Dead Wrath (9 page)

"Yeah, I know. I just don't feel comfortable with them seeing him." He rubbed his scalp, running his fingers through his hair and mussing it up. I could almost see him return all neat after his mother restored it to a decent condition.

"Then make the stipulation that they aren't allowed to see him unless you go with," I suggested. "Then you won't need to worry."

Aidan looked at me and laughed. "Now why didn't I think of that?"

"Because you're not really as smart as you think you are?" I teased before turning to enter the war room. Joshua was standing stock still at the table, staring at something. "What's wrong?" I asked as I walked in.

His eyes went straight to the laptop. "Oh, thank God. I was wondering where that thing had gotten to." He sighed with relief as I handed it over.

"Aidan and I were just with his father," I said, watching Joshua's face for a reaction. Would he be wildly jealous that I'd spent time alone with an ex-boyfriend without telling him first? Instead, he stared harder and asked, "What did the creep have to say?"

"It's all in there." I pointed at the laptop, and Joshua flipped it open and hurried to read it.

"How did you manage to get all of this out of him?" he asked absentmindedly, as his eyes scanned pages and pages of information.

"We offered a trade. He can see his family on a regular basis. But only if all this information actually pans out," I said smugly.

"Brilliant idea." He agreed, then glanced back at the screen. "There's plenty here to help us get a head start. I'll go through the files and see what intel we have so far that matches up with any of these activities. And I'll make extra copies and get things in order to print as soon as we get to New York HQ."

"Yeah. Could we figure out a way to get a printer working here? Would make things so much easier," I said. Hearing the longing in my voice, I had to laugh.

Joshua snorted. "Now you are asking for way too much, woman."

I giggled at that and settled down to sort out files in order. A few minutes later, both Joshua and I suddenly looked up at each other, eyebrows raised. Voices traveled down the hallway, the sounds of two people arguing loudly hard to miss. We both watched the doorway, curious to see if the squabblers would enter our room. And they did. In the form of Aidan and his sister Enya.

"What's going on, you two?" I asked, unsure whether to be worried or amused, or if I should even get involved. But the situation looked in need of urgent defusing. Enya's face was red, looking worse considering her pallid coloring. Aidan's face was dark with anger, a vein throbbing at his temple.

"Could you please tell her she's being ridiculous?" Aidan pointed a thumb at his sister.

"Well, if you could tell me what she's being ridiculous about, I could then make a decision." I smiled and tried to prevent myself from laughing. It was seriously funny watching the two siblings have a spat, and it reminded me we were all still so young. I myself would be turning eighteen in a few months, and I was sure Enya was a good few years younger. Now she looked like a furious tiger.

She took a deep breath, gave her brother a dangerous glare, and said, "I want to join you. Be part of the missions. I know I can be an asset to the war." She spoke it all in one breath, then ended, suddenly uncomfortable.

I looked at Aidan and he seemed to calm down when he saw that I too thought her plan was ridiculous. I took a small breath and said, "Enya, this is a war we are fighting. It's dangerous. You aren't trained to fight." I shook my head as I met her frustrated gaze, feeling a little sorry for her.

"You have no idea what I can do," she said angrily, then threw another furious glare at her brother, as if my response were his fault.

"Then tell us and we can make a final decision, because right now," I said gently, "I don't think I can allow you to come to the front lines. You're so fragile. I really don't want to be held responsible if you get hurt, or worse." I didn't use the word die, but she didn't care what I was saying or what I meant.

She nodded firmly. "Fine. I've been practicing. Just watch. And keep away." She gave her brother one last glare, as if to say,
Eat that
, or whatever equivalent phrase was popular these days.

I watched and couldn't prevent my eyebrows from rising. Aidan watched her too, the amused expression on his face quite funny. Joshua looked on, simply curious.

Enya stood very still, then put her palms together and closed her eyes.

And we were all hit by a sudden blast of heat.

I blinked, staring hard at her, and I was amazed to see her entire body had turned white as ash. That was it. She was Einmyria, goddess of ashes, and now she showed us how hot ash could be. I glanced at Aidan and saw the stunned look on his face. All his arguments were laid to ash in that moment and even he knew it. She was powerful, had accessed her power so quickly, and seemed hardly affected by it.

She took a breath and then the heat was gone. "See?" She looked around at all the watching faces.

"And pray tell, how is super heat supposed to help us in our mission?" asked Aidan. Naturally, he had to speak before he thought.

"Er, well, we could use her to melt anything from locks to power cables to bombs?" offered Joshua, and from his cringing expression, I could see he knew his opinion would not be welcome. At least on Aidan's part.

As expected, Aidan shot him a dangerous look, and Joshua quickly returned his attention to his laptop. I put on a pleasant expression, then faced Aidan. "Joshua is right. I'm sure we can find a way to put Enya's talents to use while ensuring she remains safe at all times."

"Well, if you can do that, then by all means put my sister in the firing line," said Aidan, his voice just a fraction lower than a shout. But I didn't mind. I knew how much this would affect him. Much the same as my heart ached for Brody with everything he'd been through. Only Aidan definitely had it worse.

I met Enya's gaze. "Will you relent and agree with your brother?" She gritted her teeth, then looked straight at him. The silence seemed to stretch endlessly.

Then she said, "No. I'm sorry, Aidan, but I have to do my share. It's the end and it's here. Now. It's not going anywhere until we fight. And what if there's nothing left afterward? I refuse to die knowing I did nothing to help our cause. And if you love me, you won't ask me to." Her voice softened toward the end, betraying her feelings of helplessness. She'd used the love card and now she had nothing more.

