Page 41

Amaia

T he room was heavy, soaked in silence and barely veiled hostility. Good. Let them sit in it. I stood at the center of the room, gaze sweeping over them. Generals, mayors, opportunists—it didn’t matter the title they held. They were all here because they wanted something from me, and I wasn’t about to beg for their cooperation. I glanced out the window of the broken hinged door. Suckerpunch sat guard outside, our first alert if this was going to go south from the outside.

Finley leaned forward, a sneer tugging at her lips. “Oh, wonderful, a suicide mission. I thought you at least had a plan. Ego’s big enough,” she mumbled.

I flashed her a grin. “Oh, I have a plan. But if you’re too short-sighted to see past your own death, I won’t waste my breath.”

Isabella Everhart snorted from her seat, boots kicked up on the table, spinning a dagger like it was an extension of her hand. “Big talk, Amaia. You sure your head’s not too heavy for that crown you’re trying to wear?”

“Try it on sometime, Isabella,” I shot back, my tone sweet with teasing venom. This was the banter that bonded us together during the first war. “But fair warning, it’s got a nasty habit of crushing people who don’t deserve it.”

“Hey, Finley, you should go try it on,” Isabella jested, her comrades chuckling in response.

“Don’t make me kill you,” Finley rolled her eyes, tone light, but the sinister sparkle in her icy eyes made it clear that it was anything but.

“Aw, if only you had the chance. I’m sitting right here.” Isabella’s voice dripped with amusement.

“Bitch fight,” someone chuckled off to the left of me. “Hot.”

“This is a waste of time,” another called out from across the room. It was barely audible, coming from the back, but it was enough to spark a ripple of doubt around the room.

Pockets of discontent bloomed in every corner of the room. Finley and Isabella’s bickering became background noise. My chest clenched as I fought to steady myself. Looking around the dusted, dilapidated old diner, catching the faces that stared back at me—some with clear disdain, some indifferent, others tired. Exhaustion was evident in the lines wearing their faces and the heavy bags beneath their empty eyes. These were supposed to be easy allies, supposed to believe in this cause. But as I stood there, their voices blurred together, and I just felt … small.

You can do this , Elliot’s voice tickled my mind. Stay the course. Half of them only wish to give you a hard time, but intend to follow anyway .

I found him across the room, his gaze locked on mine, a peppered beard now framing his withered face. A silent nod. A push forward.

How the fuck had any of this become my responsibility? When did the torch pass to me to lead a rebellion that had been doing just fine without me? For someone who thrived off confidence solid as stone, it wavered. It felt like a mirage. Something built off fragile hopes and piss-poor excuses for dreams.

I’d done what I could. Laid it all out for them. Everything we knew about Ronan’s forces, the camps, the programs, his desire to squash a rebellion before it could take root—before it had the chance to become a revolution. And still, the doubt swirled. The desire to persevere when the odds were stacked against us was nonexistent.

They were too comfortable being complacent.

“You’re telling us there are thousands of soldiers stationed across the territories, and somehow, not a single one of us has noticed?” The accusation came from a man in the middle of the room, his voice sharp, cutting through the chatter.

“Yeah,” Hunter replied, his tone maddeningly nonchalant.

“Where they’re stationed is none of your concern,” I said firmly, meeting the man’s glare. What I couldn’t tell him is that Hunter’s rebellion had grown within the troops of others. Most of his soldiers were theirs—fighters who had quietly defected over the years, granting small mercies where they could. The rest were recruits from Transient Nation. “Not until we have confirmation that you intend to fight.”

“Are we really listening to this?” someone else shouted. “She’s the reason thousands died in the last war!”

“Her strategy won that battle of Yellowstone,” Reina said, her excitement pushing her to her feet. “She risked her life to pull it off.”

Casper and Cheyenne leadership flinched, two spots over. The repercussions of the violations she committed—what some would consider war crimes—was fresh in their minds. Semantics.

