Page 10 of Inheritance
“I don’t suggest anything. I know what I am doing,” Finias ground out. “I am going after her, the minute I have an idea of where she is.”
“We need you,” Damien responded quietly. “We need you with us and committed to this. There is no way we can beat your parents without you to break those barriers. If you leave, we are fucked.”
Finias’ emotions seemed to waver for a minute, and I spoke up, “If you leave—if any of us leave—it lowers our chances of getting more people on our side. It’s true, I could give a fuck less about my house, but I don’t want Ama to come back and realize that we put everything on hold to find her and lost time on saving her dad or anyone else she cares about.”
“Zurie,” Drayven said quietly. “Her best friend Zurie and her dad.”
I frowned for a minute, feeling an uncomfortable surge of disappointment in my chest that I hadn’t recognized the name. Sometimes, I forgot how little I knew of Ama’s life outside of the Summit. I wanted to know so much more, but instead of spending time doing that, I’d fucked up each and every time I’d gone to talk to her.
The minute the words about rejecting our mate bond had come out of my mouth, I’d regretted them. I could never reject Ama, and I swore to fuck the minute we had her back I would get on my knees and beg for her forgiveness. I wasn’t an idiot. I was worse than an idiot, and I had deserved every single word of anger tossed at me by the other guys once I’d explained that I didn’t know where Ama was. That she had fled after our argument—as well as exactly what that argument had been about. I muttered a curse under my breath, feeling like the dirt beneath the feet of all these soldiers. No, lower than that.
Before Finias could say anything, the tent opened, and Commander Pandora strode in, followed by her four men. She completely ignored us and walked towards the map, only turning around then to pin all of us with a look that had me feeling almost fucking scolded.
“Get it together, boys,” she snapped quietly. “If we are moving forward with this war, then I need all of you to get it together. Ama is tough as shit. She will be fine, and I would suggest following her plans to move forward with this war, or you are going to have one pissed off hybrid princess when you get her back. I know it's upsetting. I know you’re distracted, but I can’t afford that. Shut that shit down, or I am taking my army and turning back now.”
The law had been laid down. We all exchanged looks, and I saw less hostility towards me and more of a joint sense of determination. I stood up and walked towards the map, deciding to bury myself in getting this war done with so we could get our mate back. So she could come back to a kingdom that was victorious and freed of traitors. A kingdom that would have the opportunity to be completely different with the change of power.
“We good?” She eyed all of us as we came to stand by the map, and we each offered various levels of nonverbal affirmation.
“Good. Let’s get this right the first time and win, like your girl would want.”
And what our girl wanted...she got. That was my new motto for Ama. Anything she wanted was hers, no matter what I had to sacrifice to ensure it.
CHAPTER FIVE
Ama
You're not worthy of my love.
Those six words ran through my head on repeat. I replayed the situation with Luce over and over again in my head as I stared out the one window in my room from my bed. It was the truth, but that didn’t mean it was going to be an easy pill to swallow for either of us. I didn’t like that I’d said the words, despite the truth in them. I didn’t like that I’d hurt him with the stark reality of how the way he was acting was only proving this would never work between us.
Was this some sort of sick joke by the universe? Giving me a fated mate who was so self-centered he had not one ounce of care for what his mate wanted?
I wished it was as easy as telling myself to forget about the psychotic devil and telling him to sit on his thumb and spin. But it wasn’t. As much as I hated to admit it, there was a crackling energy between us, and a piece of my heart longed to make this work between us.
Stupid fucking fate trying to tell me what to do.
Luce was infuriating, and I was no closer to finding an escape from his castle.
I didn't know how long I sat there alone with my thoughts, but before I knew it, the sun was setting on the mountains, a beautiful orange glow casting along the peaks. My stomach began to grumble.
It was almost easy to forget I was a prisoner when I took in the serene beauty of this vantage point. The low hanging clouds and reflected light beaming down onto certain areas of the mountain drew my gaze. It was as if Heaven was shining down upon pieces of our realm, and I longed to find myself within the warmth.
Tearing my eyes from the window, I glanced down as my stomach rumbled loudly and rubbed my belly. Our interaction at lunch had been so short I hadn't touched my pasta, and while I didn't regret having left the situation, I did regret not taking my food with me. I could have eaten it in my solitary confinement up here.
A while ago, a maid had entered the room to remind me of dinner approaching and tell me I needed to be presentable. Apparently, having my hair in a bun, no makeup on, and a blanket pulled firmly around me wasn't an acceptable look for dinner with the devil.Shocker.The devil wanted his mate to look prim and proper and ready to jump at his every command.
I had considered asking the maid for some food to be brought up, but what would be the point when they all served Luce and he'd made his feelings abundantly clear? I doubted they'd feel any sympathy for me, and they definitely wouldn't go against his orders.
If I had to starve for a bit, so be it. There were worse things going on in our realm.
I waited for someone to come in here and berate me for not being ready, using the time to ponder how to get out of here. I’d accepted that Luce would never even try to understand my side of this situation. Honesty and rationalization weren't going to get me anywhere, and clearly fake seducing him wasn't going to work either.
I was stumped on how to proceed. Without my powers, I was defenseless, and it had become obvious I was a terrible actor when I’d tried to play the meek and obedient mate. If only I was better at hiding my emotions. It had never been a strong suit of mine, though—as my dad had reminded me many times during council meetings in Mortem. My emotions played across my face like a movie, letting everyone in my vicinity know exactly how I was feeling.
Which, during those times, had been a combination of extreme boredom and fantasizing about stabbing council members who’d sent particularly nasty insults my way.
I laughed lightly at the memories, feeling as if they’d happened so long ago. Yet they hadn’t. Quickly, my amusement died down and was replaced with anger.
