Page 28 of Commanding Flame and Shield
“Doesn’t have to be you every time,” she said softly, brow furrowing with concern.
“You know better than to bet against me, Sar.”
“You have an entire coven to lean on, Alvara.”
“Like hell will I let any of them get hurt on my watch. I can’t go through that again. I won’t survive it twice.” I yanked at the back of my tight neck, exhaling harshly. “That shit sticks with you, this, on the other hand,” I motioned vaguely to my body, “will heal within a day.”
Saraya blew out an exasperated breath, cradling my cheek in her palm before patting it twice. “Perhaps. I just don’t want to see you call a play you can’t come back from. As it is, you’re lucky that calling of yours had the vision when he did.”
That brought me up short, and my gaze flew back to hers. “August? August had the vision?”
“At the same time Aren heard Ansel call for aid. But August. August is why we knew what we were up against, and just how many of us were needed.”
“We thought he was a shield—not clairvoyant.” I thought for a moment about August and couldn’t remember any sign of a gift like mine. But then again, his mind was always tightly sealed shut, and took a good amount of effort to pry into. The way he moved through the battle—as though he’d done it a thousand times, on Aren’s six. He certainly didn’t fight like a white-collar man. He fought like…me. Like he could anticipate their moves before they got there. I closed my eyes, trying to picture his face—trying to remember the way he looked in his angelic armor. He was beautiful, now that I wasn’t trying not to die. And as they did in the dreams, those bold green eyes lanced into my soul. I ached to see his face. To study him. To read him.
Saraya’s sigh brought me back to the infirmary. “Whoever you caught for us, he’s not born to be an underling. And the way I heard he commanded the troops. I’ve never heard of anything like it.”
“Aren either.”
She shook her head. “Be careful, Alvara. Until you’ve truly seen his mind, be vigilant.”
I bobbed my head obediently. “I don’t sense danger in him.” Her eyebrows shot up, so I quickly added, “Danger forus, Saraya.”
She smirked. “I was going to say. A dozen kills in his first fight, casting shields, commanding armies. Doesn’t exactly sound docile.”
“Alec says they fought together—it would have been centuries ago—as humans.”
She nodded thoughtfully, pushing a loose spring of vibrant red hair behind her ear. She pressed a relaxed fist against her mouth as she chewed over some train of thought on the subject, before outstretching her arm, palm facing the sky, fingers limp.
“Can you?”
“Show you?”
“I want to see the lightning bearer in action.” Smirking, she stretched her hands towards mine. I took a deep breath, and then reached for her, grasping her arm firmly at the elbow, our forearms connecting down their length. I opened the gates.
After a long moment, she pulled her arm away from mine, eyes looking just as puzzled as before.
“There are legends. Legends of a chosen one—”
I rolled my eyes, and she cut off her thought, smirking.
“I know but hear me out. A Nephilim, who isalsobraid, a god-ordained Commander that cycles through when he or she is needed.”
“Impossible. Aren—”
“Is an unprecedented leader. A gift. Truly. But he’s not the first exceptional Commander. And he won’t be the last.”
I flinched away from her words. Somehow in my mind, Aren was the final King of the hierarchy. The final Commander.
“We only grow stronger the longer we live. If he hasn’t fallen in over sixteen hundred years—”
“It would take a great opponent to bring him down. No doubt. But there has never been a Commander that hasn’t fallen on a sword.”
“There has never been a soul that survived as long as he has.”
She shrugged, conceding to that point.
“As legend has it, the ordained Commander—the King of our kind—will only appear when his wisdom, and his blade, are absolutely necessary. And his word would hold more weight than the reigning Commanders.”
