Page 64 of Queen of Darkness
With a snarl, I launched myself at him, going up and over one of the tables and taking him to the ground. He saw me coming from a mile away, and with a slight turn as we went down, he tossed me across the room. I caught a glimpse of him rolling to his feet before I hit the wall and slid down.
The sound of half a dozen safeties snapping off filled my ears.
“Do that again,” Aaron hissed, “and it will be the last thing you do. Am I clear?”
“I’m fine,” I said, waving to get their attention from the upside-down crumple I’d formed in the corner. “Totally fine, see. He didn’t hurt me. Just defended himself. No need to start a firefight.”
Aaron stared at Fenrir for a few moments longer. “We could have used you,” he said accusingly.
“For what?” Fenrir said as Drakul moved to his side, the two of them staring at the weapons still pointed in their direction. Though Aaron had backed off, the rest of his team were still ready for a fight.
“Your knowledge,” Aaron said, waving at them to lower the muzzles as he came over to help me up.
“Thanks,” I mumbled.
“What knowledge?” Fenrir asked as I patted myself down, shaking my clothes back into place and generally trying to act like nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
“Of the palace, for starters,” Aaron growled. “Maybe you could have helped us find a way in that we didn’t know about. Then, we might still have succeeded.”
“I don’t know that place,” Fenrir growled. “I never spent time there. I lived among an enclave of vampires here on Earth. I lost myself for a time, and then Odin sent his thugs Thor and Loki after me to imprison me for eternity. Or are you not familiar with your lore?”
“And some ‘eternity’ it was that you were imprisoned for,” I said. “Lots about you doesn’t seem to be true.”
“Well, I don’t know the palace,” Fenrir said. “And like I told you, this was a dumb plan that you shouldn’t have gone forward with.”
I snarled again, but Aaron restrained me from lashing out.
“He’s not worth it.”
Glaring at Fenrir, I shook my head. “What happened to you? I thought you were on our side.”
“Whatever gave you that idea?” he snapped. “Because I helped you not go crazy? Look at how that turned out for me. Got attacked by a damn mage and nearly sent back to Mordathu! Yeah, that’s enough for me, thank you. I should have stuck with laying low, staying out of sight of everyone. Which is what I intend to do now.”
He glanced at Drakul, who nodded.
“I’ll be staying here. If you come up with a better idea, let me know. Maybe I’ll tag along,” he said, the two of them heading off down the hall.
“Better idea,” Jaxton scoffed. “What sort of better idea?”
“Probably the one he suggested the first time around,” Dave said wryly. “Storm it with an army.”
“We’d never get an army of shifters to do that,” Fred said. “And there aren’t enough like us of our own kind to do it, that’s for sure. Maybe we could start an advertising campaign, recruit enough over time, but I doubt it. Elenia would try to shut that down immediately. We’d just be making ourselves a target.”
“What about Dani and Vir?” Jaxton suggested softly. “We could use their help.”
“If we do that,” I said, “she’ll go after the shifters. I bet she has teams poised to attack Shuldar and Seguin the second those two get involved. Which means they’ll be stuck defending and unable to help us attack. It’s easier not to get them directly involved.”
And it’s better for Dani that way, too.
“Well, who then?” Dave asked. “Where else are we going to get an army? Just go up to the nearest military base and ask the humans to help?”
“You’re right,” I said, looking at all of them. “Wecould never assemble an army ourselves.”
Aaron’s eyebrows came together swiftly. “Why do I get the feeling I’m not going to like what you have to say.”
“Because you aren’t,” I said quietly. “I have an idea.”
“But …” Aaron prompted.
