snapped, trying to find yet another excuse he could latch onto.
But I knew how to handle this. "And if it is?" I asked. "Your little Ayala myth says that those who stand with her will be rewarded, right?"
"They'll reap benefits," he admitted, giving me the exact words of the angelic myth.
"So reap some fucking benefits," I told him. "Tell yourself that you have to do this because it's the only way to keep her in line. That our legion is now responsible for directing the most powerful force of destruction all five of the planes have ever seen. Luke, do you really think that keeping her frustrated and pissing her off is going to make her not want to destroy things?"
"I..." Luke mumbled.
"Hadn't thought that far," Sam finished for him. "Look, we're all in love with that woman. We're drawn to her in an inexplicable way. Nick tracked her for years. I knew the moment I saw her. Bel wants to be nice to her. Ron? I'm pretty sure he's not that interested in women, but he fawns over her. We're all trapped in her spell - whatever spell that is. Why are you still holding out?"
"Because I'm not going to be her pawn!" Luke snapped.
Sam just leaned in a little more. "You already are."
So Luke tried another tactic. "We can't let her take over the legion. She'll lead us in the wrong direction."
"Really?" I asked.
Sam gestured for me to wait. "Who do you think is calling the shots now? Nick? Please. He bends over backwards to make her happy. If Sia wants it, we all make it happen - and you aren't any better. We obey her whims, Luke. We are her minions, and we all seem to like it."
Luke shook his head once, as if trying to fight off the truth of that. "And we're just going to give the Ayala complete control?"
"Yeah," Sam said. "I think that's pretty much it. And we're going to love her without shame. So figure your shit out, Luke. If I hear one more bullshit excuse from you, I'm going to call you on it - and every one that comes after. Stop pushing her away. Stop pushing all of us away. Because, if you can't trust us, then you need to get out of this legion."
Luke's wings sagged in shock at those words. "Sam," he breathed.
"I don't want you to go," Sam told him. "I'm just saying that if you aren't with us, then you need to find a place where you actually belong."
"Or," I added, "admit that you really do belong here."
Luke just nodded. "I swear to you both that I'll try."
"Quickly," Sam told him. Then he looked at me. "And we need to go to Vesdar. Sia said her aether burns. Not bad, but she's describing it the same way as when she touched the dragon. She wants to talk to the only other Muse she's ever met."
I just flicked a finger across the table. "Luke said almost the same thing. Well, implied."
"Soon," Sam told me. "And Nick? She knows we're avoiding something. She asked me if we could at least give her a hint, so you'd better be ready to answer a lot of questions when she wakes up."
I just looked at Luke. "Then I need to know exactly what happened. Start from the moment you left here, and leave nothing out until we got her on the table."
Without hesitation, Luke started talking. And this time, he left nothing out. Not even how he felt.
21
Beelzebub
Ron was filled to brimming with aether when we met back up in the corridor. Not surprising, since he hadn't been drained like the rest of us. He also looked worried. I didn't like that, but I also wasn't sure how to fix it, so I did the only thing I could. I moved to his side in the corridor and laid my hand on his shoulder.
"Are you ok?" I asked.
He nodded. "I'm kinda worried about her."
"Just her?" Not that I was surprised, but his choice of words wasn't what I expected.
Ron just shrugged. "We'll all be fine, but something just happened to her, Bel."
"I know," I assured him.
"Not sure you do," he countered. "She died. Not just for a moment, but for minutes. Longer than the human body can handle, and then she revived herself? How is that even possible? And what is that going to do to her when she figures it out?"
"Nick will handle it," I promised him. "He always does.