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“The men saw you fighting those things. They follow you because you do what others won’t.”

“Get to the point, Cryoc.” Hudson flipped her hand to tell him to hurry up.

“They want to fight them. They want to do what even the Talon are too scared to do.”

“What makes you think they’re too scared? They took one down and got in with Reine.”

“We took it down. And you know it.”

“What about Talon?”

“We get Talon after.”

“Let the men rest. I’ll be out soon.”

Cryoc’s face might as well have been the side of the cliff they camped beneath. His expression gave nothing away, which Hudson supposed made sense. She had no idea what to do. The rush of fighting those krakens alongside Honour had been the biggest thrill of her life. Well, when it came to fighting.

But everything since then had made her question everything that had come before.

They made her question it all.

No, she shook her head and slammed her open palms against the rock wall in frustration.

She had to be honest with herself. It was the one thing she held to as tightly as any sword or weapon. She’d questioned everything because she wanted to be better. For them, but only because they already saw something worthy in her. She wanted to meet their expectations.

She shook her head again.

They would never want her back. Not after how she had left them. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t at least be a little better, did it?

Honour would have their loyalty from her position and her power. Not to mention her bloody determination to be good. But Kyree would listen to them, and she would have their love and they would follow her until the end of their world.

Which, Hudson suspected, would come far too soon if their people, all of their people, didn’t stand up against these invaders.

With a firm nod of her head, she turned away from the wall, her hands stinging from the small stones that had bitten into the soft flesh of her palms. She let the pain travel through her to strengthen the steel in her spine and the power in her fluke. She would do what her men wanted most, and she would let them tell her.

“Talons.” She roared as she came out of her camp.

Her men were quick to rise from where they leaned and were in a row before her in seconds after her cry.

“Ready, Hudson,” Cryoc replied.

Her men echoed his call.

She didn’t speak, not immediately. Instead, she swam the line in front of them, meeting each set of eyes.

Cryoc had spoken true. Though she hadn’t doubted it.

Their eyes met her own, but they all looked away before she moved on. They were still filled with the anger and the fire she’d always known. But they were filled with so much more. The fear took on edges she’d never seen before, and there was shame. Did they regret not agreeing with her to continue their war on Talon?

“Talon are our true enemy. And yet we still call ourselves Talon.” She paused.

“Yes, Hudson.” They all cried into her silence.

“Because weareTalon.” She turned at the end of the line and began the swim back. “Not because we take the freedoms of others. But because we’re the strongest motherfuckers this water has ever seen.”

“Yes, Hudson!” The roar was more alive now. They didn’t know where she was going with her speech, and part of her pivoted back and forth before the next words spilled from her mouth.

“No scaleless monsters and their metallic beasts can scare us.”