Page 5 of Dream in Darkness
Draven’s nostrils flare, his golden septum ring gleaming in the fluorescent light of the conference room. “No, but I expected you to think this through to come up with a plan and contingencies to said plan.”
“So why didyounot come up with a plan?”
“I did, andyourejected it.” Draven’s fists clench at his sides. “You were so busy worrying about The Legion that you didn’t think about what their allies might do first when forced to fight for resources.”
Shocked as I am that Draven is being so brash,he has a point. We knewat the very leastthat Pack Escalus was working with The Legion in some capacity, and we knew that the felion and lupion would be hunting in the same forests. There should’ve been conversations regarding guidelines and territories, but we failed.
Raph and Luc failed us as leaders.
“My brother did not want to restrict Haeresis the way some of our siblings have restricted their continents. He is the governor of these lands and I respected that decision,” Luc says.
“Zada is a fantastic governor, and she has more restrictions than we do because she understands that sometimes when you care for someone, you have to cage them.” Draven’s arms cross against his chest, every muscle flexed.
Interesting sentiment from someone who had his wings clipped in quite the literal sense, but I keep my commentary to myself. Is that what Gemma is to him, a caged butterfly?
No, I know that’s not true.Draven is good—a good leader, and a good husband, even if I think some of his beliefs are misguided. I might be loyal to Luc out of occupational necessity, but unlike Draven, I’m not loyal to Luc in my bones. I don’t think Reina is either. Gemma might be, and Absinthe… who the fuck knows what’s going on in that girl’s head.
“So what are we going to do, kick all the felion out?” Reina says, and if it were anyone else, I’d be filled with rage. Reina’s hands shake, and I can hear her heart jumping into her throat.
She’s worried about my brother.
“No, but we need to do something.” There are dark red circles under Luc’s eyes, even deeper than the red of his flesh.
Absinthe has a mischievous grin spread across her painted cheeks. “We could kill everyone who?—”
“No.” Everyone interjects at the same time.
The room goes still, and I count the birds that fly past the window, one after another.
“Gemma, what would the humans have done?” Reina asks.
“On Earth?” Gemma cocks her head.
Reina nods. “Yes, how would they handle something like this—species fighting over resources?”
Gemma’s pale face is contemplative, her thick brows furrowing, creating a crease in the center. “Well, it’s all about perception, so I’d imagine humans would’ve had a campaign to change the optics of the situation. Sing a song and hold hands or whatever.”
“A campaign?” I ask, unsure of her meaning.
“Like a marketing campaign—repackage the felion coming over from being an attack on their resources, to being a good thing,” Gemma answers.
“Brilliant. What do you recommend?” Luc asks.
It’s asinine that anyone thinks we came over to steal resources. Every felion I know that’s come over to Haeresis in the last few years escaped. Khalid and I didn’t ask to be here, but we didn’t have much of a choice. Our parents died. We were lucky enough to be able to work as street performers, and even luckier to have magic, but had things continued going south on Ira… we might have been forced to go back into diving. Against our will.
I couldn’t do it, and I definitely won’t demand it of my people. We deserve freedom, we deserve choice. Governor Cavan is a no-good scumbag who will continue to use the half-demons and felion on his continent until there’s no one left. He’d work us all to death if we’d let him.
“This can’t just be about changing the lupion’s perception of us, we’ll have to change my people’s perception of the lupion as well. We’ve been treated like invaders, and now we’re defensive,” I say, and everyone nods.
“The focus should be on both groups. Other than smaller acts of defiance happening within The Legion, there haven’t been many reports of issues between the demons and half-demons as of late. I think witnessing this turf war has helped the two groups settle their differences,” Draven begins to explain. “But as we promote peace between the felion and lupion, we need to watch the demon species and ensure that this doesn’t widen our divide.”
“Agreed. I will keep an ear out for this and report back with any suspicious activities,” Gemma says, looking over at Absinthe.
The Devil’s Masquerade works together seamlessly—like a well oiled machine—but there’s a certain kind of magic to watching Absinthe and Gemma team up. Absinthe, in all her clownery, blends in with the citizens of Haeresis. She is simply one of them. A little bit of a nut, but a half-demon all the same. It’s how she manages to interact with members of The Legion without question.
It’s also how she’s able to kill and go unnoticed.
Gemma, in comparison, sticks out more than anyone I’ve ever seen. Reina is a hybrid, and I’m a felion, but we’re somewhat common on Hel. Humans? I’ve never seen another. Gemma is the only human most of us have ever met. When she enters a room, all eyes land on her.
