Page 56 of Fallen Heirs

X frowned at me. “Is that all you got from the cafeteria?”

“I forgot to go. I got distracted.”

“By what?” Alena asked.

I leaned closer and lowered my voice to barely above a whisper, “By Roland passing me a note on behalf of the students left here. They’re still with us on the army thing, they want to fight against the Constantine threat. I passed it onto Ore, left him a message.”

“Wow,” Alena breathed.

“Good luck getting a positive response from him on that,” X said. “He’sExemplar’sbitch now.”

I glared at X. “Tone it down.”

“It’s the truth. I’ve already had it out with him.”

“Oh, you mean when you and Alena went hunting for that fucker without me and even got a lead that none of you bothered to tell me about?”

There. It was out there.

They both tensed right up.

“You overheard our conversation just now, listened in,” X put together well.

I nodded.

“I’m sorry, Talon,” Alena at least had the decency to offer.

Unlike X, who told me, “We had to keep it from Ore because of his new stance and telling you would’ve meant it getting right back to him.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Oh, but I do.”

“All right,” Alena said, holding up her hand. “Let’s not make this more antagonistic than it already is because of the subject matter.” She looked at X. “Regardless of the reason, it’s not a nice feeling to be left out, is it?”

X sighed. “No, it’s not.” He eyed me. “Okay, I’m sorry we couldn’t tell you. But the reason for us not doing so still stands.”

“Thanks,” I said. “Apology accepted. Don’t do it again, though.”

“I wish it wasn’t even needed at all. You know I don’t like secrets and I’ve always had an issue with Ore keeping them. But the way he is now… what else can we do?”

“Have it out with him?”

“Firebird, I told you I already have.”

“Well, maybe he just needs time. Maybe that’s why he went to the DFR, to figure shit out, not just to see his father.”

“Let’s hope, because we need him on this. His way of doing things, his power. And having the army with us won’t even mean much if Ore isn’t prepared to step back into his position as its leader. He’s the one they’re trusting in, the one they’re prepared to follow.”

“The power doesn’t just lie with Orpheus,” Alena said. “Ican take up the mantle.”

“An angel going againstExemplarwill be considered a massive threat,” X warned her.

“And a Dark Fae Prince doing the same isn’t?” she questioned.

“The difference is, my father can best him if it came down to it. He can’t overcome angel magic, though,” X told her.

Just the thought of that sort of confrontation befalling Alena made my gut twist. “No. Let’s just give it time with Ore. He’s in the DFR, if anything’s gonna have his current stance shifting, it’s being around Saryan Hart.” I grasped Alena’s hand on the bench top. “Please, firecracker, don’t do anything extreme. I couldn’tstand it if you put yourself in that position. Let’s just focus on classes right now, take in some normalcy for a little while.”

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