Chapter 56
Thank god. I couldn’t wait to get back to Earth, where there was actual day and actual night and rain and snow and wind and breathable air. A multi-year undercover mission sounded great when I started, but it had been more taxing than I’d ever imagined.
Oops, sorry, I meant the General’s son, I thought in mock apology. The monarchs of Neptune were long dead, after all. It suited neither Gehenna nor Mictlan to let independent nations hold power. It was a good thing they found a way to repurpose their children, though.
But he refused to come with me and betray “his nation,” so I’d have to wait until he was thinking a bit more rationally.
He would be a difficult opponent to face down the line otherwise.
As it was, I had to make sure Vetala wasn’t on the battlefield for this little stunt, because it wasn’t likely I could have taken out Lamassu or the Prototype if they’d had Seba watching their backs.
Not to mention I was banking on the bond between Elio and his mouse for the rest of this plan to work.
I was more than capable of executing either one of them on their own, but they were both the kind of fighters who would stab you with the fragments of their own broken arm while they bled out on the rocks if it meant surviving just a little longer.
Animals, the both of them.
They were also emotional enough, collectively and individually, that it had been especially easy to befriend them.
It was disappointing, however, that even after manipulating the system to get myself appointed as Sebastian’s roommate and bonding with him over these last few years, it still wasn’t enough for him to pick me over this.
Mictlan wasn’t a country who deserved his loyalty, but Sebastian was nothing if not an upstanding, respectable, honorable man.
Such a shame.
I glanced at my red haired companion, who was really fucking heavy for the record. He was more muscle than anyone needed to be.
Elio would be an asset. Fianna would, too. Maybe one of them would be the catalyst that could convince Sebastian to defect, since I couldn’t.
Granted, I didn’t even know if Elio was going to be willing to fight for the Resistance once he woke up, but he’d already be in our custody, so it would make it a bit harder to argue.
I knew him well enough to know his love for the Democratic Territories was self-serving at best, and resentful at worst, so I doubted it would be that hard of a sell to suggest we topple both of the corrupt monstrosities that ruled our universe.
Having Fianna’s cooperation would take care of any remaining hesitance, anyway.
He’d been so completely smitten since he met her, and it was adorable how oblivious he was.
For a man who wore his heart on his sleeve, he really needed to learn to glance down and look at it from time to time.
I couldn’t say when exactly he’d figured out Vann was Fianna, but he’d been blatantly in love with her from the first broken bone, and it was comically obvious to everyone but him.
He’d bend for her, I was sure of it. If not, Lochlan would be a fine bargaining chip. We had plants everywhere, and it was almost cute how many of them had already bonded with my targets without any need for coercion.
I wasn’t one to use people to get what I wanted, but I also wasn’t one to not use people if it meant we’d all win.
I genuinely liked my friends here, after all. Though I came here with intent, the bonds we’d shared were still real. I wasn’t that soulless, that I could spend every day with these assholes and not fall a little bit in love myself.
I snorted at the thought.
It was about time we showed the monsters the power of the mice.