“All of us reaped the benefits of her stupidity.” The room went quiet with Finley’s words, and she rolled her eyes at the collective shock. “I hate the bitch, but I’m not ignorant. The casualties we would have suffered in St. Cloud would have wiped us off the map.”

“Maybe it should have,” Aberdeen’s general snickered.

The general of Des Moines snarled in agreement. “Wiped a few thanks to the hound.”

Finley let out a sharp, humorless laugh that sliced through the room. Then, in Finley fashion, she took two strides toward Isabella, and grabbed her knife without so much as a glance. With uncanny preciseness, she hurled it in between the small space between the Aberdeen general’s fingers. It landed with a solidifying thud. His smug expression melted into stunned silence.

“Careful, babe,” Finley said casually, back turned as she walked back to her chair. She sank into it and glanced down at her nails as if the entire exchange had been nothing more than a game. “I’m a little sensitive when it comes to the safety of my people.”

Chairs scraped against the checkered tile floor. The screeching mingled with the stomp of boots and the rise of voices. The room vibrated with tension as arguments erupted, spreading faster than wildfire. We hadn’t even started the real work yet, and we were already so divided. Nevada and Arizona settlements sat motionless, their gazes sharp and assessing. They’d already pledged their loyalty before the meeting began. Now, they were simply wolves watching the herd unravel.

Boise and Twin Falls were the only surprising flips of Salem Territory. Everyone else had either been absorbed by us after the last battle or were determined to be a certain ‘yes’ once it was time to take a vote. The rest of the room, The Expanse, was as predicted—panicked and ultimately useless.

Finley leaned back in her chair, delight radiating from her. Her fingers drummed idly against the table as if she were orchestrating the chaos herself. I wanted to smack her. The sick little curve of a smirk on her annoyingly perfect lips and dance of mischief in her eyes … The chaos around her was her own private entertainment.

The noise level swelled. Voices crashed into each other in a symphony of outrage. Fists slammed against tables. A man in plain clothes, a mayor presumably, Ogden I believe, hurled his chair at the booth next to him. The sound of splintering wood only amplified the turmoil. A woman in uniform sitting next to him shouted over whatever he was saying, the veins bulging in her neck as she jabbed a finger at him. Great. In-fighting.

“Enough!” I barked, but the buzz of the room swallowed it whole.

Finley clapped her hands once, slow and mocking, drawing a few startled glances. “This is fantastic. ” Her tone dripped with mockery. “Keep it up, folks. Real inspiring stuff. Think we have a real chance here.”

One of the louder men from Wind River Reservation turned, glaring at her, fists clenched. “You think this is funny?”

Her grin widened. “Oh, honey , I think it’s hilarious.”

The air thickened with the heat of too many bodies and too much anger. That mixed with magic—a recipe for disaster. A ticking bomb waiting to go off. My jaw tightened as I watched their tempers boil over, their unwillingness to stand united blinding them to the stakes.

Alexiares leaned toward me, his voice a low murmur beneath the disarray. “You need to say something.”

“What do you expect me to do?” I muttered back.

“They’re vultures,” he said, gesturing with the tilt of his head. “Pick one off, and the rest fucking disappear.”

Hunter balked. His dark brows pinched his sunburned skin. “That’s not what we discussed.”

The incessant buzz in the room still hadn’t died down. Their voices blended into a static hum of discontent. I took a step closer to Hunter, an exhibit worthy of calm. “Did I not say this plan involves Ronan dying?”

“You did,” he muttered, jaw set.

“By extension, that means all who align themselves with your father also die,” I continued, letting the weight of my words settle. “And you are aware that this is war now?” I pressed, my gaze sweeping between Hunter and the room beyond him. I forced more confidence to seep into my voice. In truth, I didn’t want to do this anymore than he wanted to watch. “War means taking sides. There is no more us , them , and Ronan . It’s us versus Ronan. His side or our side.”

Hunter held my gaze, eyes swirling that familiar raging storm. “I’m aware.”

“Then you also recall heading a rebellion, then?” Alexiares chimed in, his tone smoother than silk. “You do know that by definition, it means people have to die.”

