Page 17 of Cursed Heirs

We were about to have lunch in our spot deep in the woods this time, instead of in the quad, because we wanted to talk about this whole Constantine shit without being overheard.

Or so I thought, until I made it to the clearing and pulled up short at the crowds of students gathered around.

Aroundhim.

He was standing on a rock holding court.

From what I could gather, he was right at the tail end of the speech he’d clearly been giving. He was rousing the troops, telling them to be ready, thatObsidianhad given them the means to feel out their abilities and enjoy freedom and now they needed to put that to good use and stand with us.

Shit.

Applause and cheers erupted, and then they started to disburse, some staying a little while to talk to him.

Once they took off, everyone heading back to their business, classes, the cafeteria, or whatever, I approached Ore.

He jumped off the rock and stumbled, needing to slap his hand to the picnic table to steady himself.

“You should still be resting. A couple more days, Ore. No emphatic, energy-bleeding speeches, no jumping about,” I chastised as I reached him.

He smiled and wrapped his arm around me. “Gotcha. Ready to eat, baby bird?”

I shrugged out of his hold and stepped into his path. “I’m serious.”

“I have been resting and I’m done with it. There’s no more time.”

“Time?”

“Constantine could return any day.”

“And if he does, he’ll be stopped by Abigail’s ward.”

“Not good enough,” he growled.

“I call bullshit.”

“Excuse me?”

“I know you too well to believe this is about defense. It’s offense all the way. You want a second go at it. You want revenge.”

“Iwanthim gone.”

“It’s more than that. You’re raging that he came at us, that he put you down, that he hurt us, that he took your father. You can’t stand the indignity of it. You can’t stand that he bested you.”

He shoved a hand through his thick, white and black hair. “You know what? You’re right. Ican’tstand it. But Icanfix it.”

“With an army of Academy students?”

“They’re primed. They’re in control of their full abilities thanks to me andObsidianand they want in on this fight too. Infact, a lot of them expressed their regret to me that they’d been trapped inside during the battle, and how much they’d wanted to help.”

“Fuck, brother, we said we were gonna focus on running down leads on your father.”

“And we are. His army commander is coming here. But once we get a viable lead, what does that lead us to? Battle, Talon.” He rolled his eyes. “I thought I’d taught you by now how to think several moves ahead.”

I gave him a withering look. “I am. And while we’re at it, how about you not anticipating Callum Cornwell’s bullshit? Where was your many-moves-ahead thing then?”

“He got attached. He’s known for being a stoic bastard like me.”

“The power of your big cock twisted him all up, huh?”

---