Chapter 41
Bridger had learned to travel with Halo like the power was his own. “You really do get used to it,” he told Vega, who was bent over with her hands on her knees. The look on her face spoke loud and clear—no words needed anywhere.
Shut the fuck up.
Halo dropped them outside the entrance of Vincere. A fire roared on the western corner of the training land.
When the wind changed directions and the smell of the fire whipped their way, Bridger and Vega both froze.
“He’s burning bodies.” Vega said what they were both thinking.
“No fucking way.” Bridger and Vega looked at each other with the same confused expression. “Did he…?” Bridger’s question trailed off.
“You gonna stand and watch or help me clean up our dead and send their souls to the afterlife?” Meyer asked, coming up from behind. His dark skin glistened with sweat, and blood stained his clothing from the fresher bodies.
The gates to the main entrance of the underground barracks opened, and a line of soldiers filed out. They all carried the dead.
“We decided we’d rather die fighting for our own lives than fighting for hers.” He did. Meyer defected and followed Bridger.
Bridger closed the distance between himself and Meyer, pulling him into a big hug.
“Better late than never, huh?” Meyer asked, the question muffled from their embrace.
Meyer had and always would be Bridger’s brother. Neither of them had any real siblings, but Bridger had never believed it was blood that made you family. “Thank you.”
“I would have been back sooner… but more and more soldiers kept coming forward about wanting to leave when I got to Fortis.” Meyer looked over his shoulder. “I couldn’t leave them.”
Bridger would never, had never, second-guessed his decision in making Meyer his general.
Without another word, everyone but Nora went to work clearing the bodies from the bunker.
Halo went from room to room, marking ones that needed extensive cleaning. Soldiers went through and wiped any trace of blood away, erasing Bridger’s failures.
He’d locked himself away in his head, focusing only on setting the souls of his soldiers free.
They deserved a rightful burning, if nothing else could be given.
The body count was up to 894 soldiers… and they were still finding more.
It took a few more hours to burn the rest of their dead, condemning their souls to whatever afterlife was awaiting.
“Nora’s sleeping,” Vega told Bridger. She’d gone to check on her once the bodies had been cleared.
“Good.” He’d been short with Vega since arriving. Bridger wasn’t used to letting people see his darkest parts… and having Vega inside his head when he felt seconds away from losing himself in knowing what she’d done, that was going to be the darkest anyone had seen Bridger yet.
It was bad the first time Bridger lost Vega, and he’d just gotten her back.
Bridger wouldn’t survive a second loss.
No. I will not fucking lose her. He wouldn’t let himself entertain the possibility, choosing to concentrate on what really mattered—finding a way to change Vega’s fate.
“What do you need?” The question made him stop and pause.
He didn’t respond for a moment. He glanced down at himself, covered in dried blood, dirt, sand, and gods knew what else.
It was all a mixture from battle and from cleaning up the dead.
“A shower.” Bridger’s stomach rumbled. “And food.” He looked up to find Meyer standing by the pyre, staring into the flame he’d started himself.
“Stay in my office. I’ll come to you. Let me check in on Meyer. ”
Vega tugged him into her mind, letting him see her feet kicked up on his desk, her freshly washed hands not matching the rest of her body skimming through paperwork that had been strewn across his desk. “Take your time. I’m studying.”
Studying. Snooping. Same thing, right?
Halo had gone back to the caves to let everyone know it was safe to travel, staying behind in case a message needed to get to Bridger and Vega.
The rest of the soldiers who’d come with Meyer were cleaning up last minute things and settling in for the night. The day had quickly disappeared as the cool night air slipped over Ardor. It was a welcome break from the blistering heat they’d worked in all day.
Bridger approached Meyer, and neither said anything for a moment, simply sending up private prayers to gods they all now knew weren’t there to listen anymore.
“So, should I start praying to you then or would you prefer I worship Vega instead?”
