“No. I’m going to protect Stasya,” Kratos insists. “Ares can handle fire duty by himself. It’s not like it’ll be the first time.”
I wonder if Mel’s regretting coming with them yet.
Blaze coughs. “Reaper, you’ll be closest to Anastasia anyway.”
Reaper rolls his eyes. “Sure, why not. I’ll babysit.”
Nodding, Anastasia says, “I think that’s best.” She gives Kratos a sidelong look. “Kratos would just get distracted by my perfect ass anyway.”
Kratos glowers at her. “I would not!”
“So that’s settled,” Asch says. “Reaper will cover Anastasia while she does her thing, and Ares and Kratos are on fire duty.”
“What can I do?” Mel asks. “I know I don’t know what’s going on, but I want to do something.” She levels her gaze on me. “Please let me help.”
I want to tell her that she should go home. We don’t need her here.
“You’ll be on lookout,” Blaze says. “We’ll set you up with a tablet that has all the IDs and pics. You’ll alert us whenever somebody important checks in.”
River glances at me, but I have to admit it’ll be useful. As long as we keep her far away from the fighting, it’ll be good to have someone dedicated to keeping us updated on who’s where.
“Is your dad coming?” Asch asks Blaze.
“He is,” Bobbi says before Blaze can respond. “I told him I’m going to make my move at the event. He said he’s going to drag Blaze back and make him forget thatPavone cunt.”
Huh. At least he didn’t call me a crazy bitch.
I’ll take it.
River’s jaw clenches, but he doesn’t comment.
“Okay, no offense, Blaze, but I’m going to light your father on fire,” Ares says, smiling wide.
“Go ahead,” Blaze responds. “Not that I think he’ll be here without security. You’ll need to watch out for his guards. Isaac is pretty impenetrable.”
Fenrir slams his fist into his palm. “My fists can bust throughimpenetrable.”
“They cannot,” Anastasia counters. “You’re going to end up with a broken hand and Silvano is going to give you a very disappointed look.”
“I think I can handle avery disappointed look,” Fenrir argues, but he seems less sure now.
“Fenrir and Bobbi can handle them,” Asch says. “Blaze and I can take Allers. River is on backup.”
And once we have Allers…. We drag him to our designated murder theater, and I have my way with him.
I lick my lips in anticipation.
The rest of the meeting devolves into bickering about individuallogistics. I mostly focus on watching Blaze, Asch, and River interact with everyone.
Blaze is really good at wrangling them.
Even when he isn’t threatening to feed somebody their own balls, he knows what he’s doing.
He’ll be a great leader someday.
Or now.
He’s being a leader now.
