Page 70 of Echoes of War

“You can be too,” I pushed, “if you do what’s right.”

She downed her drink, watching me, awaiting me to do the same. I paused for a moment, taking a quip of air before downing what was in my cup and holding it out for her to refill. Millie did no such thing, instead, she took a long swig from the flask.

“Is she as great as they say?” she asked earnestly.

“Depends on what you’ve heard,” I shrugged. “I often find that she’s better than what they say.”

Millie sighed, pulling her long hair back behind her shoulders. “I want that, for my people. For this place. There’re families here, children that could have a real future ahead of ‘em. This place ain’t much, but it’s better than whatever the hell they’d be facing out there. Certainly better than whatever your father has to offer.”

I uncrossed my legs, giving a slight nod. “Don’t think your father see things that way.”

“My father is a moron,” she mumbled, taking another swig.

Now she has my attention. “Well, hands up if you have daddy problems.” I laughed hoarsely.

In unison, we threw both of our hands up, painful belly laughs filled the air. Nothing was funny about that statement, not even remotely, but the fact that I had someone to relate to, under such cruddy circumstances, was. I mean hey, if you don’t laugh, you’ll cry, and I was so stinkin’ sick of crying.

“Is that why you asked me here?” I pressed for more information, “To talk about how much we hate our fathers?”

“No,” she said impatiently. “I asked you here because I agree with you. This place needs a woman’s touch, and I’ve decided it’s time to make that happen.”

“How do you mean?” I extended my cup out, quickly chucking back the shot as soon as it entered my glass.

The room was spinning now. I didn’t want drinking to become one of the many coping mechanisms at my disposal. I’d seen the way it had torn Amaia apart, limited her logical thinking. Though my sister had come back stronger, I was just fine learning my lessons through her mistakes. Funny as life would have it, the moment I was in right now, it felt good to let go. To relax.

“How else does any woman come to power?” Millie chided, rubbing the nape of her neck. “On the backs of weak, broken men.”

“You plan to overthrow your father and you want our help?”

“I plan to kill my father, and I don’t need anyone’s help.” Her pupils dilated, swallowing her emerald eyes, the hand grasping the flask trembled. “I figured that was something you’d understand given you’d do the same if you could, right?”

I gulped.Could I? Would I?The answer was yes,I think. No,I know. That didn’t make the idea any easier, I hadn’t exactly pulled it off the first go round.

“Right.” I reasoned, “I understand why my father needs to die, but why would you kill yours? Surely you don’t need to kill him to overthrow him.”

Her lips turned down, contemplation encasing her soft features. “That fear you sensed, the mix of emotions … you’re barely touching the surface of it. My father is not a kind man, never has been, never will be. There is no changing a man like him. If he has a seat at your father’s table the way he claims, it will only get worse around these parts. Worse for everyone. He’s been small-minded since I was a child. Cruel men do not become good when the world falls to shit. Things will only get worse once your father gets involved. My home will become a mini-Covert, and that is something I can not allow. There’s good people here, some that support him, the assholes I speak about, but the rest … they’re just honest people who want a home. A place filled with peace. A place like Salem, like Monterey Compound. And if we’re going to get absorbed into another way of living, another territory, I’d rather it be on the right one. The good one.”

I jeered at that, recalling words I’d heard not too long ago. “There is no good and evil in war; there is one wrong side, and the one that’s slightly better.”

“Did your general tell you that?” she asked, adjusting the cuffs of her coat, refusing to meet my eye.

I nodded. She didn’t look up, but I saw her take me in from the corner of her eye.

“That’s exactly why I choose her.” Millie said, “What I need from you is whatever secrets y’all are keeping that allow you and Tomoe to play that trick of the mind. That’s not a God-given power. I’m not the smartest woman around, but I’m smart enough to know that’s not something anyone else out there can do.”

“That comes with time, and not from either of us. When you’re ready,” I gave her an empathetic stare, insinuating thedeath of her father, not wanting to say the words aloud. “We’ll send a team out, they’ll take care of the rest.”

Millie said nothing, just poured what was left of the alcohol into both our glasses. She clinked her glass against mine, and we tossed the contents back.

“So be it,” she said with a nod of the head. “Give me a few weeks. I’ll send word when it’s done.”

“You don’t have a few weeks; we can give you one.”

I didn’t know how much time we had, only that we didn’t have long. The more urgency I placed on this, the better Amaia’s reinforcements would be. That was all that mattered, that I was able to get that chess piece filled map to be set up exactly the way she wanted. The way she needed it to be to protect us all.

Millie grinned slyly. “And where should I send this messenger, Reina.”

She leaned forward, eyes trailing every inch of my body. A thrill of excitement tingled down my spine.

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