No, they were destined to walk another path. And that was clear to him now. He knew that now. Hopefully, so did she.
“I am not going to sit here and tell you all that we are now in command of your people. Neither am I going to demand that you all go to war in our name. I have learned, in my…brief time here in the Wild, that the fae would not be amenable to this.” Picking up a serving knife from the table, he tilted his head to the side thoughtfully, studying it. It was old.Veryold. Clearly made on the surface, but it wasn’t any style or maker he recognized. “And I have no interest in continuing to make the mistakes repeated by my siblings.”
“I’ll stick to my side of the deal,vuampi.”Kalo walked up to the table, his arms now uncrossed.
“Which was what, exactly?” Nadi arched an eyebrow at Raziel.
Raziel stared at the knife for a moment in silence, before placing it down in front of him with aclick.“Nothing, save our safe passage back to the surface.”
Silence.
“I have come to see now that this…” He gestured aimlessly at the room around them. “Any sort of taming of the Wild by the vampires would be a ridiculous farce and doomed to fail. Your people cannot be controlled. Cannot be cowed or bargained into submission. We had come here to seek soldiers to fight in a war.” He huffed a laugh. “You, for all your differences, are not so dissimilar from the humans or my own kind. You squabble and scheme too much. I don’t think I have the patience in me to get any of you to agree on anything.”
Kalo smirked. “So, whatwillyou do, then?”
“I intend on returning to the surface and doing what I do best. Killing everyone who stands in my way. On my own. Well.” He glanced up at Nadi, who was studying him with a thoughtful expression. “Almost alone, if my wife chooses to join me.”
“What do you mean?” Nadi murmured.
Raziel took a breath, held it, and let it out in a long sigh. “I plan to continue this fight on my own, my little murderer. I will likely not survive. It is a death sentence. And, moreover, these are your people. I cannot make this choice for you.”
“You are the head of the Iltani clan, little fish,” Kalo reminded her quietly. “And I am now the head of the Lohti, with Ebiti dead.”
Raziel wouldn’t begrudge Kalo his attempt to lure Nadi back, one last time. He would do the same thing.
Now, it just remained to be seen whether or not Kalo’s “little fish” bit the lure or not.
* * *
Nadi watched the scene unfold as if she were having a fever dream. All at once, it made perfect sense, and yet she felt detached. Like she was just a few steps away from her own body watching everything take place.
Raziel had taken over. Forced Ebiti to eat silverware until she died…and now that he had exactly what they had come here for? An army of the fae to help them take over the metropolis?
He was saying he…
Didn’t want it?
“I have never been a leader.” Raziel spun the knife he had been toying with on the table. “I am a killer. It is high time I stopped pretending I ever had any hope of being anything else.”
Nadi shut her eyes.
Every time she thought she had come to the last fork in the road, the last opportunity to change her mind and turn away, she was shown another.
And every time she arrived at one, it was just as painfully obvious as the previous. “You think they would ever accept me?” She squeezed Raziel’s shoulder gently. She felt the tension in it melt away. “No. I have no home here among the fae. I have not had one for a very long time.”
“What of the Iltanis?” one of the other fae at the table dared to ask. One of the Morvani. “You would let them go on as they are now?”
“No.” Nadi turned her attention to Kalo. “I hereby give the Iltani name to you, Kalo. All the rights and all honors that remained with my Uncle Luciento? They are yours. You are one of the last true honorable fae among us.”
The fae gathered leaned in to each other, muttering. One finally spoke up. “That makes him the most powerful among us, and?—”
“And?” Nadi cut them off. “What of it? I am the last fae Iltani, and it is my name to give away. Now, I shall say the Iltani name is dead. The clan, the dockyards, and their trade routes now belong to the Lohti. For Kalo Lohti is the only one who has shown me anysemblanceof kindness.”
And even then, it was a complicated sort.
But he had saved their lives. It was the least she could do for him.
“I made my vow to avenge my family a long time ago. To destroy the Nostrom family. I still intend to do so.” She smirked. “Even if it means siding with one of them to pull their whole house down around them. I will wipe out their family name, once and for all.”