“It’s in the dictionary,” he added with an infuriatingly reassuring smirk.

Hunter held his silence. It said more words than he was capable. Knowing something was the situationally appropriate thing to do was tremendously different from finding the courage to do it.

“Great,” I said dryly. “Now that we’re all aligned, I’ll have a word with the congregation.”

I locked eyes with Alexiares for a brief second, wanting to run my fingers over his ever present smirk, before stepping forward, my boots heavy against the floor. “If you’re done acting like children, maybe I’ll teach you how to survive,” I called out. My voice cut clean through the noise this time.

Heads turned, some slow and reluctant, others jerked with open defiance. Finley sat up straight, her elbows propped on the table. “Oh, look. Mom’s mad.”

Alexiares fumed at my side, his magic palpable in the air between us. His vision was laser sharp, tracking across the room to everyone but the one who last spoke. “You want to act like prey? Then don’t be surprised when you’re hunted. You want to be predators? Then stop the pathetic amount of whining and start fighting like you aren’t a bunch of pussies waiting around for a twenty-eight-year-old girl to tell you what the fuck to do and just do .”

They gawked at him, blinks audible in the tense quiet of the room. I cleared my throat. We had them now, and I wasn’t done. “But clearly since the mass of you can’t seem to handle doing anything on your own, I’m here to save your asses. Again. Lucky you.” I paced, walking between the mess of chairs and tables all clustered into one swamp of a mess. “If you think ‘surrendering’ to a man who rules through a caste of power alone is freedom, then you’re a damn fool. There’s no freedom in being absorbed by someone who sees you as nothing more than a tool—a stepping stone for more power. To shape society as he sees fit, while we’ve all fought and bled to carve out the lives and communities we believe in. Our home. Our people. Our values. And you’d trade all of that to avoid getting your hands dirty? Remain complacent until it happens to you?”

I paused, the weight of my wisdom pressing down on the already quiet room. My eyes caught Elliot’s across the crowd, his steady nod giving me the encouragement I didn’t want to admit I needed.

I wish Sloan were here .

His sharp eyes were some of the kindest in the room. Me too, kid, me too.

“We’ve all lost a lot,” I continued, my voice softer now. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we stand to lose a hell of a lot more if we sit here bent the fuck over for a territory that doesn’t respect a damn thing we’ve built. Hunter’s already laid out the main objective—kill Ronan. But right now, looking at you sorry bunch in this room, I don’t expect any of you to show up on the battlefield with anything other than hopes and fucking prayers. Not without my help first.”

“Get on with it, then. We don’t have all day.” The mayor from some settlement I didn’t care to remember muttered the words, his expression defiant. And the list of people I want to punch continues to grow.

“You have all the time she needs,” Alexiares snapped before I could reply, his glare pinning the man in his seat.

My fire simmered under my skin at the way Finley’s lips curled up in satisfaction as she took him in. His throat bobbed as he swallowed hard, his posture stiff with barely restrained anger. At the attention she was desperate for— his . I wanted nothing more than to have my ring on, if only for the comfort he’d find in it. Logic had us agree it was best to keep things under wraps during the meeting. We couldn’t afford the distractions, not now.

I stopped right behind her, staring down at the top of her head, still struggling to recover from the haircut I’d beautified her with. I hoped she could hear the grin in my voice. “General Matheson and General Lane were key to our strategy in the first war. And I’m sure word’s spread about Prescott by now. But their wisdom isn’t lost on me. I’ve been studying?—”

A scoff cut me off. “Studying? A book? You want us to risk our communities because you’ve been reading fucking books?”

“Yes,” I snapped, leveling a glare that could’ve cut glass. Alexiares moved to step forward, but I met him halfway and stopped him with a hand, keeping my focus on the soldier. “What the fuck do you think West Point was for? Officer school? AIT? You think the United States military—or any military, for that matter—just walked onto the field and winged it? I studied because I believe in learning from the mistakes of the past and absorbing the brilliance of our ancestors’ success.”

