Revolution (The Risen Series Book 2)

Chapter 4 ~ Dirty Work

Sexual Content Warning

Chapter 4: Dirty Work
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I managed to keep hold of my tongue until the bedroom door shut behind us. It gave me time to properly arrange what my argument against his plan would be but it also left the anger simmering away beneath the surface. Atanas hovered behind me, sensing the building torrent of words I was getting ready to throw at him. I folded my arms and turned to face him. "Mortal Kings sent soldiers to their deaths without blinking all the time. Airell sent his soldiers to their deaths too, are you not different?"

Blue eyes considered me carefully but Atanas didn't speak. He was willing to listen then. I was pleased he wasn't going to simply try and wave my worries away. He leaned against the wall, nodding slowly as if asking me to continue.

"If you let Gideon and Erik leave, they won't come back, Atanas. I don't know how I know it, but I do. I can feel it. This isn't the way. We can try to be sneaky but Airell is more so, he's the King of deception, he'll see straight through any act. He'll test them to their limits until they break, he'll make them do things against their conscious to prove their loyalty to him. Are you willing to let them do unspeakable things all so we can get breadcrumbs of information? He doesn't know them. Even if they manage to become a part of his army, they won't be privy to his inner circle. If two strange vampires showed up tonight to pledge their loyalty, would you trust them?" I ranted, feeling fury and fear build up until I was shaking.

Atanas sighed and shook his head. "Of course not. Like you say, they'd have to prove themselves but I'm not forcing Gideon to go, he offered."

"Of course he did, out of loyalty to you. He has no idea what he's getting himself into," I growled, stepping up to him.

"That's how this works, Shylah. Loyal people doing what needs to be done," he replied harshly. "We can't jump into a fight without knowing what we'll find."

We stood glaring at each other for a moment, neither willing to back down in our beliefs. I turned away to gather my thoughts, rubbing face in frustration. "We need to be on the frontlines. Fuck politics, fuck waiting on allies and planning. The longer we wait, the stronger Airell gets, the closer he gets to what he wants. He'll expose us all to the world and the world will burn."

The weight of my words fell heavy on my shoulders. Fear filled my stomach with dread. If we lost this fight, Airell would destroy everything. He'd make cattle of mortals, slaves of our kind, and he'd kill any being that threatened his power. We couldn't let that happen. If he revealed us to humans, we'd be fighting enemies from every side.

"That's why I think we should find what he wants first, the thing that will secure his strength. Hunting mortals like you may help us hunt him down. There's also a few people we could visit along the way, people that may know more about what you are," Atanas said calmly, watching me pace along the carpet. "We still don't know the extent of your magic, and as much as Braedan spoke out of turn, he has a point. We don't know how dangerous your kind are, especially untrained."

I looked at him like he'd grown another head. He wanted us to leave? We weren't secure here, we couldn't leave everyone behind! My first reaction was to burst out laughing but Atanas stood watching me with a stern expression and I knew he wasn't joking.

"Airell searched for centuries to find others like me and failed. Hell, he nearly failed at unlocking anything special about me at all," I argued. "There's no point in us wasting time away from home, where we're needed, to chase ghosts."