Who Will Do It?

*Rowan*

The meeting with Jackson goes better than I would’ve expected. He seems delighted with the number and quality of moonstones we’ve agreed to give him for his participation, and after a couple of hours of going over our plans on the map, he decides to leave, promising he’ll let me know the moment that Solomon tells him it’s time for them to attack.

After he’s gone, it just leaves Dean, Aiden, Mara, Hezzlie, and I in the room. I asked my commander, Brody, to show the king out, and then I take stock of the situation on my own.

“Well, I guess I have some errands to run,” Dean says. He did briefly bring Abby in while Jackson was still here so that the king could hear from her own mouth that she was safe and happy–alongside her newly found mate. Now, Dean is smiling at me in a way that makes me think he’s about to tell me I should’ve listened to him about something.

I raise an eyebrow at him. “Don’t pretend that you would’ve thought about using drones. You wouldn’t have. You didn’t.”

“No, no of course not,” he says, still smirking. “But how many times have I told you that we need to be in better touch with the outside world, that they have technology and resources we could use?”

I narrow my gaze at his big, stupid face. “The outside world is dangerous to our kind,” I remind him. “They treat us as if we are monsters.” I glance at Hezzlie. “Or lock us up.” How many wolf shifters did we discover on our way to finding Hezzlie that had been treated as if they were out of their mind because they dreamt of changing into wolves? Too many. Unfortunately, I couldn’t rescue any others because they didn’t come from my pack. That’s just how our world works.

He shrugs. “Still, this is a good idea. And Hezzlie knows a lot more about the outside world than the rest of us do. I bet she could find even more resources to help us, if we need it.”

“Let’s hope we don’t need it.” I look away from him, not sure what else there is to say. He needs to go pick up those drones, and we need to train some people on how to fly them before the battle is underway, and it’s too late. If Solomon attacks while Dean is gone, that won’t be good for me. I’ve asked Jackson to stall him for a few days if possible, but who knows what Solomon will actually do.

The man is crazier than a loon.

Dean gets some last minute information from Hezzlie and then sets out. I wish him well and then turn to Aiden. The prince looks like he’s been wanting to say something to me for the greater part of the meeting, but whatever it is, he didn’t want to say it in front of Jackson, I presume.

As soon as my Beta is gone, he says, “We’re going to kill him, aren’t we?”

“Yes, that’s the plan,” I assure him. “I hope to do it myself, but if you want to help–”

“No,” Aiden says quickly, shaking his head. My sister squeezes his arm, which makes me think they’ve already discussed this. “I think that would be too hard for me to live with, even though it’s obvious to anyone who’s ever met the bastard that he deserves it. He deserves to be tortured and to die a long, painful death. I’m sure he won’t get that, though, as he’s not stupid enough to get himself taken prisoner by you. No, with his luck, he’ll be killed swifty on the battlefield and never feel a thing.”

“He’ll feel the torture when the Moon Goddess sends him straight to hell,” Mara chimes in, still holding on to Aiden as if she is his lifeline. She probably is. “He’ll be tortured for all of eternity for what he’s done.”

“I truly hope so,” Aiden remarks, his head hanging. “At any rate, I will leave it to you–or someone else, anyway–to end him. But when it comes to Zeb and the rest of his officers that made my life a living hell for so long, I'm happy to assist.”

I can’t help but absently lift a hand to the jagged scar Zeb left behind when he tried to gut me. “I’d like to kill that bastard myself,” I tell him. “We’ll see how it plates out, but anyone you feel will not swear allegiance to you, anyone who may try to stab you in the back or take over once your father is dead, they need to die. I don’t need a dungeon full of disloyal Darksky pack members. They can die on the battlefield.”

“I believe there are some warriors who understand that they are fighting for a tyrant,” Aiden tells me, lifting his head, finally. “They only fight because they swore to. They are choosing to defend their homes and their families, not the king. When he is gone, I think we’ll have a good understanding of who will truly be loyal to me and who will never be trustworthy.”

“I’ll be there to help you sort it out,” I promise him. I extend my hand, and he shakes it. I’m still having difficulty grasping that a Darksky, one who grew up in the castle on the mountains, is an ally now, but I do trust Aiden. I trust my sister, despite what she’s done under Alistair’s spell, and I trust the bond my mate has helped facilitate with her family.

Mara and Aiden leave, and I turn to Hezzlie who has observed quietly for the entire exchange between her brother, my sister, and myself. I can tell by the way she’s chewing her lip that she has something she wants to say. I go to her and wrap my arms around her. “What are you thinking, love?” I whisper.

She takes a deep breath before she says, “I wonder if I’m capable of doing it. Of killing him. Even though I hardly know him, and he really shouldn’t be anything to me, he is my father.”

“I honestly hope you don’t have to kill anyone,” I tell her. I do believe she probably has taken lives, even though she’s not certain of it. The way her powers have soared recently, there’s a good chance some of the dead on the battlefield are her doing. Still, I know the burden one bears from killing, and I don’t want her to suffer from it. 

“If the time comes, and it’s either him or me–or him or you–or him or just about anyone on our side–I don’t think I’d hesitate,” she tells me, looking me in the eyes.

“I believe you,” I tell her before I drop my head to find her lips. Even in the middle of a war room where we are planning to overthrow her father and instill her brother on the throne, kissing her makes all of those worries melt away. It’s just me and her.  Rowan and Hezzlie, and no one  else in the world matters.