Chapter 2

It wasstrange how much I'd grown to love these people.

I had only known Laila and Jeremy for a couple months, but they already felt like family. Supposed, by technicality, they were. Only, not by technicality, because Warren and I were not married. We considered ourselves to be, but our government didn't.

Regardless, the fact remained. Jeremy was my partner's great-great-great-grandson, which made Laila his great-great-great-granddaughter-in-law. Which, in my book, made them mine as well.

Now we were taking orders from them. But in exchange, I was gathering eons of knowledge that I'd be forever grateful for.

After meeting Laila and Jeremy at Iliantha's castle, a guard guided us into the dining hall. I marveled at its beauty, just as stunned as the first time I'd seen it. Although the room was made from Elvan ore, the black stone walls and ceiling weren't oppressive. The whole space felt alive, like the Garden of Eden. And every inch of it was covered in fruit. Literally.

There were no decorations in this place aside from berries and fruits climbing every wall. Some that looked like grapes, others that looked like blueberries. Some pink and orange ones that didn't look like anything I'd seen before. There were blackberries, and raspberries, and larger, grape-like versions of the two.

And set before each of us, a bowl with a mixture of them all. We were invited to eat it as we waited for everyone else to fan in.

Who were we waiting for? Everyone.

That was how it seemed, at least. Everyone currently around the table, I knew. Iliantha, the Queen of this land. Connor and Naomi. Our group: Rain, Graham, Warren, and myself. Laila, her sister Celena, and her brother Kai. Then there was Jeremy, his brothers—Brody and Chris, as well as Chris's partner, Hya. Their sister, Hannah. Wyatt, Celena's husband. Then finally, in the corner, Jeremy and Laila's twins—Melody and Moses—sat on the floor playing with baby toys.

So many people.

Since I was an only child, I wasn't accustomed to this. I was a social butterfly, however, so I'd started to form relationships with everyone here. No complaints about any of them, really.

It was odd, though, to go from having such a small family dynamic to such a massive one. The grand total just around this table, after all, was eighteen. I went from having three family members to having eighteen, seemingly overnight.

But I liked it. I especially liked them being here with us. Because I knew what was coming.

War meant things would get messy. But the power in this room was astronomical. This space was full of atom bombs, which made facing any threats that came before us just a bit less scary.

"There he is," Laila said, looking at the doors a story high on the far right of the room. My gaze followed. And there came Luci.

Nineteen atom bombs, then.

Rolling up his sleeves, Luci gave Laila a smile. "How are you, esiasch?"

"Oh, you know. Living the dream." She met him halfway down the table, and they embraced one another. If not for my Vampire hearing, I would have missed her whispered words. "I thought you said that you didn't want anything to do with this."

"I didn't." His voice was low, arms still wrapped around her. "But you're bringing knives to gunfights." Pulling away, he glanced at our group. "There's a lot I can teach them."

"They're more like flaming swords," she said.

I wasn't sure if that was an insult or a compliment.

"One way or the other," Laila continued, walking back to her seat at the table, "let's get started."

"And where are we starting, exactly?" Wyatt asked. "Because I don't think we're in agreement."

"What about?" Graham asked.

"You," Jeremy said. "The vote is fifty-fifty. That's where we're hoping Luci can help."

Luci settled in beside Iliantha. "And what are you torn about?"

"Where to put them," Naomi said, gesturing to our group. "I think they're strong enough to join the rest of us who are taking on the air an tagadh."

"I do not," Kai said. "We need Warren and Ramona, but the others would be valuable in a thousand other places."

"But that wasn't the deal—" Warren began.

"Which is why we're arguing," Jeremy said, motioning Warren to silence with an open palm. "I say we stick to the original plan. We have a lead on a group of them. If the five of them join us, I think it'll take us to their base. We might be able to take these fucks down in a few weeks' time."

"If we just take Warren and Ramona, they're all going to throw bitch fits about being separated." Laila looked our way. "No offense."

For the first time in a lifetime of being called a bitch, no offense was taken.

"Even bringing Ramona and Warren out there is stupid," Selena said. "They've barely seen battle."

"That doesn't mean they're worthless," Hannah said. "Their power strengthens each other's. They're not much different than us."

Brody snorted. "I haven't found my paired soul, and I'm not even a fraction as strong as the rest of you."

"You weren't that powerful back then either," Chris said.

