Our Fatal Failings (Twisted book two)

Chapter Eighteen

Jonah's POV

We leave the cabin the next morning and Imani is silent the whole way. She walks, arms folded, eyes avoiding me. She doesn't complain about the heat or her legs. In fact, she travels ahead of me, marching in brisk steps, but never breaking into a run. I can feel the tenseness of her shoulder, I can feel the anger simmering right below the surface. She wishes she could run, she wishes she could avoid me forever at this moment. Or she wishes she could turn on me. As I catch a glance of her dark eyes, she might be closer to turning on me then I think.

The next day it's back to business. Rebels never take a day off, I think as I put on a tie. Imani watches me from bed, her face so blank it's painful. "Good morning," I say, ignoring the way she stares at me.

"Good morning."

"You're still angry with me."

"Shouldn't I be?" Her tone raises the hair on the back of my neck. I leave without response and run into Leon in the hall.

"Relaxing vacation?"

"No, not even close," I mutter, running a hand through my hair. "We had a misunderstanding and now she's angry with me."

"I'm sure with time things will improve."

"Let's hope." I push through a door and a room of men rise to their feet. I eye each of them. Good, everyone is here. "Sit."

They do as I command and I take my seat, Leon to my right. I lean onto the table. "I don't want to waste time. Update me on the nature of the rebellion. How much progress have our warriors made?"

My advisors look at me. "I think the better question would be how much progress have the rebels made. They're almost taken back the entire city of Boston."

My blood rises as I turn to my Beta. "Why are they starting in Boston? Weren't they just in Miami?"

My Beta folds his hands together. "We think they're trying to take cities back first. But they've largely stopped expansion anywhere but Boston."

An advisor speaks up. "We highly think it's symbolic. You found the Luna in Boston and they claim she was kidnapped against her will. Therefore, they want to take the city back, perhaps as a way of saying they'll take the Luna back too."

Exactly how close were Iris and Nia to Imani? I would ask her but I know she'd push me away. And knowing her, she'd be all too happy for them to come get her. She's probably working on it as we speak. I just need to prove it...but I'm working on that too. "What's the chance the Luna is working with them?"

They look startled. "Well, I, I-," Leon stammers. "I wouldn't think that she's working with them. She's here."

"Yes, but she's smart, smarter than half this room maybe. Last time she was able to work around her instincts, trick the matebond that sends emotions between us and escape in the dead of night. Do you know that media frenzy that happened? The one that brought the army to our door? She did that."

A tense silence fills the room. They'll never look at her the same. "But why?"

"Because she hated me. She still does. But that will change in time. She just needs to see that there is no escaping this and how much good we can do. Until then, she needs to be protected from herself." Even though I've said this, the room won't settle back into its previous calm.

"Should we have her monitored then?" An advisor asks. "Perhaps track who's serving her, who's watching her?"

"Exactly. I want inventory of every maid, server, dishwasher, even floor scrubber in this castle. I want to make sure there are no witches escape the ones I've approved. And get Ezra in here. I need to ask him questions about his sisters."