Meyer was grinning like a fool when Bridger glanced his way. “Ha-ha. You’re sooo funny.” Bridger glowered, folding his arms across his chest. “You can start referring to me as the god of wrath if you’d like.”
“I hate that.” Meyer sneered, and they both laughed like they weren’t watching the bodies of their soldiers burn.
“How about we leave the praying to the acolytes? We’re better off strategizing, prioritizing, and scheming instead,” Bridger said as he watched an ember flutter down and land on his filthy shirt.
“You’ve got a plan then,” Meyer stated.
Bridger quickly and quietly brought his shield up around his mind and blocked out anyone from peeking, simultaneously throwing one around himself and Meyer.
“Oh, you’ve definitely got something up your sleeve.” Meyer rubbed his hands together in excitement.
“How much do you remember about what we learned of the underworld when we were in school?” Bridger’s attention shifted to focus solely on Meyer. He had to do this quickly in order to hide from Vega.
He’d gladly keep secrets if it was to protect Vega from herself.
He didn’t care what promises he’d made before finding out exactly what Vega had done.
She’d gone behind their backs and sacrificed herself for the greater good—in true hero fashion…
but Bridger wasn’t a fucking hero, and he didn’t mind getting his hands dirty to save the girl he loved.
Loved? Past tense? Love? Fuck.
Bridger told Romulus to deliver a message, and he intended on upholding his threat. If Pluto wanted Vega, he’d have to go through him to get her.
Meyer raised his brow, crossing his arms too. On the outside it looked like the commander and his general having a chat. On the inside, the start of a scheme Bridger would soon cling to was about to be set free.
“Not enough to speak on it. I was too busy flirting with our tutor to pay attention to what she was saying.” Meyer smiled, his eyes glazing over like he could see a picture of the girl in his mind.
Bridger, on the other hand, hadn’t even known there’d been a tutor who taught the lesson.
He’d been too busy training beside his father to remember much of those days.
“I’d like you to find a personal interest in it.
Or at least find someone who does and make sure they understand it’s to be kept a secret. ”
Meyer snapped out of his goofy mood and scrunched his brows as his eyes raked Bridger’s body. He did this when he felt he needed to read someone’s seriousness.
Bridger had watched him do it all their lives.
“Pertaining to what?” Meyer asked when he’d finished his scan.
“Anything and everything you can find. I want to know it all.” Out of all the bloodlines in Tolevarre, Bridger’s family would probably know the most about what came after death—and he knew next to nothing.
“There’s not much about the history of our realm I don’t know, but I can’t remember learning much about the underworld.
Only it’s where we go when we die.” Bridger let the sound shield fall abruptly, signaling the end of the conversation.
Meyer watched as Bridger backed away. “I might have a few people who’d be willing to trade information for protection.”
Bridger dipped his head. “Keep me updated.” He began to let his personal shields down.
“Hey, Bridger,” Meyer called, making him pause. “Marlena’s got us outnumbered after her massacre… Add in the shifters and we’re in an unfortunate situation.”
Bridger sighed, fully letting the shield around his mind down… and Vega wasn’t waiting on the other side for him, ready to claw his eyes out.
“For now.” He hated to admit it. “We need to make a statement. A public one. Tolevarre needs to know there’s another option.” More territories would follow. Not everyone was as loyal to Marlena as meets the eye.
Keeping their head down when the vast majority of the realm was doing the same thing was safer—after Vega took Marlena’s fire, Bridger wasn’t sure anyone in Tolevarre was safe.
Recruiting regular civilians would do nothing but add to the death toll, but death was unavoidable, especially in war.
Meyer raised a brow and cocked his head. “I heard there’s a fire-wielder among the rebels who escaped the mines. How liberating would it be for him to save them?”
Bridger cracked a smile. “I like the way you think.” He took a few steps backwards, ready to see Vega. “Let’s talk more tomorrow. Get some sleep.”
The mines were a great place to start, and it would send the type of message the people of Tolevarre needed to see.
Everyone was done playing by Marlena’s rules.