Chapter 32
Tensions were high, and they continued to skyrocket the longer they sat around without a plan.
As of this morning, it had been two days since Bridger declared his stance in the war and one week since they’d returned to Tolevarre…
It was too quiet. Nothing had happened since Meyer and a large group of soldiers had been seen leaving Vincere, headed to Atrox. The fort city was locked down, as were the rest of the major cities still following her sister.
Marlena and Meyer had gone radio silent.
Vega was antsy. Now more than ever, she felt like they needed a plan. They’d wasted enough time, and the darkness inside Vega’s mind grew by the day. She could no longer sleep without the whisper of a voice inside her head waking her up. It was lonely, crying out for a friend.
“Did you hear me?” Arlet asked, head cocking to the side because she knew Vega was off in La La Land.
Taking a sip of water, Vega wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead with her sleeve. “Nope, I sure didn’t.” The sound of voices echoing off the cave’s walls rushed back, and Vega was officially out of her head. “Sorry, I haven’t been sleeping well. I’m on edge waiting for the next attack.”
And dealing with what might be the soul of a god screaming in my head?
A chuff mirroring the sound of a dragon’s exhale echoed up from the pit, coming from the same place the screams did at night.
No, she pleaded to herself. Not right now.
She didn’t have the energy to fight the darkness away.
It growled at her again, but thankfully quieted quickly and left her alone.
Bridger’s soldiers were finding them here in the caves, and were mostly those stationed around Tolevarre, not anyone with knowledge of what was happening on the inside.
It was good to see their numbers grow, but it did nothing to ease the strain of mixing two sides of what used to be an opposing war.
“That’s what I was saying,” Arlet said, though her attention was on a rebel and soldier in the middle of a sparring session.
They’d turned most of the main cave into a makeshift gym.
“We can’t continue to live like this. We can’t house a fucking rebellion here.
” She shook her head. “We’ve tried. It doesn’t work.
” Arlet winced when the soldier took a right hook to the jaw, blood splattering across the floor.
“Losing Castra…” Vega caught Arlet’s lip quiver.
She’d spent so much time helping build Castra into what it’d been in its final form.
“Losing Castra sucks, bad. I don’t think we have any other option but to take Bridger up on his Vincere offer. ”
Marlena would know where they were soon, if she didn’t already.
They were sitting ducks…
“Khort was in over his head without us,” Vega joked.
It got them both to smile for a much needed moment.
“We can’t fault him for always wanting to swoop in and play the hero, but without you,” Vega emphasized, because she’d done nothing but add more work to their plates for fifty-five years, “he did what he knew how to do. He saved lives.” They looked around the room at the proof of her words.
“He let the people of Tolevarre know they don’t have to suffer under Marlena’s rule. There’s another option.”
Arlet nodded. “Yeah, but that other option is to fight, not hide. Last time we were here in these caves, we didn’t have another choice. This time? We can have Vincere.”
Neither of them had ever seen inside… but if it was anything like Bridger had once dreamed of making Atrox, they were in for a treat.
“Then I guess we make the decision for him. After all, who died and made him Khort ‘I’m the boss’ Fera?” Vega winked.
“And where is your commander, huh?” the rebel who’d landed the punch goaded, puffing up his chest at Bridger’s soldier.
They’d taken their eyes off the fight for one fucking minute…
“Damn it, Gillan,” Arlet grumbled, giving the rebel a name. Vega had been gone too long—she was still trying to learn them all!
“Oh, that’s right. Locked up. A prisoner.” Gillan spat a laugh, seemingly unfazed by the two large soldiers stepping up behind the one he was chest to chest with.
Bridger’s soldier looked oddly familiar too, but Vega couldn’t place his face.
The soldier had had enough, knocking Gillan to his ass with a punch to the nose. He should have seen it coming.
The fight went from a few thrown punches to full blown powers in seconds… and others were joining in, deciding now was the right time to pick a fight with whoever they wanted.
“Who’s your guard right now?” Vega asked through the open door.
Bridger’s soldier pulled water from pitchers of drinking water and sent cupfuls down Gillan’s throat. He gaped like a fish out of water, drowning from the inside.
“My best friend, Leo,” Bridger answered with a noticeably sarcastic drawl.
