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Brion looked firm. “Bring it on.”
Ivan finally turned his back and, with a last glare at Lysandra, he did exactly what they suggested and left camp.
“Anyone else want to quit?” Brion asked, raising his voice. “Or are we still in this till the end, no matter what?”
Slowly, one after one, the remaining rebels spoke up. Tarus spoke first, his voice tentative but strong. “I’m still in!”
“We’re with you!”
“Till the end!”
Despite the reaffirmed loyalty, the gathering could never be called pleasant. There was grief. There was sadness and tears. But at least it wasn’t an ending, Lysandra thought. It was a new beginning, a commitment to the cause, forged from blood and loss.
Jonas turned to Lysandra, his brows drawn together. “Never thought you’d stand up for me.”
“I wasn’t standing up for you.” She threw a stick into the crackling fire and then shook out her aching hand and rubbed her knuckles. “I’ve just been wanting to punch Ivan in his ugly face for a while.”
“That makes more sense, actually.”
She took a deep breath and turned to face him. “But hear me on this, Jonas. You will take my plans seriously from now on. We must attack the Blood Road. We must shut it down. My fate lies on that road—my fate and the fate of our people.”
He was silent, but then he nodded. “You’re right. I’ll listen to you.”
“Don’t make a mistake like this again, Agallon.”
His jaw tightened. “I’ll try.”
“Try very hard or we’re going to have a problem, you and me.”
“Understood.” He held her gaze intently a moment longer, as if searching for something deeper in her eyes. She was the first to look away.
Jonas then clasped Brion’s shoulder for an unspoken moment. It had been awkward between the two for days ever since their argument. Brion hesitated not at all before gripping Jonas in a bear hug. Jonas’s dark, pain-filled eyes lightened for the briefest of moments in relief before he moved off to tend his wounds.
“You two all right?” Lysandra asked.
Brion shrugged. “Maybe.”
“You’re like a brother to him.”
“The feeling’s mutual.”
“I’m glad you were mad at him before today.” She crossed her arms tightly and looked directly at Brion. “If everything had been good between you, you would have been by his side at the temple. And you could have died.”
“Good point.” There was something stiff about his expression that she didn’t understand. It wasn’t grief, it was . . . frustration. “I guess I understand things better now.”
“What things?”
“The way you look at me.” Brion shrugged. “It’s not nearly the same as the way you look at Jonas. You’re in love with him.”
She gaped at him. “Twenty of us died today and this is your brilliant observation of the night? You need to pull your head from your arse and focus on what’s important.”
Lysandra walked away from him angrily, not knowing how to deal with such an asinine accusation. She did realize, however, that she had not tried to deny it.
Chapter 25
CLEO
AURANOS