"First of all, fuck off," Brody said. "Second of all, my point is, you guys are so strong because you've been fighting together for hundreds of thousands of years. These guys have only known each other a couple."

"Warren and I have been together for almost a century," I said under my breath. But I did see his point.

"Look, I'm not saying they won't be valuable in this war," Brody continued. "I'm just saying that they're not powerful enough for this. They should be fighting Angels, if they're going to be fighting anyone. Ezra's a doctor, for Christ's sake. He should be a medic. The only one who I do think is strong enough to go up against those sick bastards is Graham, but his powers aren't going to do much good."

"Okay, I take offense to that," Rain said. "I've been practicing magic my whole life. I know what I'm doing."

"I practice magic as well, love," Hya said. "I also recognize that I am much more valuable here than I am on a battlefield."

"But we've trained them," Laila said. "For weeks, we've been training all of them. They might not be established warriors, but they're gonna be with us. They'll be fine. We'll make sure of that."

"I agree," Connor said. "They're not used to this, but the only way to get them used to it is to bring them out there."

"Out to what?" Wyatt asked. "I ain't saying that they shouldn't gain real-world battle experience. I'm just saying that the chosen are animals. Worse than animals. And I don't think they're"—he gestured to us—"ready. Send them out to fight Angels. That, I think they can handle. But not the chosen."

"Alright, can we not call them that?" Jeremy wrinkled his nose. "The air an tagadh weren't chosen. Not by anyone who matters, anyway. They're a bunch of traitorous bastards. That's what we should call him. Bastards."

"Dick heads," Laila said. "Shit for brains. Garbage rats. Anything but chosen."

"We called them life eaters," Graham said.

"Life eaters then," Wyatt said. "But the fact still remains. They're ruthless assholes. And you want to send a bunch of babies out to fight them?"

"My people go up against them every day," Iliantha said. "If it were up to them, they wouldn't. But they have to because if they don't–– if they don't fight for their lives every single day––they will die. The life eaters will imprison their souls, they won't be recycled, and they will face a fate worse than death. Few of them have been on a battlefield. But they fight anyway, because they have to."

"But these people don't have to," Brody said. "That's the point. These people will die out there."

"Yeah, and Hannah and I will bring them back," Jeremy said.

"Easy peasy," Hannah agreed.

"You can't be serious," Celena said.

"Look, you voted for Warren and Ramona to come here," Laila said to Celena. "Me and Jeremy were against it. We don't think the guy deserves punishment. But you insisted, and now you're arguing with us about it?"

"I voted for him to face punishment," Celena said. "I didn't vote to send an infant onto a battlefield."

"He's not an infant?—"

"Close enough to one?—"

"Oh, for star's sake," Luci cut in, exhaling deeply. "This is absurd. While I see both perspectives here, so long as they stay with Laila, Jeremy, Connor, Naomi, and myself, they're safer than they would be with anyone else. And regardless of safety, we need to take the life eaters out of the equation. Sending them off to kill Angels won't do a damned bit of difference, otherwise. They have too much power. They're giving too much power to the Angels. To end the war on this world, we need to take out their nukes."

Laila wagged her finger at him. "Thank you. My point exactly."

"Well, you're the tiebreaker," Jeremy said. "Are you voting in our favor?"

A heavy breath. "I don't like it, but I suppose I am. Warren, Ramona, Rain, Graham, Ezra, and Jake will come with us. Jake is my biggest concern, if I'm being honest. Given his history, he could be a problem."

"Can't say I disagree with that," Jeremy muttered.

Truthfully, neither did I.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," Naomi said. "For now, everyone needs to get an overnight bag together. Something you can carry, easily, over rough terrain."

Connor turned his attention to me and Warren. "Suitcases? Not the way to go, guys."

"Backpacks, reusable water bottles, and a sleeping bag," Laila said. "Light layers, and bring a coat."

"And get out of the damn button up and slacks, man." Giving me a once over, Jeremy shook his head. "Anything would be better than button ups and slacks."

"I'm not stupid, you know." I frowned at them. "I brought other clothes. I was simply wearing these. And, I supposed if there was ever a special occasion, it would be nice to have something decent to wear."

"No special occasions in the near future, esiasch," Laila said. "Get comfy in sweatpants."

"Save them for the solstice festival," Iliantha said brightly, giving me a soft smile. "Hopefully, you all will be back by then."