“Why is there a tree sticking out of our roof?” Zeph asks, shoving a branch away from his face as he does and pulling my thoughts away from our clothes issues.
I sigh and pull Ryn’s shirt over my head. “Because Pigeon decided she needed to build a nest.”
“And you’re just letting her?” Zeph demands, his words oozing all kinds of judgement.
“Yes, I am. And guess what? So are you, because your snapping at each other is the reason she decided it needed to happen in the first place. Apparently, she thinks a nest will solve all of your issues.”
He gives an incredulous snort.
I glare at him.
“Don’t worry, I tried to explain to her that there is no cure for your dickish personality, but it seems she takes this whole mate thing a hell of a lot more seriously than any of us do.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” he challenges.
“It means exactly what I just said.” We stare each other down, and I pour ice water all over the heat that tries to crawl up my thighs and settle low in my belly.
Yep, Pigeon is back, and she’s returned with a healthy dose of annoying ass hormones. I was really hoping now that we’re all officially mated—ugh—she’d cut that shit out. It seems I’ve seriously underestimated her nympho ways.
“Where the hell were you guys anyway? What kind of mates let their other half just take off when it’s dangerous?”
Ryn scoffs. “Oh, we didn’t, we all tried to go after you, which means we all crashed into each other as we tried to fly out at the same time. By the time we stopped fighting long enough to decide who goes first, you were nowhere to be found.”
I can just picture the Three Stooges scene in my head, but instead of finding amusement in it, I just feel tired. How the hell are we going to win a war when they can’t even work together long enough to fly out of a fucking hole?
I look around. Well, technically none of us can fly out of the hole now because of the whole tree thing, but hopefully Pigeon can make short work of her nest, and the tree stopper in the roof will be gone in no time.
I press in closer to Zeph and drop my voice. “Can you rein in your hate long enough for us to do what we need to do, or should I rethink who goes on this trip and who doesn’t?”
Zeph’s honey eyes flash with rage, but I don’t let it sting me. I’m not trying to embarrass him by calling him out in front of the others, but his attitude needs to be addressed before we start our search for the Ouphe. If it’s not dealt with, we could have serious problems because of it.
Zeph, Ryn, and Treno can’t spend the whole time bickering. Aside from it grating on my fucking nerves, it makes Pigeon do dumb shit like rip trees from the ground. We can’t afford for them to be too busy arguing to spot a scout or something else dangerous and deadly. I get the impression this place has no shortage of shit we don’t want to run into, and unfortunately, they’re the only ones who know what we are up against. We can’t afford for any of us to be distracted by petty hate.
The fact that I’m the only one who seems to realize that, speaks volumes. These guys aren’t dumb, they’re the leaders of their people. But right now, they can’t seem to shove the hurt and history away long enough to tap into who they need to be so all of us can get shit done.
“Are you questioning me?” Zeph growls low and menacingly.
His tone sends all kinds of pleasurable flashes to my clit, and I roll my eyes. “Pidge, cut that shit out!” She snickers, and I groan internally.
“You bet your asshole-ish ways, I am. I don’t want to die because you can’t behave,” I snap back.
Treno makes a noise that’s somewhere between a snort and grunt of agreement. I turn to him.
“You’re not much better,” I accuse. “You both have issues you need to sit on until we’ve figured out a way to win. Don’t forget you’re in this with us. We don’t have to like each other, but we need to figure out a way to work together, because more lives than just ours are counting on us figuring out a way to end this war. There’s no time for petty bullshit and hurt feelings.”
Treno stares at me like he’s not sure if he’s impressed or offended by what I’m saying.
“What about you?” Zeph challenges. “Can we trust that you won’t betray us or use your abilities against us? Will you run the first chance you get or accept your place in this fight and see it through?”
Anger boils up inside of me, and I can feel my face go red with fury. If he wants to talk about betrayal, we can go there. I’ve got plenty more to say about what he and Ryn did and what they kept from me. Even Pigeon is flashing me images of when he saved Loa and kicked us out of the Eyrie. We got our throats slit because of that, and she’s just as pissed about his tone and the insinuations in it as I am.
I work to calm myself down. I want to punch the giant fucker in his smug face, but I mean what I say about squashing our issues so we can get to the Ouphe and hopefully get help. Decking Zeph right now, however good it may feel, is not the example that needs to be set in
