“I told your father there was a chance that the skills he had intended for you to learn might not pan out in the manner he had originally envisioned. That if someday pushed to your limits, utilization of those skills in manners unsuitable could occur on impulse. What you have been planning, that which you have done already and remain intent upon carrying out is precisely why I opted to warn him.”
Lauren turned away and hung her head. “Jae, if this is your way of getting me to change my mind on this—”
“Again, I have heard you out.” Woo Tang held up a hand. “Please extend me the same courtesy.”
“Sorry.”
He patted her shoulder. “You are not the only person to possess a heart of war, but you very well could be one of a scarce few who does and remains alive to this day. It is not a trait of which to be ashamed, nor is it one from which to hide—from yourself or others. But it is akin to having an omnipotent ability and, thus, necessitates prodigious responsibility. It must be embraced and controlled, and you must learn to do so in short order. I do not wish to see you turn out as so many others have.” Woo Tang paused. “You are a warrior in every aspect of the word. I have zero doubts about that. I have grown to know you, love you, and respect you as a person and as a young woman fighting her way through a precarious life. You have earned my admiration, and I am proud to serve with you and extend you guidance, but this is your life, and what you do with it remains your choice. I do not mince words—what you have planned is a suicide mission. The odds are far from being in our favor, but I cannot, in good conscience, allow you to go alone. If you choose to move forward with this, I will be accompanying you. And I will fight alongside you. And I will die alongside you if it comes to that.”
“Dammit.” Lauren’s voice signaled distress. “Damn you, that’s so not fair, Jae.”
“How can it not be? You have made your decision. And in turn, I have made mine. Fair is fair.”
“But what about your orders?”
“My orders are to ensure that no harm befalls you. Leaving you unaccompanied would be tantamount to explicit dereliction of duty.”
She wiped away the tears that had gathered in her lower eyelids. “Jae, I dreamt this. I dreamt that people would die, and some of them actually did. And there was this entity, a man, he said he was my enemy, and the reason he killed the people I loved was because I had a chance to stop him and I didn’t. I didn’t know what that meant until the attack the other day. Something has to be done, and if I’m not the one to do it, then who? I refuse to sit and wait around and think about it anymore. This has to stop. And I know doing this alone is crazy, but if we don’t shut this down, it’s never going to end. These people are just going to keep coming at us, taking from us, and winning. And eventually, they’ll wipe us out. Actions have consequences, but so does inaction. Doing nothing solves nothing. The man in my dream said that to me. And he was right.”
“Dreams can be enlightening, but are oftentimes misleading, all the same,” Woo Tang said. “I concur that something must be done, but disagree with how you have chosen to go about it. You will remember me telling you before that I have never believed you to have a single purpose in this world, for indeed, you are the owner of many. You are not a warmonger, a person who utilizes hate to fuel her revenge and only wishes to expel her wrath. You merely seek justice and a means of righting the wrongs, and you are far from being alone in that quest. Conversely, there are others better suited than you or me for a campaign such as this, who are well-versed in every conceivable facet of war, who comprehend tactics, possess expertise in every strategy imaginable, and who know how to appropriately contend with circumstances such as these. Men like Dave Graham.”
Lauren huffed. “I knew you were going to say that. I just knew it.”
“Have I become that unsurprising?”
Lauren shook her head. “No, things you say still throw me for a loop, sometimes. Like everything you’ve told me in the past few minutes.”
“It is better to know one’s self than to not. Lauren Russell, you are a living, breathing, fighting young woman with a remarkable life ahead of her, but to find that life, live it and live through it, you must gain control of that which dwells within you. And that control must be maintained.” Woo Tang turned away and took several steps before facing her again. “We have known each other for something approaching three years, yes? And in that time, how familiar do you believe you have become with the man behind this voice?”
Lauren’s lips parted. “I don’t know…I’d like to think I know you pretty well, but I have a feeling you’re about to tell me otherwise.”
The esteemed former SEAL peered away, inhaling a lengthy, deep breath, then emptied his lungs. “I was married, once upon a time.