The energy of the room shifted. Some of the settlements who had been fidgeting moments ago sharpened their expressions. Reina grinned out the corner of my eye, only for Moe to elbow her, forcing her to bite it back.

“You’re asking for a lot, General,” Claes, the leader from Casper, finally said, breaking the silence. “But trust isn’t built on insults or forces of magic,” he added with a pointed glare in Reina’s direction. She sank lower into her seat, but the fire in her eyes didn’t dim. “Perhaps you can enlighten us as to how this … gambit of yours is supposed to work?”

Gambit. The polite word for desperation. I straightened, crossing my arms as I met his stare. “Simple. We prepare now—before the choice is ripped from us. Then, when we’re ready, we strike before they can. Hit them where it hurts, cripple their supply lines, and force them to their knees before they realize what’s happening. Take the fight to them. We don’t wait for permission. We make our own rules.”

Claes frowned, his lips pursing as if he’d tasted something sour. “And we get past their borders, how?”

“Leave that to us,” Tomoe said with confidence—we would not reveal Lilia to any of them.

“If that fails?” a soldier from Ogden questioned. He seemed skeptical, but not quite dismissive.

“Then we regroup and hit them again. And then again. And again. Until they have nothing left.” My voice was a blade honed sharply. “You think we can afford to play it safe? To wait for their mercy? If you do, you’re in the wrong room. No, fuck that, you’re in the wrong reality.”

The silence that followed was different than before. It wasn’t tense or uncertain. It was the quiet of the realization of inevitability. They were starting to see how the rest of us were already facing the pressures authoritarianism did. The truth they couldn’t outrun.

“She’s the reason some of us survived,” Millie reasoned, calm and collected. I glanced over in approval. Hm . Reina was right. She does look good in jeans.

Great Falls may not have been an ally I’d thought as important to keep, but Reina’s actions and her relationship with Millie had allowed us to know with certainty that Montana settlements would choose our side. Millie had advocated for Monterey since coming into power—even initiated the first cross-territory trade when she’d learned we were running low on necessities. They didn’t have much, but she gave what they could.

“Oh, please. You sat on your ass and reaped the benefits while the rest of us suffered,” a soldier from Ogden snapped, his tone venomous.

“We’ll train together,” I restated firmly, meeting the soldier’s glare until he finally broke his glare. “My people have a saying: one unit, one compound. That now extends to all of you. We came here to talk about an alliance, so let’s talk about it. The offer I have for you is simple: join us or die.”

“What?” The word was shouted louder than the others, and the room erupted into chaos once more. But this time, more people stayed seated. I could see it in their faces. Decisions had been made, even if they weren’t ready to voice them yet.

I held my ground. “That’s not a threat. Not in this current moment. Not for you. It’s a warning. With or without you, we will take on Covert Province. If you choose not to join us in that effort, then Monterey Compound will be forced to deem you the enemy. We’re not taking prisoners this go round. Monterey was merciful in the last war. I don’t have the energy to extend it again.”

The ruffle of shifting seats echoed around the room. The group of imbeciles glanced between each other, uncertainty blatant in their sheepish eyes. Isabella smiled at me, offering a subtle nod of approval. I returned a small, hidden grin before shifting my gaze, desperate for clarity from allies I’d assumed were secure. Millie winked at Reina, who immediately darted her gaze away, and Elliot and Finley exchanged a glance. It was brief and begrudging. The truce flickering between them. Others whispered, their faces neutral. Only three territories—Ogden, Wichita, and Cedar Rapids—sat with deep frowns, their discontent written plain as day. Ogden’s defiance was no surprise; Hunter had warned me.

“Now, everyone who doesn’t have a vote, out,” I commanded.

“We need to speak as a council,” the general of Aberdeen protested.

“ We don’t need to,” the mayor of Ogden interrupted. He stood abruptly, his entourage following suit. “The answer is no. We came here to hear you out, thought you might have something to offer other than some folly ‘it could be you’ argument and practice sessions .”

