there was no “if” he hit a nerve. He’d stabbed a nerve with a blade. “I apologize for reacting so sharply.” See? I can be calm.
“I agree with your idea,” Ludcarab said. “But you will not join in the battle. None of us will. That’s what soldiers are for.”
“You don’t get to tell me—” Myanin began but the elf king made a slashing motion through the air, stopping her mid-sentence.
“Yes, I do. I do get to tell you,” Ludcarab snapped. “You are more powerful than I am. I can concede that. I am not a fool, but I am a ruler. I have led a kingdom for centuries, and I know what I am doing. There cannot be multiple leaders if an organization is to be successful. And those who are not appointed leader must follow. That is how successful empires rise to power. You will either be able to follow orders or you will not. If you will not, then you might as well be on your way.”
Myanin looked at the other males, waiting to see if they would contradict him. They didn’t. Though they resented Ludcarab, they agreed with him. At least for now. Myanin knew that she was going to have to learn to pick her battles, especially if she wanted a chance to take out Thadrick, or at least the witch he was apparently infatuated with. She didn’t think she could take on Thadrick, but she’d have no trouble at all with the female called Jezebel.
“Fine.” Myanin relaxed her stance. “I can respect that. But if they have a djinn, wouldn’t it be wise to have one fighting on your side, as well?”
“Vasile will not allow the djinn to use even a quarter of his power. If anything, the djinn will use his power as some sort of diversion. Vasile knows that innocents would suffer if the djinn fought us openly, and that is one of his greatest weaknesses. The alpha will protect those he does not even know at the cost of the lives of his warriors,” Alston said.
“It sounds like you know him personally,” she said.
“I do.” Alston grimaced. “Once upon a time, he might have even considered me a friend, if not only an ally. I had hoped in the time I spent with him that he might be open to the cause of the Order. But after a while, I realized he would never understand our mission.”
“So you think that even if the djinn is there, he won’t be a threat?” Myanin asked.
“Correct,” Alston said.
“Even on the battlefield here,” Ludcarab said, “the djinn wasn’t causing major damage. The sprites were actually the ones giving us a run for our money.”
“Sprites?” Myanin was surprised that the elusive supernaturals had stepped out of their own realm. “Do you have sprites that support the Order?”
“We’re still working on a few supernatural races,” Ludcarab admitted a bit begrudgingly.
“If we’re going to attack their Keep, then we need to make a plan and get our warriors ready.” Sincaro’s black eyes appeared a little wild.
“Agreed,” the elf king said. Then, to her surprise, he looked at her. “Do you have the memories of your people?”
“You mean am I a history keeper?”
“Correct.”
“No, but I have acquired some of the history recently.” When Sincaro—who seemed to be the curious one of the bunch—opened his mouth, she held up a hand to stop him. “How I acquired that history is my own business.”
“And in that acquired information,” Ludcarab continued, “did you gain any past knowledge on the wolves and their fighting techniques?”
“You mean like strategy?” Myanin closed her eyes and pictured the vault of memories she’d taken from Lyra and then sifted through them. She kept thinking over and over in her mind, “wolves at war.” She had no idea if that was going to get her to the information she was looking for, but it felt like the right thing to do. She began counting, attempting to track how long it took before something happened. She made it to one hundred before her mind stopped, and she was on a battlefield filled with Canis lupus. Most of them were in their wolf form, though some did fight in their human form. It was dark and cold. She could see the breath of the wolves as they lunged at one another, jaws open and eyes wild with the rage of their beasts. She heard a voice and turned her head at the sound.
“Fall back,” a tall male yelled. “Get out of