She'd done well, though. Well argued, and I admired her spirit. Now I watched Aidan as he struggled with her words, looking at the floor while he got his thoughts together. When he looked up, I knew she'd won. "Fine. If it's really what you want and if Bryn can ensure you are safe at all times, then fine."

She squealed and ran to him, throwing her arms around his neck and squeezing so hard I could see him choke. "Thank you, thank you. You won't regret it, I promise," she blabbered as she grinned at him.

"Yeah, sure," he said as he removed her arms from her chokehold. Then he looked at me. "Only as long as she is safe."

"Of course. She'll be as safe as you can make her," I said evenly, enjoying the array of emotions that sped across his face.

"What?" he spluttered. "You want
me
to watch her?"

"Whatever team I put her on, she will need to be watched, from the time she arrives until the time she leaves. You have her best interests at heart and I do think you are the perfect person to ensure success. I'll make sure you two are with whichever teams need the likes of Enya's talent. And don't worry. Her part should be quick. In and out."

"So you say," he mumbled.

I went to him, and as I moved, I glanced at Joshua, tipping my head in Enya's direction. He called her over, pretending to want to show her how we were planning the next mission. While he kept her busy, I reached Aidan and asked, "Are you annoyed because you've been given a responsibility?"

"I wasn't exactly planning on going out on missions with my sister. Now you have me looking after her," he snapped, folding his arms, his shoulders stiff.

"Aidan, what is it you think I do every time I go out with a scout team? What does every team leader do when out on a mission?" I asked softly.

There was a very long, awkward silence as I waited for his answer. "Yeah, I hear you. Responsibility for all team members. So I guess I treat her like any other team member."

"Exactly. Get them all out alive. Most important task."

He nodded and gave me a sheepish glance. "Thanks."

"For what?" I asked, now curious as to where he was going with his gratitude.

"For making the hard choice. The easy choice would have been to send Enya running back to Mother to cry her eyes out."

I made a face, then sighed, feeling the twist of pain deep in my gut. Then I gave him a weak grin and said, "For you, maybe. Not for me. I've made the hard choices for far too long and it's sure getting old."

He didn't respond, just put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed.

Then he called Enya and they both left, leaving me lost in thought, Joshua busy tapping away at his keyboard. I'd hit the nail on the head, though.

The hard choices sure were getting old.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Things had gotten to the point where we'd decided where all the next teams were headed. We'd gathered in the war room the next morning after breakfast to advise each of the teams of where they were headed and what they were expected to do. We'd been busy for a while when I felt someone come to stand beside me.

I looked up to find Siri at my elbow and I did a double take. She stood there wearing the requisite black leather pants and shirt, with the chainmail overdress, just the same as I wore. Where I preferred the knee-length leather coat, Siri had thrown on her own short black jacket, and I had to admit, with her long golden hair and fiery eyes, she was an impressive sight. And I'd forgotten all about her.

"You forgot about me, didn't you?" she asked, an amused twist to her lips.

I could hardly deny it considering it had been clearly plastered all over my face when I laid eyes on her. I had to laugh. "I'm sorry, Siri. It's been a bit crazy around here today."

She waved me off. "It's okay. I figured you'd be busy so I had a rest and then decided to look for you."

I studied the young girl, listening to the way she spoke, and at last I hit on what had been bugging me all along. "Your accent," I said, frowning. "You don't speak at all like your father or even your grandmother."

She shook her head and sat on the edge of the table. "Nope. I was brought up in Midgard. My Mom took me away from Muspell. She didn't think growing up in the underworld would be enough to broaden my horizons."

"I'll bet Tyra said your horizons didn't need broadening," I said with a giggle.

"You know her well," said Siri, arching an eyebrow. "But she was wrong. Midgard was a total education. I mean, I was taken there as a toddler, so I grew up like any normal human kid. Although, I did know from early on that I was different."

"What gave it away?"

"You mean apart from the golden dragon that visited us on a regularly basis? And the fact that we needed one very large, high-ceilinged room just to accommodate his arrival, gold dust and all?" she asked wryly. Then she sighed. "I understood, though. I never resented him. Who could resent a dad like that?"

"Mmh. Resenting isn't what comes to mind when one lays eyes on a guy like Steinn," I said with a groan.

"Hey, he's taken. And so are you," she admonished, her cheeks going red.

I waggled my eyebrows. "Nobody said I couldn't look. Besides, you'd have to be blind not to see that much hotness." I giggled again as she stuck her tongue out at me. "How old are you anyway?"

"Sixteen, but I'm not your average teenager." Of course, she had to include that disclaimer.

"I can imagine you're not," I responded sagely. "Do you have your dragon form yet?"

Siri nodded. "Yeah, I went through the change last year."

"Good, we could certainly do with a flexible method of transport," I winked at her, only half serious.

"Sure. I'm flexible. I also make fire," she said, still nodding but now with a serious expression on her face. Then she giggled. "But to be honest, that's all I can do. Make fire and be the dragon." She made a face.

"What more do you want to be able to do?" I asked, curious as to what she really meant.

She shrugged, then sighed. "I don't really know. I'm just tired of being told what I am and what I'm not."

"Then make your own future," I suggested.

"What do you mean?" She stared at me as if I'd grown another head. "My grandmother left me in your care. I don't think she'd be too thrilled to hear you tell me that," she said with another giggle.

Her laughter reminded me so much of Izzy, my foster sister from my stay with Ms. Custer. The giggle and that carefree smile. "Hey, don't tell on me, but all I meant was it's all well and good for everyone to be telling you who you are and who you must be. But you need to know deep inside yourself what you also want to be. Then you can be what you want to be, plus what everyone else is telling you, and you'll find you are actually happy and fulfilled. Until you find your own happiness, everyone else's needs are just noise."