and his mood, which was snarky on a good night, was sharper than those blades he made for everyone.
“Thank you,” Syn muttered as he entered.
V shut things up, the cold getting cut off. “I was going to come find you.”
Eyeing the archway on the far side of the pool tables, Syn crossed his arms over his jacket. “You’re not talking me out of leaving.”
“Like I would bother?” V cocked a brow. “Your business isn’t mine, and you haven’t been conscripted or anything. Everyone is free to go. You’re not required to fight—”
Syn turned away. “I just wanted to be clear. That’s all—”
“—but you’re a pussy if you don’t.”
Pivoting back sharply, Syn felt his upper lip twitch. “What did you say?”
The Brother shrugged and walked around behind the bar where the bottles of top-shelf alcohol were lined up, soldiers ready to be called into service. He casually got one of the tall glasses from where the crystal was kept, but instead of pouring himself his usual strong dose of Goose, he hit the fruit juice. Six inches of fresh orange.
He tested the lip of his glass and swallowed. “Mmm, tasty. And you heard me. You’re a pussy if you quit.”
Syn stalked over to the bar, images of picking the Brother up and throwing him into all those glass bottle testing his impulse control. “What gives you the right to judge that?”
“The fact that I’m staying in the war and not expecting other people to do my work for me. The fact that my best friend is out facing the Omega right now. The fact that my brothers are with your cousins and comrades, in the field, trying to save the race. Meanwhile, you’re standing here in front of me, worried about yourself, thinking about yourself, butt hurt over some female you met how many days ago? ’Scuse me if I’m not impressed with your special snowflake routine. I’m too busy living in the real world and worrying about who’s going to die tonight.”
“You have no idea what I’ve been through.”
“I held my dead shellan in my arms. So I’m pretty sure that’s Yahtzee. But whatever, you do you—”
“You don’t understand what my sire was like.”
V pointed to his own chest. “Bloodletter. You want to compare résumés with that shit?”
“I can’t orgasm.”
Vishous opened his mouth. Then shut it. “Okay, you win. And this is coming from a guy who’s only got one nut.”
“It’s not a contest.” But Syn felt his temper abate a little. Although what a triumph, right? “And I’m tired of the killing.”
“So you’re giving up.” V shrugged and put out his palms. “Hey, don’t glare at me, true? You need to stare at your decision in the bright light of conscience and own that shit. Hating my ass is not going to help you with that.”
“I’m not quitting. I’m just done.”
One black eyebrow lifted. “You’re going to have to explain how those two are different to me.”
Syn walked around, and then stopped at one of the pool tables. He considered flipping the thing to release some pent-up energy, but then he just trailed his fingertips in between the scattered, colorful balls, the green felt offering a soft resistance.
“I wasn’t in the war for the species,” he heard himself say. “I was in it because I liked to kill. For the sport. For the cruelty. For the outlet. And I don’t have that drive anymore.”
“What’s changed?”
“I saw myself through another’s eyes. And the reflection was too close to my father’s for my liking. I was always determined not to be like him. I made rules and safeguards to guide that side of me. I had standards. In the end, though? The result was the same. I was killing him over and over again by proxy—but it wasn’t helping me and I became him in the process.”
“I heard that you were taking side jobs even here in Caldwell.”
“I did.”
Vishous poured himself more orange juice, the sound of the liquid filling his glass loud in the silence. “Past tense.”
“I’m giving up a lot of things as of tonight.” Syn picked up the cue ball and rolled the white weight around in his palm, wiping off a smudge of blue chalk. “No more of that.”
And it wasn’t just word service. Something was fundamentally different for him. Ever since his transition, his talhman had always been inside of him, a monster prowling the fence line of its enclosure, looking for signs of weakness, opportunities for escape, lapses in oversight.