Vega threw herself in the middle. “Hey! Knock it off!” She grabbed the soldier by the shoulder.
From the depths of her own personal hell, the darkness thrust itself out of its pit with wings sprouting from its back… like a dragon. Diana’s power had morphed the death inside her to resemble a piece of what Vega stole.
Panic surged, making the shadow creature cower its head and sniff the air. Vega released her grip on the soldier’s shoulder and stumbled back.
The soldier stared at her with horror-filled eyes, retreating like he couldn’t get away fast enough into the crowd of brawling bodies.
“Vega? Is everything okay?” Bridger slipped inside her head, spying on what was happening in the common room.
“Tell him the princess said to let you out.” It sounded so stupid even thinking it, but it was the only way Leo would actually know it was Vega telling Bridger to relay a message.
“Do I want to know why he would know you as ‘princess?’” The hesitation in his response caused flutters of excitement to bubble inside, and the dragon-like shadow to strut around the pit like Bridger would be able to see it preening for him.
“Just do it, and get here right now.”
When one fight broke up, another started beside it. For the first few, Vega and Arlet used little force, and Vega was able to hold the darkness off, begging it to stay put.
This isn’t what I need you for.
She had no idea if she could talk to it, and if she could, would it listen?
Eventually, there were too many fighting and not enough trying to break it up that Arlet was forced to use her illusions to regain control.
The room went completely black, no light coming through even the smallest of cracks.
It was eerie, the way Arlet’s visions felt so real. People gasped, a few screamed, but they all stopped moving. After a few moments of silence, Arlet let the apparition fall apart. It spread to the corners of the room before disappearing.
Looks of bewilderment, shock, and fear were the common themes among the soldiers as they focused on Arlet and Vega.
“The fighting is getting ridiculous,” Arlet scolded and then laid into the group. A few of their heads dipped like they were being grounded by their mothers.
The water-wielder Vega tried so hard to place wiped his lip, smearing blood across his cheek. “Well, for starters, the rebels think—”
“Consider your next words wisely, Jak.” Bridger’s voice ricocheted off the cave walls, commanding attention without having to try.
The name made a connection. Jak was Junie’s twin… Junie, the soldier who’d been used as one of Vega’s personal torture devices by Marlena.
Junie’s power wasn’t one Vega would be forgetting anytime soon.
Bridger strode through the room like he owned the place.
He cut her a look, smiling like Vega was the only person in the room, and then returned to the asshole army commander everyone else knew.
“You are now a rebel.” He stopped beside Arlet, who nodded at his words.
“The second you decided to join me, you became one.”
Leo came up on Vega’s other side, leaning in to whisper, “I knew the princess nickname would stick.”
She flicked her wrist, popping him on the arm hard enough to sting. “He will kill you.”
Leo’s bright smile had Vega wondering if the fire-wielder had a secret death wish.
“They don’t even want us here,” another one of Bridger’s soldiers added, with a few mumbling their agreements in unison.
Arlet huffed a laugh. “Well, that sucks because we lose this war otherwise.” Straightforward—Vega breathed a sigh of relief at the realistic approach.
They were out of time, unable to waste what little they had left babying their people.
“I understand this is probably hard. I mean, look, I’ve been tasked with spending all my time with Commander Dickhe—Dimico, sorry.” Leo corrected himself under Vega’s stern glare.
She’d called Bridger that one gods-damned time in front of Leo while they were running together at Castra, and now the man couldn’t let it go!
“You two are closer than I originally thought…” Bridger’s agitation burned white-hot, embers of his jealousy warming Vega’s blood.
“Why do they have you locked up like a prisoner? That’s what this really boils down to!” A young girl with a scar from the corner of her jaw to the tip of her nose spoke up. “If they can’t trust you, then how are we supposed to trust them?” Her stare fell on Vega.
Bridger’s mouth opened, but he was interrupted by another one of his men.
“We’re here because of you, and yet we haven’t even seen you at all until now, when we cause a huge scene.”
“Doesn’t seem fair,” another added.
The room buzzed with conversation, and it wasn't good chatter. They got louder the longer their leaders stayed quiet.
Leo leaned towards Vega again, whispering out the side of his mouth, “Feel free to jump in anytime, Princess.”