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When Leon finally speaks, I almost let my shoulders slump in disappointment.
Almost.
He’s still pissed about the whole Magnus thing. I try not to sigh.
Leon’s voice is deceptively mild. “I thought we had an understanding tonight when we arrived at the market. You wouldn’t wander off, and you would speak to no one.”
I want to argue, to let him know I did what I did for the mission. I bite the inside of my cheek instead, allowing him to continue. His hands rest on the table. His muscles are tense, and he is in no way relaxed.
Bummer.
“Once again, I find myself struck by how little you seem to grasp how this relationship works. I lead, Vivian. I lead, and you follow. I protect you, and you obey me. When I give you a command, I expect you to follow it, regardless of whether you see the logic in it. It is your duty to obey.”
Leon’s words feel like nails on a chalkboard across my mind. Something about the word ‘obey’ makes my blood boil. I’m not well suited to it. I open my mouth to speak, but Leon shushes me, refusing to give me room to defend my actions.
Again, my blood boils, and the fog starts to trickle into the edges of my mind. Heat from the bond is already beginning to spread through me at the anger Leon’s words spark in me. I push against it and focus on Leon’s words.
“I am going to give you details of our plan moving forward, Vivian. Not because I am looking for your permission but because I feel that you need time to come to grips with my decision so you are prepared to do your part. Because youwillobey me. We have no other choice.”
I tense. There’s no way I’m going to like what he has to say.
“I believe Morgana is looking to form an alliance with me. I’ve considered the attacks, and how the forsaken came for you, even after seeing I was already awakened. Morgana is searching the human world for someone. If her first order of business is to kill me, the forsaken would have immediately reported back to her that I was awake, and Sin would have come to try and end me. It’s clear that they have some kind of agenda that they want to discuss.”
My eyes widen at his conclusions. “Leon, that’s great news. If they want to talk, we can try and work out a way to end this peacefully, without a fight to the death between two Destroyers.” My body relaxes, feeling weak with relief.
The relief is short-lived.
“There will be no talking, Vivian,” Leon answers like he’s explaining the most obvious thing in the world. “There can be no peace with Morgana. She has been wicked for millennia and can never be trusted. She and her Destroyer must fall, or we forever risk the end of the realms.”
I frown at his explanation. “Then what do you want to do, if they just want to talk?”
Leon leans back in his chair, crossing his arms as a malicious grin spreads across his face. He looks hungry for what’s coming next. “We use their temporary peace to our advantage.”
I’m about to ask how, but Leon continues, once again ignoring how I opened my mouth to speak. His eagerness to give me a breakdown of his masterful plan is evidently more important than anything I could ever add.
“We are going to be returning to the mortal realm. We will need to go back to somewhere that has a lot of your energy imbued into it. Perhaps your apartment or school. That will make it easier for Morgana’s forsaken to track you down. Once we’ve arrived, we will wait. Morgana will come to us. It’s doubtful she will show up without her Destroyer. Not if she has an iota of self-preservation. She’s made it this long on the run from the council, so we can bet she won’t be unprotected.”
My stomach sours. I hate where this is going. And still, Leon continues. “We will act as though we want to hear them out, that we are open to a possible truce. Then, the moment I see the Destroyer, I will annihilate him before either he or Morgana ever has a chance to speak. I’ll end them once and for all.”
I sit still, gobsmacked by Leon’s plan. I’m utterly speechless at the insanity he’s proposing.
Leon takes my temporary stunned silence as compliance. He shifts back from his chair, standing as he continues. “We’ll leave for the mortal realm shortly – the sooner we end this, the better. You need to unlock my collar now, Vivian. So that we are prepared to strike at the first chance. If what Magnus says is true, then Sinis already completely free to obliterate the realms. We can’t afford to hesitate.” His soft tone is long gone now. He speaks with urgency like he’s ready to apparate us out in the next two minutes.
Still incredulous, I finally find my voice. I’m using all my willpower to stamp down the anger rising within me. I can’t activate the bond any further. This is too important, and I won’t be backing down. Instead, I try to approach the situation logically in hopes that I can sway Leon into changing his plans. He needs to see reason.
“Leon…” I begin. I keep my voice soft and my eyes downcast. Submissive. I need to act as submissive as possible. The man wants obedience, and there’s no way he’ll listen to a word I say if I start yelling my thoughts at him. “Surely, you understand that having two Destroyers set to fight to the death so close to humanity can’t be safe. You’re asking me to put my entire town – my entire realm at risk here.”
Leon sighs at my argument, leaning forward again to rest his arms on the table as he looks at me closely. “Vivian – you need to think about this logically. Sin could obliterate all the realms without a moment’s notice. Putting one realm, one coastline in the line of danger is a minimal price to pay for the guaranteed safety of every other living being.” The mockery is back in his voice.
I try to ignore his tone. At least he doesn’t seem angry. If we can keep things rational rather than emotionally charged, then we might actually get somewhere.
“But Leon, Sin has been free for millennia and hasn’t destroyed anything. I think it’s safe to say that we have time. We can lead them somewhere else if you’d like. Toa place where there are no other living beings. We can even invite them to talk.”
Leon’s hands fist on the table, and his eyes narrow. It looks like trying to calmly argue my point is starting to grate on him. His body language isn’t promising.
“They’ll see through it, Vivian. We need to go somewhere they don’t expect a trap from us. We need to be in your realm. Around mortals. That’s the only way they’ll let down their guard. I’ve already considered every alternative you’re going to have, Vivian. I’ve been doing this for millennia. Unlock my collar. Do your job, and let me do mine.”
More fog in the corners of my mind now.
