Page 76 of Queen of Wrath

He pressed his lips into a hard line, hesitating as if he wanted to say something, but turned his back to me and followed Ravana out the door without a word.

My mind fell into deep silence and despair.

I couldn’t tell for how long I was enveloped by nothingness before a gentle hand on my shoulder brought me back, if only for a second. “Lea?”

“Don’t call me by that name. I don’t even know who she is anymore.” Without even looking at Rowan, I said in a flat, emotionless tone, “Just leave me alone.”

She hesitated for a moment, but obliged silently.

I was back in that dark cell. I was alone again.

31

EMORY BLAKE

“The situation has become dire. The longer we wait, the more time Diesel has to kill innocent civilians. Their blood will be on our hands!” a deep voice shouted from the back of the crowd.

“Our hands? What about the police? Why aren’t they doing anything?” someone else chimed in.

“They are too busy dealing with the mess in the Federation of Setas. Those faulty illegal potions made it all too easy for them to hunt down those buying and selling.”

The voices were beginning to meld together as Emory stood off to the side, breathing in the smoke from his pipe.

“Yeah, right! I’m sure it has more to do with the fact that Diesel has the police in his back pocket.”

“I don't see anyone doing anything to stop him, including us!”

Emory sighed heavily, stepping forward into the middle of the crowd.

His heavy boots shook the ground, commanding everyone’s attention. “That’s enough.”

All eyes were on Emory now.

“What good does it do to fight amongst each other? The fighting is out there. Unity is the only way we'll prevail. Remember why we gather and the world we're trying to protect.” The room remained quiet as Emory paused. “You are right, though. It is time to take action. This is the opportunity we've been waiting for. Diesel might have an army behind him, but his erratic actions make him vulnerable. If we take him down, everything else crumbles.”

Someone in the far back of the room stood up. “So what do you suggest we do?”

“We find his heart, and we break it.”

Everyone in the room looked around at each other in confusion. It was commonly thought among the masses that Diesel didn't have a heart.

But Emory knew better.

Everyone has a weakness. There's always something that a person is willing to die for…

Emory knew the key to ending all of this; Diesel’s wife. But the problem was, no one knew where she’d disappeared to.

His thoughts were interrupted by someone else entering the private conference. He turned and found himself pleasantly surprised.

“Lea,” he sighed as the heaviness in his chest dissipated.

Her name had the opposite effect on her, however. Emory couldn't even begin to describe the devastation he felt at her having such an aversion to who she was.

From the moment he’d laid eyes on her, he could tell that she was something special…something beyond anything he had ever seen before. He never could quite put his finger on it, but somehow he knew, even from the start, this woman was going to change the world.

“I got your message. What did you want to see me for?” Her eyes shifted to the crowd of people watching her.

She hadn't earned their trust yet. The only reason she wasn't being thrown out right now was because he wouldn’t allow it.

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