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“Wow. That's quite a jump from clumsy fuck up.” This time, Parris couldn't keep from grinning as he spoke while beside him, Garret smirked.
I ignored him. “When does the rest of this testing crap start? How long do I have to prepare?”
“I wish I could say. There's no way of knowing. I think that's sort of the point, to try and catch you off-guard,” Elliot said.
“Terrific. I always did love pop quizzes,” I said. No matter how I looked at it, it was obvious I was about to go through a hell of a struggle. Good thing I was so used to struggling. When it came to that, I had been preparing my whole life.
“We have a bigger problem. A more immediate one.” Garrett looked around. “Based on what Healynas said, Jett is coming to kill her. I doubt he's going to waste any time.”
Snickering, I waved a hand. “I already told you. He would never do that. Healynas might have a bunch of weirdos brainwashed into thinking he’s a dead deity or whatever, but he doesn't know what he's talking about.”
The three of them stared at me with almost identical expressions of disbelief on their faces. All it did was make me dig my heels in harder. “You don't know him. I do. He's my twin. He would never do anything to hurt me. Remember? The whole sacrificing himself for me thing?” I said.
The three of them went from staring at me to exchanging looks among themselves. I liked it better when they were looking at me like I was an idiot. An entire conversation passed between them, and all it did was make me want to scream.
“Hello! I'm standing right here,” I added. “Don't have silent conversations about me. If there's something you want to say, say it out loud.”
There was more pointed staring, then finally, it was Parris who spoke up. “He's changed, Jaide. You need to keep that in mind. Jett isn't the person you used to know.”
“And you would know that how, exactly?” I asked. When his face fell, I couldn't help but feel triumphant. “That's what I thought. You don't know.”
“Jaide, I don't need to be intimately acquainted with clouds to know what it looks like when it's going to rain. I've seen what clouds look like when they hold a great amount of moisture. I’ve felt the change in the air. The charge before lightning strikes,” Parris said.
“So what are you trying to say? You've seen it happen enough times that you know what to expect?” I asked.
“You weren't there.” Garret's voice was quiet, thoughtful. “You didn't see what he was capable of. When he blasted a hole in the earth.”
“When Healynas gave him his powers,” Elliot added, “it changed him. Remember you told me Healynas said something about not making the same mistake as he did with Jett? Jett’s powers are out of control. He didn't have enough time to grow into them or train himself to use them. That amount of power, gained all at once, does things to a person's mind.”
“Let's not forget Healynas would have been feeding him stories about this prophecy, and how he saw in the future that Jett will either kill you, or you will kill him,” Parris said, and at least he had the decency to look sorry for me. “If he filled your brother’s head with all this, you can't make the mistake of thinking Jett's the same person he was when he walked through that red door.”
I tried to listen to them. I really did. I told myself they deserved to be heard. They sure seemed to believe what they were saying.
But they didn't know him. They had never met the Jett who was willing to do unspeakable things, to subject himself to humiliation and subjugation even I, an Omega, couldn't stomach the thought of. All the sacrifices he had made for me. There was no way those sacrifices could stop meaning something in the blink of an eye and just because of Healynas’s rights.
“I'm not going to give up on him,” I said. “I don't care what you say. I know his heart. I've known him since the minute we were born. He would never try to hurt me, much less kill me.”
“By the moon! Confounded, stubborn—” Garret started.
I blinked, since I wasn't used to hearing Garrett lose his temper like that, not with me, and the surprise of it then made me fall back a step. Elliot put a hand on Garret’s chest and whispered something close to his ear. Deep inside, a wave of jealousy ran through me. What was that all about? I didn't have any reason to be jealous of any of them. They had all known each other a lot longer than I had even known they existed.
Elliot then looked at me. “Fine. Even if Jett doesn't come to kill you, that doesn't change the fact that we need to fight. Obviously, Aldric went to Theon. There was nowhere else for him to go. If Theon still has Jett with him, and Jett is still bent on destruction the way Healynas made it sound, we're going to need an army.”
“Right, the army I'm supposed to successfully manage. How could I forget?” I laced my fingers and rested them on top of my head, since it very much felt like it wanted to pop off and allow my brains to explode.
I only held the fate of the world on my shoulders. No big deal.
“Exactly where does one find an army?” Parris mused.
“I think I know who can help us,” Elliott said.
“Oh, please, tell me you want us to align with the Fae. Because that would surely make this entire experience that much more memorable and enjoyable,” Parris scoffed.
“Trust me,” Elliott smirked as he faced Paris, “it would be memorable and enjoyable but not for you. And I think we both know it.”
“Okay, okay.” I snapped my fingers at both of them. “Enough. You're both pretty boys. Let's not waste time getting off track.” I nodded at Elliot. “So? Who do you think is going to help us?”
“Who else? Witches,” Elliot grinned.
