Page 33 of Fallacies

“No,” Devon snaps. “Too dangerous.”

“It’s not your call,” I point out, sitting back in my chair, watching Lucina shift in her seat. The look on her face is unreadable, eyes locked straight ahead.

“Is that the only way to bring down the ward?” Hunter asks Easton.

He shrugs. “I don’t know.”

“Exactly,” Devon says flatly, dark eyes cutting to me. “So we don’t need to sneak into Onyile in search of a Rogue Disciple. We aren’t equipped for that, and you know it.”

“I’m not hearing any other ideas, Devon.”

Silence falls. I look back at Lucina. Her brows are pinched in deep thought, but she remains quiet, deciding that nothing she’s thinking is worth sharing with the group.

Phoenix clears his throat, straightening like he’s just had the idea of the century. “Maybe we should talk to Aster.” His statement is sealed with a smirk that only widens at the glare I cut him.

“And why would we do that?” I ask through a clenched jaw.

“Well…” He clicks open his switchblade and leans back casually in his chair, using the sharpened tip to pick dirt from underneath his nails. “There’s an herb for everything, right? Maybe there’s one for slipping past blood wards.”

As much as I’d like it to be a terrible idea, it isn’t. Seeing as we don’t have much, we should see through any possible lead, even if that means⁠—

“Who’s Aster?” Lucina asks, and Phoenix’s grin turns feline.

Dickhead.

I clear my throat, determined not to give him the satisfaction. “She’s head of the Floras,” I reply, gesturing to him from across the table, “and Nix is right. She might have something in the Greenhouse that could help us.”

Lucina narrows her gaze on Phoenix, growing more confused the longer she stares. Pax shifts in his seat, pulling her attention next. She looks between both of them and then to me. “The Greenhouse?” she questions.

“Flora territory,” Easton provides, jabbing Phoenix in the arm when he lets a laugh slip free.

I’m dealing with fucking children.

“Lucina,” I start.

“Ohh…” Her face lights up in realization. Lucina sits back in her chair, watching me with her arms folded across her chest, grinning like she’s just heard some good gossip. “You slept with her.”

Nix can’t decide who he wants to look at, swinging his mismatched eyes back and forth between Lucina and me. Pax and Hunter look visibly uncomfortable, and Easton and Devon appear to have come to the same conclusion I have: We’re dealing with children.

“It was a long time ago,” I explain, fingers flexing against the armrests, itching to throw a punch into Phoenix's stomach. “I haven’t spoken to her in months.”

“Okay…?” she drawls slowly, eyes moving cautiously about the room. “So then why is everyone acting weird?”

My brows lift. “Great question.” Sitting back in my chair, I leave the floor open for any of the idiots sitting around the table to answer.

Nix boldly clears his throat, but before he can come up with a reply, Pax smacks his arm one good time. He smiles down at his blade instead.

Lucina’s tongue darts out across her bottom lip as we wait in silence. No one opens their mouth to speak. Her gaze flicks up to mine. “Can we move on to more important things then, or shall we go through my dating history next?”

I want to smile. It’s right on the edge of my lips. But Pax’s scoff wipes it clean off my face.

“Not unless you want Callan to go on a killing spree and oof⁠—”

The toe of my boot slams into his shin hard enough that his knee jerks up and rattles the table. I clear my throat and calmly look back at Lucina. “For the record, I wouldn’t kill any of your exes.”

She looks just as done with this topic of conversation as I am, rolling her eyes with a huffed, “Good to know.”

“I’d just make them wish they were dead.” I glance back down at my papers, stacking them, then setting them to the side. When I look up, Lucina’s lips have parted in a look of shock, and Pax is smirking.