Page 65 of Queen of Darkness
“But it’s a bad one. Areallybad one,” I said. “But it just might work.”
“What is it?” Aaron asked softly.
I sighed. “I know where we can get the army we’d need.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
“Well?” Dave said, spreading his arms wide. “Don’t keep us on the edge of suspense here! Tell us, where do we get this army? We’ll round them up and storm the palace and finally be rid of that bitch.”
“It’s not going to be quite that easy,” I said, cringing away from Aaron’s imploring look.
“Where are we getting the army from, Jo?” he asked.
“Um,” I said, hesitating. This was stupid. Beyond stupid, really, it was insane. Only an insane person would think to do this.
“Jo …?” Aaron prompted again.
I sighed, shaking my head. I’d opened my mouth. There was no going back now. “Screw it. Fine. We need an army? We go to the one person who has an army and who also hates Elenia.”
Recognition dawned a moment before I said the name.
“Hades.”
Aaron’s face exploded in a mixture of shock and anger. “Absolutelynot!” he bellowed.
“Do you have a better idea?” I countered, raising my voice. “Or are you just dismissing it out of hand without truly thinking it through? Because it might be a bad idea, but you know it could work.”
“If Hades doesn’t kill you first!” he protested. “You told me that the last time you were there, he said not to come back because you won’t get a warm welcome.”
“That’s why we go together,” I said. “I’m not stupid. I won’t wander in there alone. We go together and say we’ve come to bargain. Maybe we take something along to appease him.”
Aaron looked ready to erupt into another angry outburst. I reached up and pressed a finger to his lips.
“Thinkabout this before you start going on. Take my safety out of the equation, you adorable, protective idiot,” I said softly, lessening the impact of my words. “Think about theideaand not me.”
He pursed his lips together, compressing them into a flat line.
“She’s right, you know,” Fred said, leaning forward onto the table. “Nobody else has an army. Plus, Hades already has motive to want her dead. It’s a good bargaining chip. We tell him he helps get us in, then we kill the queen, and the war between realms stops.”
Aaron glared at his subordinate, but Fred just laughed it off.
“Don’t look at me like that. I might work for you, but you know damn well I’m not your inferior to be silenced. She’s got a good idea, and you’re letting your feelings for her color your response. Take your emotions out of it andthink, fearless leader.”
“You know,” I said, leaning around Aaron to address Fred a little more directly, “IthinkI was already calming him down. You don’t need to rile him up.”
“Sure, I do,” Fred chuckled. “He deserves it for dismissing you like that.”
“He’s just scared for her,” Dave said. “Can’t blame a guy, can you? He cares for her. A lot. Wants to keep her safe.”
“More like he probably fears that if we succeed, she’ll end up on the throne, and he worries that he’ll lose her again,” Jaxton said softly.
Aaron looked around at everyone, but he didn’t speak.
“You all agree with her?” he asked, nostrils flaring with anger.
“We don’t have tolikesomething to realize it’s our best shot at success,” Jaxton said after taking a quick visual survey of the other members.
“She’s right.”
