Page 142 of The Blade in the Ashes
Elaijah shifted as I did, picking up another stick from his feet and snapping it easily between his fingers. “I’m telling you, my plan is good.”
“It’s not.” I tried to keep my voice gentle, not wanting to upset him further than I already had, but he and I had discussed his plan several times. I’d laid out the reasons it was a bad idea several times. I wasn't interested in having the conversation again.
“What plan?” Ayanna asked as she covered herself with her robes and folded an arm under her head. Her hair fanned out around her while that tiny strap of her camisole slipped over her shoulder.
Elaijah looked to me, brows lifted, silently challenging me to fill her in.
Oh no, I neither wanted nor neededheropinion on this. She’d probably agree with him just to spite me.
“I think we should be recruiting Mortals for the war effort too.” He practically spat out the declaration.
I growled, sliding off my boots and setting them angrily beside me. “The answer is no, Elaijah! I’m not using Mortals as fodder in an army. If you putthem against a God and Descendants, they’re dead. I won’t willingly sign them up to be slaughtered.”
He glared at me, rising and brushing off his pants with an irritated huff. He moved to his own bedroll but spun around a moment later, mouth open to continue the argument.
Only it wasn’t Elaijah who spoke next.
“He’s right,” Ayanna agreed. “It is a good plan.”
Gods help me. I scraped a hand down my face, turning towards her. “I did not ask for your counsel.”
Her eyes narrowed to slits. “In the Second War of the Gods, Mortals were instrumental in victory. It had taken MortalandDescendant forces fighting in perfect synchrony to keep the Hyraxian army at bay so the Gods could raise the Veil. Descendants and Mortals were paired together in teams, forced to work in unity to defend one another. Their cooperation was truly essential to victory.”
Elaijah watched her, motionless, as she spoke, before pointing excitedly at her and turning back to me. “See?”
“It’s not only a good plan,” Ayanna continued, seriousness in her tone. “It’s the only one that gives you a chance of victory.”
I sighed, meeting Kent’s gaze. I saw the same hesitation in his face, the same fear.
Asking Mortals to join our endeavors meant putting them in grave danger. It meant adding more names to the running tally in my head that I was responsible for. Allowing Mortals to fight also meant allowing Elaijah to do so if that’s what he wanted. I couldn’t very well allow others and not him, not when he was a man in his own right now. I’d been his age fighting in the Great War.
And my brother wasn’t that different from me.
He was brave, to a fault. Idealistic. He wanted not just to fight, but to fight for a cause.
I stared at him as he talked to Ayanna, watched the way he grinned over at her as they spoke. I didn’t look away from the two of them as Kent moved to sit next to me.
“I hate to say it, but...” his voice trailed off.
“They’re right,” I agreed quietly, hating the words.
He rested his elbows on his knees, crossing his hands in front of him. “I know how worried you are. I know how badly you want to protect them.”
I tried not to glance over at him. It was the first time he’d spoken of my emotions since his mother died. He’d been suppressing his powers. He thought we didn’t notice, but it was clear that he’d stopped reading the twins and me. He was much less reactive to our spikes in feelings. I suspected he temporarily let in the emotions of the others to check if they were trustworthy, but I'd bet ten gold shillings that those moments were fleeting.
“Maybe this is how we do it,” he reasoned. “Maybe this is how we win this war and keep them protected.”
My jaw worked from side to side as I considered. “We don’t even know if the Mortalswillfight with us. I will not force them to.”
His brow furrowed as if I had offended him. “Nor will I, but there is only one way to find out if the Mortals will join us.”
Chapter Forty-Two
Thea
“Open!” Clay commanded, a grape clutched between his thumb and forefinger.
I narrowed my eyes at the fruit. “You wish for me to catch food?”
