Page 60 of Legion
Luka tipped his head to the side.“You’re going to take advantage of Iain’s fractured mental state?”Entities were protective of their human half, but that wasn’t to say they wouldn’t commandeer full control if they could.
“He thinks he is fighting by sticking to his claims.It is not fighting.It is refusing to allow himself to see reality.That isweakness,” it sneered.
“So you yourself know that he isn’t—”
“Deeply, madly in love with the siren?Yes, I know that.So does he on some level.He just will not face it.”Its lips momentarily curved.“It infuriates him that you now bed her.”
“I don’t much care.What I want to know is if you are going to retreat.”
The demon straightened, pushing away from the bars.“He needs to see the bigger picture.”
Luka narrowed his eyes.“You mean to scare him into realizing what will happen if he doesn’t pull his head out of his ass.”
“Nicely put.”
So Iainwasn’ton the verge of turning rogue; wasn’t having a psychic breakdown due to the strain of fighting his demon’s insistence for dominance.It was simply that his entity wanted him to wake the fuck up and accept reality.“Will it work?”
“Perhaps.The thought of being lost forever terrifies him.That terror is fueling him to rise.He needs to find his strength.If he does, I will subside.If he does not, I will reign.”
Luka twisted his mouth, trying to think of how he might aid the entity.“Would seeing his sisters help him?”he asked, knowing the siblings were tight; that there was a chance Iain would listen to them.
The demon pursed its lips, considering.“Their encouragement may make a difference, yes.”
“Then I will have them brought here.”
“It would be best that you do not stay,” the entity recommended.“Your presence enrages him far too much.It will make him less reasonable and receptive.”
Luka had already concluded that much for himself.“If you choose to reign, you will die,” he warned.“I cannot, will not allow you to live.”
The entity’s bored expression didn’t change in the slightest.“Which is why I would prefer that he feel spurred to fight me.No one wins if he does not.”
Having tossed back the last of her smoothie, Naomi set the empty bottle on her coffee table.“I can’t imagine what Iain’s going through right now,” she said to Luka, who sat beside her on the sofa.“To have your own entity keep you suppressed like that ...”She would for sure feel betrayed in his position.
Angled in his seat to face her, Luka gave her a severe look.“Donotfeel guilty.None of this is on you.And if Iain doesn’t choose to fight his demon, that won’t be on you either.He’s a big boy; siren song or no, he can make his own decisions.”
“I know that.I just can’t quite believe things have gone this far.”She crossed one leg over the other and slipped her joined hands between her thighs.“What do you think the outcome will be?”
“Iain held out against me and Belial, but that was more to stubbornly get across that he believed himself to be right in all he claimed.His entity may have more success with him.He doesn’t want to die; he will if his demon takes over.I can’t allow a rogue to live unless I keep them permanently in my vault.”
“Which is no life.”
“Exactly.The demon wouldn’t wish for such an existence anyway.”
She sighed.“It mustreallybe pissed at Iain to pull this move.”A person’s inner entity wouldn’t easily do something that would upset them.
“Oh, it is.It’s very sure he’s fooling himself, and it doesn’t like that vein of weakness in him.”Luka draped an arm over the back of the sofa.“Has no other man taken so long to snap out of their obsession with you?”
She shook her head.“My song affected Iain on a level that it didn’t others.I keep wondering if maybe I should have reported the problem to Jolene sooner; if he would have shaken it off by now if you’d intervened at an earlier point.”
“Either way, you still hold no blame here.”
“It sucks that sirens have no way to unravel the metaphorical spells we unintentionally weave over people.It doesn’t seem fair that we don’t have that inborn power.”
“Ella did attempt to find a literal spell that would release Iain from your song’s thrall.Unfortunately, none exists.”
Kind of curious about his relationship with his anchor, she asked, “How did you first meet Ella?”
“I needed new wards for Infernal—the others were suffering from wear and tear.I heard she was the best at constructing them.I wanted the best.While she was outside the club building wards, I telepathed her from inside to ask how long she’d be.As soon as our psyches touched, I knew she was my anchor.”He paused.“What about you and Tobe?”