“Sit down,” I said evenly, doing my best to not close my eyes at the slap in the face. To wince or show an ounce of weakness because none of them would ever respect me enough to lead if I did. As much as I hated it, I was the face, the fallback person to rally around when things were good and blame when things went wrong.

He narrowed his eyes. “You do not make?—”

“I said, sit down .” The words slipped through clenched teeth.

“To be clear, that was her asking nicely,” Alexiares added, walking to my side. Fire raged in his eyes.

The soldier to his right glanced at Hunter still standing in the center of the room, then over to me with the slightest of nods. Last chance. “We only agreed to hear you out. That was the agreement.”

“Okay. Sure,” I replied, motioning with my hand. Like it was all simple. “But now that you’ve heard me out … It’s join us or die.”

“That makes you no better than Covert,” the second Ogden soldier spat.

I let out a soft chuckle and crossed my arms. “I don’t believe in being the bigger person. Never have with no plans to start now. So yeah. Do with that what you will.”

“You wouldn’t do that. Don’t have the balls,” Finley said with a laugh. Her eyes flickered with curiosity, testing me. Genuinely intrigued by how far I was willing to take this. I hated that she underestimated me. More importantly, I hated that she was right—under normal circumstances.

“Wouldn’t I, though?” I asked, my lips curling into a dangerous smile and I forced my eyes to dance with fire.

“You wouldn’t,” the mayor said, his confidence brazenly unshaken. “That’s not what Monterey stands for, and you know it.”

I shrugged. “Okay. Test me. Walk out there and see if I’m the same person I was a few years ago.”

The room held its breath. The only sound was the stilted heartbeats around me. He glared at me, undoubtedly weighing his next move. The nervous flicker in his eyes forced a prayer to mutter through my tightly squeezed lips. It felt as though I’d dropped down on my knees and begged him not to move another muscle.

He didn’t listen.

Didn’t follow that feeling I know he ached in his damn gut that said to stop, that this wasn’t the way. His defiance was stubborn. As he moved to clear the entrance, my heart tightened at the draw of my pistol, the guilt clawing at the edges of my resolve.

This wasn’t who I wanted to be.

But who I wanted to be wouldn’t win this war. Who I was would not help people survive. That was how war worked. You sacrificed, and you sacrificed, until the only thing left to offer was your soul.

“Sorry, but I can’t let you leave unless I know you’re on our side,” I said, keeping my voice cold and detached. Before anyone could argue, I pulled the trigger, and the mayor crumpled to the floor.

Reina’s eyes went wide, darting to Hunter, who gave her a reassuring nod. Serenity tilted her head, her gaze narrowing as she examined the body now lying lifeless near the door.

I swallowed hard and forced myself to stay upright. To let them see the person they should fear being on the opposing side. I kept my expression unyielding even as my chest ached. This wasn’t the leader I wanted to be. But right now, fear would last longer than love. Alexiares had said so himself. He was right. And maybe, just maybe, the good could come after.

The room froze. I turned to the next in line, the person Tomoe had identified as the soldier likely to attempt to take over next. “He was going to run to Covert. Let them know every single one of you was here. Isn’t that right, Hunter?”

Hunter’s voice wavered slightly, the kind of slip you’d only catch if you knew him. “I’ve got a witness willing to testify to that fact.”

The Ogden soldier I didn’t have at gunpoint nodded, his expression grim. Trustworthy, but shaken. One of Hunter’s inside guys, presumably.

“I’m no better than Covert,” I said, addressing the rest of them. “Because if we want to hang with the big boys, we have to act like it. This isn’t about me or Monterey Compound. Sure as hell isn’t about what I would or wouldn’t do under normal circumstances. These aren’t normal circumstances. Surprise! This is how we live now. This is how we push forward for the people under our protection.” I motioned around the room. “This? This is for them. Who we become is all for the people inside our walls. Now, I’ll ask you one more time, no time to chat, sorry. Are you with us, or are you against us?”

Finley broke the silence with a yawn, stretching as though none of this fazed her. “There’s something else. Another reason to work together or whatever. He’s got a new variant. It’s a threat to all of us.”

Reina snorted. “A little late on that one.”

