each other around Kai. I had to hold my breath to keep from laughing.
“Zaniah and Caspian are right. This has gone on long enough, much longer than it should have. We have to end this, and this is the way to get that done.”
Everyone’s gaze pinpointed Kai who was taking the reins. I kind of liked it.
He continued when he knew he had everyone’s attention, “We don’t know what we are facing or what Raven’s powers are like in the Under. We are going in blind. We have to be as prepared as possible.”
“There’s my bodyguard’s training coming through,” I commented, smiling at the Mer I’d only just recently welcomed back into my life. Thank the gods for that.
Kai’s gaze met mine and his chest puffed out with pride as the tips of his ears went red. “Thank you, Zaniah. Llyr, you need to get your army ready. This is the only shot we have.”
Llyr crossed his arms over his chest, huffing out a breath through his nose. “Gotten all high and mighty, haven’t we bodyguard? You think just because you are the Bloodsworn—or were the Bloodsworn—that you can all of a sudden tell me what to do?”
Kai rolled his eyes and I held in a snicker because I was pretty sure that was the first time I’d ever seen him do such a thing. Clearly, he was surrounded by bad influences lately, and that included me. “Okay, Llyr.” Oh, fuck, he called my brother by his first name. Kai must’ve been pissed. “Why don’t you go look in the mirror and tell yourself to get your fucking army ready! Either way, it has to be done!” His voice raised with every word, making Caspian laugh and clap him on the back.
Llyr sneered, but didn’t say a word. He simply took Pearl’s hand, and together they stormed out of the room. I knew my brother. He wouldn’t risk the crown or the throne. He would do whatever it took to keep his place in the Under, even if that meant listening to me.
“Okay, now that they are gone, what’s the plan?” Kai was still in commander mode. This side of him made everything in me light with desire. My feelings for him swelled, feeling like one of my own fire orbs was flaming happily in my stomach.
“We ambush her,” I led with that dramatic sentence, but didn’t quite get the response I was hoping for.
“Details, Princess. We don’t have time for this,” Caspian-the-asshole snapped at me. Kai looked like he might slap the Siren on the back of the head.
“Llyr is going to use his army to draw out Aliz’s army. You know that as soon as the Sirens gets near Atlantis’ army, they won’t be able to resist going after my brother and his people.”
Kai looked perplexed. “Okay, where does Raven play into this?”
I sat on the sofa and leaned forward, trying to put on my best game face. “Raven thinks she’s coming down to challenge me—just me. But I know her. She won’t be able to resist taking down Aliz and her army too. She wants to be the baddest bitch in the sea, and we’ll let her try.”
Kai and Caspian both blew out a breath. Caspian raised a perplexed brow, “And where are we? What are we doing?”
“Raven will be distracted by Llyr being there, along with Aliz. She’s like my brother, always with her eyes on the throne, and sometimes that blinds her. She’ll be so busy trying to take out Llyr and Aliz that she won’t notice we are decimating her army. Without anyone to back her up, it will be just us and her. And I’m betting on the fact that her powers are shit in the Under.”
“What happens if my mother brings her army out? The full army? Do we even know how big Llyr’s army is? Or if he actually has a full army, as big as my mother’s?” Caspian asked, truly concerned. He was an asshole for sure, but at least he was an asshole on our side.
Kai sat on the arm of one of the chairs. “The ship gives us tactical advantage. We can take out both armies, and that just leaves the key players. That’s where Zaniah comes in with her fire orb things.”
I sank back against the sofa, pulling a pillow over my lap to comfort me, but then remembering this was Llyr’s room. He and Pearl had probably defiled that pillow. I tossed it to the side