“Yeah. You’re right. Okay, I’ll hold back and protect the weaklings, then.”
Dafne shot him a cold grin. “Don’t let Voss hear you say that, or he’ll kick your ass six ways from Sunday when he wakes up.”
We took a few minutes to get our things in order. I left Mom and Richard with Voss, Isabelle, and Chantal. Soph asked to stay with them, as well, arguing that a limited Daughter and a barely recovered wolf-incubus would not be enough to protect our friends. She would’ve liked nothing more than to be part of the offense, but our friends needed to be kept safe, and Soph was a fierce protector. On our side, we had plenty of power even with reduced numbers—we were packing two Valkyries and a Berserker, after all, so there wasn’t any point in taking the entire crew over to probably meet the evil mastermind—that had never turned out well for others, so why would it end any other way for us?
No, we needed a small recon group. That much we’d all agreed on, so Soph staying behind wasn’t a bad idea at all. Thayen and I led the team this time, though we were following Brandon’s guidance. Myst and Regine were with us, along with Dafne and Jericho. The fae dragon’s fire would help with the Valkyries’ weapons, much like my light, but the ice dragon’s fighting skills were required along with her ice shards, in case things got bad fast.
With this plan in place, I allowed myself a few minutes of solitude outside the Black Heights while the others finished getting ready to leave. It took me a while to shake every nasty thought out of my head. My heart was still drumming harder and faster than usual, especially when I was around Brandon. I feared an in-depth examination of the meaning behind that reaction, however, so I set it aside for later.
“You know, your eyes are even darker when you’re brooding,” Brandon’s voice shot through the momentary silence. I turned my head to find him standing barely a foot to my left, his flaming blue gaze drilling into me.
“I’m not brooding,” I replied. “Just thinking.”
“Isn’t that the same thing?”
“It depends on what you’re thinking about. Brooding is more… negative,” I said.
He chuckled. “What were you thinking about, then?”
“Whether we’ll survive this or not.” It hit me then that I was, in fact, brooding. But Brandon didn’t say a word. Not even a hint of “I told you so,” and I appreciated that. We sat on the ridge, black stone pebbles shifting and slipping down the narrow slopes below. They disappeared into the murky green underbrush. This whole place felt wrong. It was a constant reminder of it not being home, yet Brandon’s presence—while weird in itself—made me feel like I could find my way back. “I’m putting my trust in you this time.”
“Regarding this journey to Hrista, you mean.”
“Yes. Your allegiance has been… inconsistent, and I understand why. But it’s still hard for me to have faith in you, realizing that you could turn away from me at any time,” I said.
“You have every reason to hesitate,” Brandon replied. “These are unusual circumstances for all of us. I belong in Purgatory, in the arms of darkness. It’s all I know, and that’s where I must return. In order to do that, however, I must help break this place and everything it represents. I cannot do it alone, which is why I’m assisting you as best as I can.”
The thought of him going back home didn’t sit well with me. It was the obvious and natural thing to do, since Brandon didn’t belong here, but… ugh, it felt wrong. He seemed to pick up on my unspoken discomfort. “Of course, there’s also a chance I will never be allowed back into Purgatory after this,” he said, only half-joking. “I’ve aided Hrista and her minions. I’ve broken so many of Order’s laws…”
“Do you want to go back?” I asked, pushing myself to look into his eyes, where, for a moment, blue turned to white.
“I should.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s complicated,” Brandon replied. “Just know I stand by what I said before. I will do everything I can to get you and your mother and your friends out of here.”
I would’ve liked to press him further. “Complicated” didn’t even begin to cover what this whole thing was, but I had a feeling I’d already gotten everything I could from Brandon at this point. It left room for me to speculate and maybe even imagine a potential outcome where he might stick around, but I knew it wouldn’t be healthy for me to indulge in possibilities that might never come to pass. Yes, I would’ve liked for Brandon to stay, but it wasn’t my decision to make, and I didn’t want to influence it, either. It wouldn’t be right.
We spent a few minutes in comfortable silence, watching the perpetual night stretch across the fake Shade. Under different circumstances, I would’ve seen this whole place as a fascinating homage to our world. It was beautiful in its own way, and the creatures inhabiting it deserved better than what they’d been given. If there was one thing I’d learned in my few years of life, it was that hate wasn’t something you were born with. Hate was taught. Someone had taught the clones to loathe us, to want to kill us.
“Do you know how she made the clones?” I asked Brandon after a while. “I know samples of our DNA were used, but why couldn’t she make them with real souls? I don’t quite understand that.”
Brandon nodded slowly, gazing out into the distance. “Berserkers and Valkyries don’t have the life-giving powers of your kind. Neither do the Reapers. Everything that’s beyond the realm of the dead is incapable of creating
