Page 118 of Echoes of War

“I have to concur. He’s crafty,” Riley teased.

I could sense him staring at the back of my head from the corner of the room. Turning to him, I checked in on my friend once more. There was no judgment there, only the cold, hard face of respect.

“Or, or, or,” I exclaimed excitedly, slicing open his pants leg. “I can cut your dick off and use my magic to cauterize the wound. Never tried that one before. I may do it right, may not. Just now getting used to this whole control thing.” Shrugging, I circled him. “Up to you though. I’m always down for some experimenting. Keeps things fresh.”

Hejerked back and forth, glaring at me. I got my answer. Tugging the cloth on his boxers underneath, I poked at his tiny, shriveled dick, waiting for him to give in.

“Okay! Okay! I’ll tell you what I know,” he hollered, pleading with me to stop.

I pretended to be disappointed that my fun had been cut short, tsking in understanding. “See that’s what I thought. Okay, I’m listening.”

Taking a seat on the hard ground, I crossed my legs, hands resting on either side of my face. Riley closed in on him, standing behind me in support.

“We have more manpower than you. That’s the least of your troubles, you have other problems to worry about than our troops being right outside your borders. The mission is far greater than you can imagine.”

Riley crouched low, hand resting on the soldier’s bloodied shoulder. “Tell me about thismissionof yours.”

“The general, you both care for her, right?” The soldier questioned.

I growled in response, “What about her?”

“She’s our first target. Get rid of her, get rid of half our problems?—”

Riley slapped him across the face, a reflex at the mention of threat to his sister. Couldn’t say I blamed the guy either; if it wasn’t him, it’d be me.

The soldier glared at Riley, wrongly considering him the more civilized one. “She’ll have a choice when they find her. Die or join our cause.”

“She would never do that,” I said, knowing Amaia would choose death every time.

He chuckled at that. “She will if she cares about your people. Your general is nothing but a fish in a larger pond. They’ve seen it. There’s a bigger threat brewing, killing your general will onlyhalt the rebellion against us, not stop it completely. Moore may be insane, but he sees what’s possible for humanity, how great we can be! Think about it—you two are powerful, I can tell. How many weak-ass people do you protect by being here with me?” The soldier paused, taking a moment to the blood pooling in his mouth. “They’re nothing but dead weight, dragging down the rest of civilization. Imagine what could be achieved if you both could spend your time on more tailored tasks aimed to advance, not defend.”

“I personally don’t give a shit.” My brows raised at Riley’s candidness.

I shrugged because if he didn’t care, I guess I didn’t either. “Ditto.”

“You should,” the soldier explained. “Moore sees what you all have done here. He wants to take it, mold it into his vision of a greater tomorrow. Don’t you see? We can make this country great. Ronan Moore will lead the way. His philosophy will take humanity to the next level.Thatis our mission. It doesn’t have to come to blows. This can end peacefully if she surrenders.”

“Do you even know what you’re talking about?” I spat. Because to me, it sounded like he was repeating some rhetoric that sounded good in theory but held no real weight.

Riley refocused his attention on him, grabbing the soldier’s face to stare into his eyes. “When is the attack going to happen?”

The soldier said nothing, shaking his face free. He went quiet, clearly not wanting to give us any more information.

“I’m getting tired of this,” I yawned, rising to my feet.

Pulling my pistol out of my holster behind my back, I pressed it into his forehead. “Three. Two.” I didn’t count to one before firing.

At the last second, I pulled the gun up, aiming right off the top of his head. He flinched as it skimmed his scalp, burning a clean path down the center of his head.

“Okay! You fucking psychopath! They’ll move in the night!”

Riley grinned mischievously. “Which night? We’re gonna need you to be a bit more specific.”

“Tomorrow,” he said. “They’ll make their first move tomorrow, two hours before sunrise.”

“Thank you for your service,” I muttered, this time not missing when I pulled the trigger. His brain matter splattered our clothes, yet Riley only appeared slightly repulsed. “I’ll clean this up, get some rest. Go check on our girl, prepare her for what’s coming,” I offered, but not for his sake, for mine.

Riley patted my back, granting me a silent goodbye before he grabbed his shit and left. I waited for the door to close for my first tear to fall. Staring at the gore, I let them fall, not bothering to wipe them from my face.

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