Finley raised a brow. “Your daddy’s been cooking up different strains. We’re beyond the ones that are faster, the ones that think. He’s found new interests. Evolving them so that they can spread and infect. Turn us.”

I expected an uproar with the news, but we all sat in muted shock. Of all the things I’d brought to the table today, this may be the binding force of the alliance.

Reina crossed her arms. “And you’ve ruled out a pure anomaly?”

“Forty-three of them? I mean, I love a good collector’s item as much as the next gal, but that number’s a bit ridiculous, don’t you think?”

“Sample size?” Reina asked, narrowing her eyes.

“Two hundred,” Finley answered, shrugging.

They fell into a rapid-fire discussion on genes, mutations, and whether Finley had the capacity to determine which they were natural, evolved, or … forced into the DNA. I caught snippets of it. Technical terms and probabilities that I trusted Reina to handle and absorb what was important as I tuned out, taking in the details of the room instead.

Their chatter slowly but surely pulled others. The curiosity seemed to break through their fear. That was good. Something that could affect them no matter how much they followed Ronan’s authority. Especially since they all had a trip to make back.

“Duh.” Finley stared blankly at Reina at one point, twirling a strand of her hair and then smirked at Alexiares. “This is the idiot you’re stuck with? Don’t ya miss home?”

“Not even remotely,” Alexiares rolled his eyes.

“And this idiot,” Reina cut in smugly, pointing toward herself, “is the reason we can give ourselves new power, too. Control what powers we get and limit the effects of infection.”

Finley crossed one leg over the other, brow raising, suddenly intrigued. “Please, tell us more.”

Reina’s face flushed as Tomoe jabbed her in the ribs, hard. “Uh, no thank you,” she stammered, her earlier confidence evaporating.

“Doesn’t seem like much of an idiot to me,” Millie said, her eyes trailed up Reina’s body. From the trousers hugging her hips and flickering over the loose buttons of her top that revealed the lace of the bra she sported underneath.

“Consider us curious,” a representative announced, cutting through the tension, “if only to know half the secrets Monterey and St. Cloud are harboring.”

“Ooh, that’s going to be tough. I heard negotiations were closed, right, Mai Mai?” Finley piped up, her tone dripping with mock sweetness.

“Shut up,” I snapped, giving her a sharp glare. “I’m not opening negotiations. You’ll receive information that is pertinent to our cause at the time that is most beneficial for you to find out.”

“And who deems it beneficial? You?” he scoffed.

“Yes,” I said, flashing a thin smile.

He tossed his hands up in exasperation and scoffed, “Not that there’s much of an option. We’re not signing anything without reading the terms,” the leader added. “But Grand Forks and the other settlements of North Dakota are willing to have a discussion on what this partnership may look like.”

Fargo and Lincoln nodded in agreement. A murmur spread through the room as a few other settlements voiced their amiability to take this rebellion and turn it to a revolution. It wasn’t a resounding victory, but it was something.

“Good,” I said, straightening my posture, arms falling back behind me and I continued pacing the room. Circling them, a shark in the water at the slightest drop of blood. “Simulations will commence here two weeks from today. An hour after dawn. If you’re late, well, don’t be. It’s rude. If you find it beyond your means to return to your compound and mobilize your troops in time, our cavalry will send a rider with a message ahead of your return. Give me your best hundred; they’ll need to train the rest by leading on the battlefield.”

Two weeks should be enough for most. A new alliance meant no more sneaking along back roads, no more wasted days avoiding patrols. Those who still couldn’t make the journey in time would have riders sent ahead to gather their troops and meet them here. No excuses. No delays.

I paused, letting the words resonate before continuing. “I must warn you: Ronan’s troops are currently engaged with ours back home. We can keep him occupied for now, but once we mobilize, that’s it. He’ll draw back, and from there, we take the fight to him.”

Fear, doubt, and determination played across their faces in equal measure. Good. They needed to feel it all. They needed to understand exactly what was at stake.

“You have two weeks,” I said, my voice firm. “Make it count.”