Page 64 of Ashes of Honor

Hunter’s expression softened into a measured expression of pity, his eyes briefly flickered, weighing the cost of my response. “If you have the right people in place, should take ‘em no longer than a week to get it done. We need to slow my father down, lower his numbers, or we don’t stand a chance—especially with them being so close. If you think we can hit them with brute force to win this thing, then you’ve vastly underestimated Ronan Moore.”

“Don’t question my intelligence; it’s insulting.” My hand cut through the air as I raised it, expression twisting into a disgusted frown. “Brute force is for amateurs, but I need more to go on than a hunch. He won’t sit quietly after a move like this—he’ll retaliate.”

“Of course, he will.” His tone was calm in a way that told me he’d already thought this through. “But whatever he throws at you will be a fraction of what he’d have unleashed once he got what he wanted from your deal. Better to act now while you still have the upper hand.”

“Okay, I’ll ask; how does taking out two people solve that problem?” Reina’s thick brows pinched together, skepticism written all over her face.

The room was clearing out, our words able to flow freer with the absence of diners in our immediate vicinity. The rich aroma of coffee mingled with the scent of fresh-baked bread and the faint, earthy notes of herbs trailing from the overhead planters. Dinner was winding down, and with it came the shifting of schedules. The navy crew was swapping out, their rotations more seamless now that our forces had nearly doubled. A rare upside to this chaos—our sailors were finally getting the rest on land they’d been denied for too long. Caffeine, as always, was awelcome ally for those heading back into the night beyond these walls.

“It doesn’t solve it outright.” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. “But it sets the pieces in motion. They’ll handle each other for us.”

“Explain.” My voice cut through the room like a blade.

“Ronan’s inner circle runs on ego and self-interest. Do you really think any of them believe half the nonsense they spout? No. To them, it’s all about securing their futures, their comfort—no matter who they crush to get it. Take out the men at the top, and the loyalty holding them together shatters. Get them paranoid, turn them on each other, and they’ll be so busy ripping themselves apart, they won’t have the strength to lend a helping hand to dear old Dad. The soldiers at the bottom,that’swho you want. Someone actually fighting for something or someone they want to protect.”

My jaw dropped, body freezing at the fucking audacity … if there was one thing men had. Jesus Christ. “You’re working on nothing but hypotheticals. Hope. Don’t give me that crap.”

“Human nature is quite repetitive if you haven’t figured that out yet.” A sly grin tugged at his lips.

“I can … escalate the issue.” Alexiares spoke up, the promise of danger in his tone. “Let me do the dirty work, Princess. You worry about the rest.”

“This is to happen before the meeting even begins,” I said, ignoring the way that made my heart patter in my chest. There were more important things to focus on, such as saving Salem Territory,again. “If we can’t get anyone to cooperate?—”

“Then we’re screwed,” Tomoe chimed in, arms crossed, leaning back with a dry chuckle. “But hey, it’s a war cry, right?”

Hunter spread his hands out in mock surrender. “I brought the extra bodies and the intel. She’s the general of legends, figure something out. Rebellion, at its core, runs on hope and thebelief that God—or the universe, if that’s your thing—hates your oppressor more than it hates you.”

Riley’s eyes were daggers. Sharp. Skeptical. “How can we trust the accuracy of this information? That you’re not setting us up?”

Hunter’s gaze hardened, the water in his bowl vibrating, gently sloshing inside. “I wouldn’t do that to my sister.” His voice remained steady despite his show of magic.

“Then you admit,” Abel shifted in his seat, muscles tensing. “This is all for her?”

“He has more at stake than his sister,” Serenity barked back.

“Good,” I said, eyes narrowing as I leveled a cold stare down the bridge of my nose at the nuisance of a woman across from me. “Our objective is to promise a better tomorrow foreveryone,not just Transient Nation or those closest to your heart. You lose sight of that, then we’re no longer on the same side in this fight.”

“You have your reasons, we have ours. As long as we have the same end goal, I see nothing wrong with that.”

“I do,” I retorted, a cold edge creeping into my voice. If she couldn’t understand that, then we had bigger problems. “If you’re here for your own agenda, we might as well call this quits now because the only way that ends is with all of us dead, or worse.”

If Ronan got his hands on any of us sitting around this table once we broke the deal, death wouldn’t be his answer. Death would be too easy in his eyes. No, he’d have to make us suffer in the way that would hurt us the most: turning into one of them. A weapon for his disposal.

“You’ll never get far by focusing on yourself.” Reina tempered the emotions flaring in the room. Her hands were instinctively out, motioning for us to calm down.

“Individualism was the downfall of our society the first time,” Tomoe added, a reminder of how things had unraveled before.

I trailed my eyes over Hunter, my gaze unwavering, steady as stone. “If we’re going to do this, we do it my way.”

Hunter’s lips twitched, the faintest trace of a frown tugging at the corners. His scoff was low, as if he’d heard it all before. “Sounds familiar.”

“Look,” I said, voice lowering as the room around us fell to near silence. “If this is going to work, we need to move asone. A little gathering to go over rules of engagement won’t change the outcome when we hit the battlefield. War is on the horizon, but it’s not imminent. Ronan needs time to prepare, as do we. I don’t just need to sit down with their leaders, I need to speak to the generals—andI need them to bend the knee.”

“You’re not thinking clearly. A political leader and General, that’s a dictatorship. And that’s certainly not something I can guarantee others will comply with.” Hunter’s tone was measured, cautious.

“We don’t need a guarantee.” Alexiares’s honey brown eyes hardened, his sharp jaw ticking. “All we need is acknowledgment that they’ve been warned.”

“Of?” Serenity laughed, dismissing our clear intentions.

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