Page 139 of Commanding Flame and Shield
“Honestly though, Al. I kind of need your nose to the ground. You know I’mTeam Allgust, but can it wait for this shit show to be over?” Aren smirked over the words, and Alec shot water out his nose atTeam Allgust.Spluttering and coughing, he set his hand on his chest, trying to choke down his laughter. I snorted and put my hands up to signal my surrender. August rolled his eyes, but turned over, kissed each of my knees, and walked to sit at the bar and rehydrate after our festivities.
An hour went by, maybe more, maybe less, but the fire had dwindled down to flickering embers when I came out of the tunnel of visions, volleying between me and Adrastos. I might have been kidding myself, but there seemed to be amusement outlining them now. As though he knew. Knew we were in this volley, and took pleasure in the game of it. I gritted my teeth, and hadn’t realized I was growling, until I noted everyone’s eyes on me.
“Useless,” I barked. “I have my gifts back, and they’re freaking useless. Especially when every choice you all make is blocked before we could even begin to implement it. We’re playing cat and mouse, and Adrastos is the damn cat.”
A collective sigh rippled through the group, Aren and August both rubbed at their temples, as if they could feel the pounding in my own.
“As long as you’re also able to adjust as he does though, doesn’t that put us in an odd clairvoyant stalemate?” Alec ran his hand along the back of his neck. “Perhaps you can’t give us a path, but he knows the gifts among us exceed those of the average Renown. You haven’t seen anything spectacular in your visions of them, outside of sheer numbers. Perhaps Adrastos is as much the mouse as you are. It’s why he approached you at all. He can’t beat us—join us?”
I shook my head. “I can’t describe it, but I can feel him in the visions now. Like he’senjoyingthis. Playing a game.”
“The Reapers are nearly as old as I am,” Aren’s expression remained soft as he leaned forward to brace his elbows on his knees. “Maybe you are the first challenge he’s had in a millennium. Of course he’ll enjoy toying with you. He’s never had an equal. I didn’t know thatyouhad an equal.”
“How does one conceal a power like that for a thousand years?” Ansel’s eyes had lost any sign of amusement as he contemplated it. Aren only shook his head. “There’s laying low, and then there’s…this. Even Alvara is known in most circles.”
“We haven’t attempted to conceal her though,” Aren argued. “When her gifts emerged, I wanted them to know that she was coming for them. Wanted them to know what they’d face if they fucked around.”
“So, what are we going to do? Sit here and play mental tennis, ordosomething?” Lana rang her hands together in frustration. Idle hands did not suit her well. Silence settled over us for a long while. At some point, Aren rose and added logs to the fire, stoking it back to life. August was again planted by my feet when I came back out of my visions. No progress. None. Stalemate, indeed.
Our indecision was beginning to wear me down, my willpower faltering, and despite ten hours of it last night, I wanted to sleep. Exhaustion had burrowed its way into every inch of me. As a matter of fact, I wasn't sure when I had last felt rested. We were quiet again for a while. Contemplative. I didn’t bother casting visions—they weren’t gaining us anything anyways.
“There are a few things I can’t figure out.” August sat up a bit, propping against an arm, and running his other hand through his hair.
“Welcome to the club,” Ansel sighed, forlornly biting into the cookie Lana held up to him from her spot on the floor.
“No, but really. They’ve caught us—caught Ally—off guard a few times now.How?”
“Always a last minute, impulsive decision,” the words came out like a sigh. “Something out of character. Something I couldn’t see coming until we were in the middle of it. It’s likely the threads were there to pull on, but I certainly didn’t see them as viable enough to pay attention to.” I rubbed at my eyes.
“Right. So, we don't form a plan. Each of us decides, prepares, and implements our own plan. We do so thoroughly. Ally will make a last-minute decision. Giving Adrastos too many threads to choose from…it’s our best bet.”
“Perhaps,” I granted only that much. August continued.
“And then we have two gaps in our timeline, where we had premonitions—knew something was going sideways but didn’t know what.”
“Samhain, and last night.”
“Exactly. We have no answers about what occurred in either gap.” The flicker of that now roaring fire caught my attention, and I studied it for a long while, thinking, probing, wishing my visions could rewind too. When nobody seemed to have any ideas, August continued. “We were being tested? Ally, might have been tested.” August rubbed his hand over his mouth, his jaw, eyes narrowing as he thought through it. “And what did we do? Both times.”
“We froze. Yielded.” Alec scowled at him. “What are you getting at?”
“We don’t act unless we’re certain,” Aren answered, understanding settling across his features. “Does Adrastos believe we’ll stand down if we can’t see a thread we’re confident in?” His eyes flicked up to me. It made sense. Made sense that he would have been studying our response if I couldn’t see clearly. If he could strip our gifts through some curse of Agamemnon’s power, he would believe we would stand down.
The group nodded as my thoughts untangled themselves.
“Then we neutralize Adrastos. We level the field. How do we fare against the Renown in hand-to-hand combat?”
“Pure hand to hand?” Aren grinned, broadly, widely, confidently. He nodded. “We kick their ass. They might be bigger, many are stronger…”
“But we’re faster, more skilled,” I interjected, catching on at last and smiling. “So, weletthem weaponize Agamemnon? Let them strip the energy—but we do it on our terms. We do itonthe battlefield, so they’re affected too. Or we weaponize it ourselves.”
“You think it will work that way? We can be selective with our shields.” Alec pulled his power back and I felt it leave my body, and then expand again to wrap me up.
“I think either we find a way to strip their strength, or let them utilize theirs. Agamemnon injected me with whatever power he wields as Reaper. I think contact must be direct. Either way, we figure out how to fight without sight.”
“It will come down to our wits in the moment, then. If we can neutralize Adrastos.”
I nodded. “We need to see what Saraya has figured out.”
