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“I won’t be going back with you,” Kyree said firmly. She wasn’t going to budge on this one, was she?

Honour winced. “Fine, we can go look for Nylah. Then when we don’t find them, we can go back to Reine and join the other search.”

Honour wasn’t going to say out loud anything about Soulara for Hudson’s ears. She needed to keep some things secret, especially because she wasn’t entirely sure how Hudson and the Talons related to each other, and if there was a traitor in Hudson’s midst or not. The fact that Soulara was missing needed to be kept as under wraps as possible.

“I won’t stop until I find Nylah. They’re the key to winning this war, to finding Soulara.”

Curse Kyree for not having the same need for protection of information as Honour did. “Then let’s go.”

“I won’t be going with you.” Kyree planted her fists on her hips. “I’ll go it alone.”

“No, you won’t!” Hudson and Honour shouted at the same time.

Kyree’s eyes widened in surprise at that. Why would Hudson be so damn protective now of all times? Honour flicked her gaze to Hudson in curiosity.

“I can do this by myself.”

“No, you can’t,” Honour said, her voice raised to just under a shout. She really needed to get herself under control if she was going to convince Kyree to return to Reine. She was a general, she knew how to keep her temper under pressure. So why couldn’t she keep it under Kyree’s stubborn attitude and dismissal for her own safety?

“I’m with Honour on this one, Kyree.” Hudson slid up next to Honour, their shoulders bumping as they faced Kyree down. “Despite enjoying this lover’s quarrel, I won’t let you go out into the ocean on your own again.”

“You won’t let me?” Kyree’s laugh turned maniacal, anger pitted right in the middle of all of it. “You don’t have a choice! You don’t own me. I’m not your slave!”

“Well, that’s a pleasant idea.” Hudson’s cheeks reddened. “Don’t you agree, Honour?”

“Hardly,” Honour muttered. She focused on Kyree again. “It’s not safe for you out there.”

“I can handle myself!”

“You can’t,” Hudson agreed. “You wandered into Talon territory multiple times before I stopped you, right when there was a battalion ready to strike. If they’d caught you, you’d have been ripped to a million pieces by now. Blood pouring everywhere. Even my own healing skills wouldn’t be able to sew you back together after that.”

Kyree’s face turned ashen. Despite the cruel way Hudson explained it, if she told the truth about Kyree’s wandering past the boundaries, then her conclusion definitely hadn’t been wrong.

And despite her tumultuous feelings surrounding Hudson, she couldn’t deny the relief that her words seemed to make Kyree finally understand. The world they were facing was not kind. Not every tribe was pacifist like hers, and not every tribe was willing to work with others for the betterment of the ocean. While the Talons were currently their allies, as soon as the war with the humans were over, that would be the end to the uneasy alliance. They’d be back to the way they were before.

“You don’t trust me. Neither of you!” Kyree narrowed her eyes at them both.

“We don’t,” Honour and Hudson said at the same time again.

How did they think so similarly? The thought haunted Honour.

“You’re too weak on your own,” Honour added.

Kyree scoffed loudly. “And you’re not? Who was it that rescued you!?”

Honour couldn’t fault her for that one. She had been weak lately. She’d not paid enough attention to Soulara and what she was doing behind the King’s back, where she was sneaking off to and why. She hadn’t paid close attention to the war that had been brewing and the fact that they should have started their defenses and fighting back well before they did. She’d been on her own too many times, forgetting that any battle could only be won when there was trust between the people fighting it.

But she wasn’t about to admit that to Kyree either, not right now, not in front of Hudson.

“I don’t need you!” Kyree said, quietly but so firmly that there was no doubt of her intentions.

“You do need me!” Honour shouted back. She swam forward, getting right in Kyree’s face. This worked on her trainees and grunts, surely it would work on Kyree, right? “You can’t be out here on your own. You’ll get yourself killed.”

“What does it even matter to you?”

Again Hudson was clapping her hands together, giggling. “Oh, this is picking up now.”

“Shut up, Hudson!” Honour smarted. “Kyree, you have to come with me.”