Total pages in book: 247
Estimated words: 235897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1179(@200wpm)___ 944(@250wpm)___ 786(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 235897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1179(@200wpm)___ 944(@250wpm)___ 786(@300wpm)
Dain lifts his brows at me, and I grimace in apology before he moves to Bodhi’s side.
“How long are you going to let them fight?” Brennan asks, glancing at Xaden.
“Until my tactician gives me a plan that doesn’t make me choose between objectives,” Xaden answers. “The volume of their delivery doesn’t make their points any less valid.”
“I can’t guarantee two, let alone three.” Brennan’s mouth purses.
“Live up to your reputation and try,” Xaden orders.
Brennan curses, then looks over the room. “I need Tavis and Kaori!” he shouts. Both men quickly separate from the crowd and make their way up Brennan’s side of the dais. “Have you been to Draithus?” he asks Kaori.
“Once.” The professor nods.
“Can you give me a roughly scaled projection of the territory?”
Kaori lifts his hands, and a three-dimensional projection of Draithus and its surrounding areas appears over the table. The room falls quiet as Brennan leans forward, bracing his palms on the table to study the image as Garrick points out where our current defenses stand. The gash on his head and black eye are both gone thanks to Brennan.
The city sits at the southwestern edge of an intermontane plateau that spans a couple dozen miles. It’s surrounded by peaks on every side and accessible only through a winding series of valleys, the western river that flows south to the Arctile Ocean, or air—which Theophanie commands due to her signet. And if Garrick’s reports are accurate, the eastern field is theirs, too.
“Whatever calculations you make, just know that I’ll be going with Violet,” Xaden says.
“I figured,” Brennan answers.
My chest tightens with enough pressure to crush a dragon. “You’ll be risking your life.”
“It’s risked the second you cross the wards, and we both know you’re going after Mira. I’d rather be at your side than hunting you down after you sneak out.” His jaw flexes.
“Theophanie doesn’t want to kill me, or she already would have.” I memorize the topography of the field, feeding the information to Tairn. Between the jagged peaks, lines of forest, and the row of vertical rock formations along the western edge, it’s basically nature’s own fighting pit.
“That’s exactly what I’m afraid of,” Xaden replies as Felix and Professor Trissa walk in. “There are worse things than dying.”
“Is now a good time to point out that Tyrrendor can’t afford to lose her duke on what amounts to a death wish?” Felix asks, heading to the front of the dais with Professor Trissa.
“I have no intention of dying,” Xaden replies. “Panchek has already launched to request reinforcements.”
“Which we know Melgren won’t send. Apparently that late warning was actually an early warning for this,” Trissa counters, keeping her voice level and glancing at me, then Brennan. “I’m sorry for the loss of your sister, but Melgren has already proclaimed this battle a defeat, and he’s never been wrong.”
A lump the size of my conduit forms in my throat. I’m not giving up on Mira, on any of them. “Choice determines our future. Melgren’s only seen the outcome of one path.” I glance at Xaden. “Which couldn’t have had three rebellion relics.”
“Cadets belong in formation, not battle planning,” Trissa snaps at me.
My spine stiffens, and my hands grip the edge of the table.
“She stands at my side.” Xaden’s voice drops into that lethally calm wingleader tone, and he places his warm hand over mine. “Remember that.”
The compliment and the pressure of it aren’t lost on me.
“Starting to understand the consort missive,” Brennan mutters under his breath, then looks at the model from a different angle. “We lose if we only take the officers.”
“Absolutely no cadets.” Felix shakes his head. “Not after what happened last time. We’re still repairing the walls from when those two went rogue.” He looks my way.
Xaden glances toward my squad, his gaze lingering on Imogen, then Sloane, then Bodhi.
“Make a different choice, get a different outcome,” Garrick suggests. “They’ll have to live with themselves, so let them make their choice, too. Gods know we did.”
“Only volunteers. First-years stay behind the wards,” Xaden orders.
“Put us where you need us,” Bodhi calls out, then glances at Dain. “With the permission of our wingleader, of course.”
“Given,” Dain agrees.
Rhi takes count of every hand in the air, which is all of them. “Second Squad stands ready.”
“This cannot be happening,” Trissa argues.
“It is.” Xaden’s tone doesn’t invite interpretation. “The Assembly wanted me in that chair, and now you’ll deal with my decisions while in it.”
“You’re not ready.” Felix shoots the insult my way.
“Even if Draithus and fleeing civilians weren’t under direct threat, she’s my sister. I’m going to do everything I can to rescue her.” I lift my chin.
“Our sister,” Brennan corrects, studying me with a tilted head. “Which means that dark wielder knows way more about us than we do her.”
Xaden looks toward the back of my squad’s formation, where Bodhi stands with Dain. “Garrick, tell me exactly what her demand was. Why does she want Bodhi?”