suddenly ready for this conversation to end. “I have to go.”

There wasn’t much time I had to waste. Most of my time here had been spent convincing Sloan’s worthless General that I was worth a damn. That had only made the battle of preparing their underwhelming soldiers to have some semblance of defensive value rather difficult.

They were sloppy, uncoordinated, and scared. Unfortunately for me, fear makes the wolf bigger.

Not only did I have to struggle against an incompetent, now-expired General and his troops, I had to add in the fact that I couldn’t let it show that we were actively preparing for war. If word was to spread, Covert Province might have the urge to speed up whatever surely disgustingly intolerant bullshit they had planned. Our actions would aggravate them and I wasn’t quite ready forthat yet. It certainly wasn’t anything Duluth could handle with their already diminishing population.

The half-truths and convoluted lies I’d spewed had helped hold off more of their people being killed for the sake of the Salem network. That wouldn’t keep Covert Province at bay for long. Seth, slimy little asshole that he was, would one hundred percent run every course of action he’d known me to take in the past by his father. Without a doubt, he’d help him plan an attack against the place he used to call home.

“Hey,” he said, his calloused hand gripped on my wrist keeping me from leaving, “I’ll help you when I’m done. This isn’t all on you.”

I chuckled, my flames teasing his fingers, not burning them but causing them to release. “My idea ofhelpAlexiares is having my Compound snipers take high ground on every path into this place to keep these idiots alive.”

Alexiares

My favorite part about pissing Amaia off was watching her perfect ass walk away. Weeks of several meals a day, and the alcohol she pretended none of us knew about, had served my eyes well. Her cargo pants hugged the slender curves of her waist and cupped beneath her ass. It was hard not to admire the beauty of it. Maybe it was all the free time we’d gotten since we stopped running for our lives, but I found her to be a welcome distraction during all of Sloan’s ‘necessary’ meetings.

Amaia knew it too and hated it. She flipped me off as she walked away, upset over my desire to head out beyond the walls alone today. The little princess would have to get over it; we couldn’t afford to wait for her to get a free moment during daylight toaccompany me.

Not only had December robbed any ounce of warmth from the cold-ass air, it’d managed to steal valuable working daylight hours from us. We’d already thrown away two days due to her helping Sloan’s incoherent population get a fighting chance of survival on their own. For the life of me I didn’t understand why she’d been so reluctant to allow the arming of her citizens, or at least basic combat.

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