My heart stuttered. ‘You reached out for my magic; I don’t miss when you call for me’.
Ah… I was just as corrupted as she was, wasn’t I?
“Careful,” I sneered. “That sounded an awful lot like you wanted to throw everyone away so you could claim the throne all to yourself. Greed is a dangerous thing, you know, especially in a land full of demons.”
“Ethalyn,” Lionel barked, trying to keep things from escalating.
I was done being nice.
“We lost thousands throughout the years, and you lost three on this mission,” Amestele said through her teeth. “I’m sorry for your loss, but don’t pretend that we haven’t suffered. You mistake my care for greed; I’ll look the other way considering your current state… But I warn you, your carelessness could cost you this whole alliance, and Michlael is not here to save you any longer.”
With that she strode off. Izera sighed, crossing her arms as she tried to figure out where she was standing. “You all did great out there… I understand your grief, but lashing out against everyone else won’t heal those wounds.” Her eyes landed on me, cold and firm. “We’ll head out in the morning. Keep the demons at bay.”
“Now the demons are important enough?” I scoffed.
Her eyes flared, but Lionel stepped in.
“Stop this,” he snapped at both of us. “Give us a moment to breathe, to feel safe and catch up to everything we went through. Give us a fucking break.” His voice rang out and Izera bit her lower lip to not bark back.
“Fine,” she muttered. “We’ll discuss this in the morning.” Izera sent one last glance towards me, before she took off.
“Well, that wasn’t awkward at all,” Nate murmured.
“No, it was fantastic!” Ashley sighed. “Why Lionel, why did you stop them? Ethalyn was finally giving them some well-deserved bark!”
Lionel slid his cold eyes towards Ashley.
“I don’t think Ethalyn’s the only one losing her mind here,” Jaden said scratching his neck while averting his gaze.
“He’s simply trying to defuse the bomb that’s about to obliterate everything we’ve worked for,” Eve said, side-eyeing me.
“Oh, did you just use bombs as a metaphor? Damn, I’m flattered, but I’m not interested in you,” Ashley snickered but Eve only glared at her.
Ashley sighed, placing herself in front of me and staring me down. My eyes slid tohimagain.
She grabbed my chin, yanking my attention back to her. “Listen here, you—” She stopped herself, searching for the right words.
As I stared at her, her eyes widened for a brief second and I wondered if she was about to break down again, but sheslammed her teeth into her lower lip, refusing.
“He’s gone.”
My flames flared and my teeth clenched, the pain consumed me as if she had stabbed me with a dagger through my heart.
“Ash!” Nate snapped.
“What are you doing?” Lionel joined in, grabbing Ashley’s shoulder but she shrugged him off.
“She needs the truth!” She snapped at them, sounding more annoyed than ever. “He is gone, and I’m so sorry, but you can’t turn into a nasty little Eve.”
“Hey!” Eve clenched her teeth angrily.
I stared at her, waiting for whatever point she was trying to make, but Lionel interrupted.
“Don’t,” he said, grabbing a hold of Ashley. She looked more confused than anything by his sudden need to act. “Don’t push her, give her some time.”
“It wasn’t a push, it’s tough love,” Ashley defended.
“I’d say it was a slap in the face, but yeah,” Nate shrugged.
