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“We need to go,” I said, tearing out of Rand’s and Egan’s hold. “They need us.”
“No,” Yunez barked. “We’re not ready.You’renot ready.” He threw out a hand and gripped the table, shakily pulling himself up from the floor.
“What? No. We can’t stay here while people need us,” I shouted.
“You would go to your death? You would take us to ours?” Yunez raised his voice to match mine, just as emotional, just as frayed.
Molten anger mixed with fear boiled inside me, furiously lapping over every inch of my insides. I stared down at my open palms through a red filled haze. Something was happening. I wasn’t sure what it was, but it hurt, and burned, and raged inside me like a tempest storm unable to break free.
Was this what we were meant to be? Cowards on the sidelines? Could I live like this? I left everything in the human world for them, for me. For the destiny I was always meant for.
But this hiding, waiting, letting others die when we could help.
We had to at least try…
The room whited out, a ravaged scream tore from my throat.
Just as soon as it happened, everything turned back to normal. My men were all prone on the floor, having been knocked down by some unseen force.
By me…
Even the generals were all in various disoriented states around the room.
“What the hell was that?” Jari groaned as he sat up, rubbing the back of his head.
“I think that was some of Issy’s powers bleeding through,” Yunez whispered in a hoarse voice as he scratched his head.
“I understand your concern, Yunez.” Batse grabbed a chair and pulled himself up from the ground. “I would have thought going to Toste’s aid would be a suicide mission, but what if this is exactly what you need?”
“What do you mean?” Egan climbed to his feet and tugged me to him. I barely felt the touch, or shifting closer to him. I was numb after that crazy energy release. It felt great to have an outlet, but now I was left feeling bereft.
“Isolde hasn’t come into her powers yet, even with the bonds. That means something is wrong. Or perhaps, she’s being blocked as well but on a greater scale than just sight. But just now, a very emotionally charged episode broke through to connect her to her powers. What if helping in Senadia could be the bridge she needs to access the powers that have been eluding her?” Batse shrugged like his theory was just another idea in the pile.
Except, it wasn’t.
It was a completely plausible idea that I hadn’t thought of before. Could that really be the case? I was blocked and maybe, just maybe, forcing myself into a dire situation, where more often than not something of my powers bled through, would crack open the seal for good.
If so, I wasn’t the failure I thought I was. My lack of powers would be the result of fucking Brody and his hangry harem.
Joy soared inside me to tangle with the deep sense of urgency to get to Senadia. I needed Batse’s theory to be true.
“Batse, I appreciate your insight, but I cannot take Isolde into battle no matter how sure of the idea that this could unlock her powers,” Yunez said angrily, brushing imaginary dirt from his shirt. “I cannot risk it.”
“How can you not?” I cried. What happened to the fearless leader of the Mannos? The one who had a plan for everything and a sexual innuendo to boot? Where wasthatman? “There is more at stake than just our lives. Or my life. We can help. And we’ve already wasted precious time as it is. We need to go, now.”
Surprisingly, Sage threaded his fingers through mine. “I’m with Iss. We need to go. I didn’t wait my whole life to find my Mazza to hide away and let people die during cruel attacks. That’s not who we are. That isn’t who you raised us to be.” He shook his head in disappointment at Yunez.
On that note, humor sparked, clearing away some of the snapping feelings twisting up inside me. Sage’s comment on Yunez raising them, even if it was distant and deliberate, it lent to underlying daddy issues.
Whose issues, I wasn’t sure, but it seemed like someone in our group had daddy issues.
Rand held out his hand to Yunez. “You can’t protect us from everything. We need to save as many people as we can. They don’t even know why they’re being attacked. We’re going.” Rand shot his friend and mentor a stern but steady look.
My heart twisted. It was the first time he had seemed to go against Yunez’s wishes.
Glancing between us all, much like he had last night, he sighed and twisted some of his black hair to the side and out of his eyes. “Each of you hold a piece of my heart. Being crippled with the loss of sight, I feel ill equipped to do more than hope for the best as we go into any kind of conflict. But you’re all right. Let’s get ready to depart. I’ll notify Cabbie.”
“Actually,” Batse said, a dangerous glint sparking in his eyes. “I’ve been working on something with some of the other Mannos in secret. Come with me.”
