like a whiny child, you’re wrong. I don’t need your permission to do what’s right.” She shifted her death-ray stare to Andreas. “Or yours.”
Lyka was out the door before Joseph could stop her. He wanted to go after her, but knew it wasn’t an option. He had a rescue mission to organize, a bunch of frightened children to soothe, wounded to attend and more than five hundred lives to protect. He couldn’t allow the feelings of one woman to get in his way.
“I’ll go after her,” said Andreas. “Make sure she doesn’t cause you any trouble.”
Madoc unrolled a map on the table. “Let her go. How fucking much trouble could she possibly cause?”
Joseph winced.
Andreas let out a humorless laugh. “You clearly don’t know my sister. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“We can’t wait on you,” said Joseph.
Andreas nodded at his cousin—the one who’d been on death’s door when he’d arrived. He looked as strong and healthy as any Slayer alive now, thanks to Logan and Hope. “Amhas was there. He knows as much as I do.”
Amhas nodded his shaggy blond head. “I got this. Good luck.”
Andreas squared his shoulders. “Thanks. I’m going to need all I can get.”
Chapter 6
This wasn’t the first time Lyka had considered inciting rebellion and she doubted it would be the last.
She was halfway to the main room of Dabyr, where her kind was being kept, when Andreas caught up with her. He grabbed her sleeve and pulled her to a stop. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“You seemed to need my help, so I’m warning our people that they may be held here against their will. That way they can leave before it’s too late.”
“You call that help? What I really need is a sister who can listen and follow instructions. I told you to mind your manners, to be the glue that would bind our two people together, not to try to convince a bunch of uprooted, frightened people that they just walked into some kind of prison.”
“They deserve to know the truth.”
“They deserve to have a safe place to sleep tonight.”
“You heard Joseph. He’s going to make them stay here.”
Andreas looked around at the clean, well-lit hallway, complete with little alcoves containing fresh plants, flowers and artwork. “It’s not exactly a concentration camp. Why are you throwing such a fit? Have they been treating you badly?”
“Define badly.”
“Have they starved you or beat you or forced you to sleep out in the cold?”
“No, but you heard Joseph. He thinks he can boss me around.”
“He bosses everyone here around. That’s his job. He’s the reason this place is still standing, with so many juicy targets inside. He’s the reason the walls haven’t been overrun by demons. He’s the reason our wounded survived tonight and our young have a safe place to rest.”
“You make him sound like some kind of superhero.”
“That’s because he is.” Andreas held out his hands, showing off his tattered, bloody clothing. “Look at me. I barely survived tonight. Our home was overrun, and that’s my fault. Just like it’s Joseph’s fault that the home he protects is still standing.”
“That wasn’t your doing. We don’t have walls like they do. We don’t have magic to sling around like they do, or Sanguinar on hand to fix our every boo-boo. We survive on our own with help from no one.”
“That’s the problem, Lyka. We’re not surviving. We’re being targeted. Picked off. We’ve lost too many people in the past few months. I didn’t realize it until tonight, but those attacks were testing our strengths and weaknesses. Those attacks were feeding our enemy the information they needed to pull off what they did tonight.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I need to know that you’re doing your job here.”
“What job? I just sit around, trying not to let anyone touch me. I tried to get involved with the kids, teaching them, but even that is getting shut down. Apparently, human kids are too weak to be taught how to fight.”
“I know that you respect few things more than you do strength and skill in combat, but I have to side with Joseph on this one. Humans are much frailer than we are. It’s our job to protect them.”
“You sound just like him. It’s no wonder the two of you hit it off so well. You both love getting your way and bossing people around.”
Andreas stepped back, spreading his hands wide. “You want to challenge me for leadership?” he asked.