Page 146 of Commanding Flame and Shield
“Testy, testy little thing, are you? Don’t appreciate a challenge?”
“Don’t appreciate playing cat and mouse when lives are on the line.”
“Oh, come along now, little cousin. It’s been a millennium since I’ve met a mind like mine.”
“I’m nothing like you.” Voice dripping in boredom, I gave him a pointed glare that had made lesser men cower. He only smiled, a twisted predatory thing glinting in those brown eyes.
Smile turning sly and crooked, he crooned, “Why else would you be here, answering my summons.”
Again, I focused all my attention on the blade in my hands. His walls were as thick as my own, so there was nowhere for my talons to reach within that concrete mind. I sighed dramatically.
“I actually have shit to do today. You called this meeting,cousin. So, talk.”
“Well, you’re no fun at all.”
“I don’t find bloodshed to be a game, or a joke. My friends fell in those visions. I’ll not play your games, Adrastos. Get to the point.”
“Why don’t you read me yourself? Perhaps we can come to an agreement then? When you’ve seen the truth of it.”
“As I said, I have somewhere to be.” A lie. I had nowhere to be. Nowhere to go until we knew how to circumnavigate the man to my left. But with my gifts thoroughly intact, his own mind just tapped impatiently against obstinate walls of Grayshell granite. Slowly, he retracted his energy back into himself. But he seemed to sense it, as he narrowed his eyes and inclined his head towards me.
“You make me sound archaic,” he sighed, and stretched out on the pavement beside me.
“Aren’t you?” I snapped back.
That predator’s grin flashed across his face again. “Not as old as your oaf of a Commander.”
“Oh, go fuck yourself,” I glared at him. “Aren is the greatest of us.”
Adrastos snorted, eyes narrowing in accusation. “Arenfears you.Seeks to keep you on his leash.”
“How sanctimonious of you.” His mind scraped over my walls, and I suppressed the shiver that followed.
“What are you implying—exactly?” His voice turned taunting.
“You only seek to use me to control August.”
“I seek to free you. To make you the queen that you are. Contrary to your belief, I would serveyouin the world I’m creating.”
I scoffed and flashed him a glare, letting a bit of my energy slip out of its reigns, knowing it would show in my eyes, in the aura around me. The bastard just grinned.
“What a prison, you’ve built for yourself. Don’t you want to be free? Haven’t you proven to yourself that you can control what’s inside you? You’ve certainly contained it long enough this time.”
I refused the bait, instead asking, “Don’t the humans deserve to be free?”
“They will be. Free of the burden of endless choices. They will serve our kind and have all that they need. The exchange will be even, scouts honor.” He raised his right hand. “They will get what they desire. Surely you see that.”
“They deserve to choose that for themselves, don’t they?”
“Their choices bring only bloodshed, and death. Fuck, we could do that for them.”
“You know, a few humans decided tyranny was good too. See how well it worked out for them?”
“Humans can’t get anything right. Perhaps it’s time we give it a try.” Adrastos let out a prolonged sigh, sitting up to brush pebbles off his scarred hands. His inky hair was braided back away from his face. A plain black turtleneck, matching pants, and leather loafers was all he wore. Surely his weapons were stashed somewhere beneath, but I couldn’t see them. He didn’t come here to fight. When another minute passed without a word between us, I rose and began walking away from him.
“You mean to decline my invitation for an alliance.” It wasn’t a question.
“I will decline any proposal that involves enslaving another being to my will. Should you wish to join the family,cousin, and stand for freedom, there is a place for you at our table.” I turned away but could have sworn a dark chuckle echoed behind me. A moment later, he stood in my path. “Move.” There was no inflection in my tone.
