“All accounted for,” she calls to my back. “No casualties from the massacres.”
“Great. Now find out if Kane has planted those damn flowers yet.”
“Never pictured him as the type to be so bent out of shape over some fucking flowers,” Chaz says behind my back, causing my eyes to roll in exasperation as I keep walking.
My eyes flick over the sets of paired-up sparring partners and those just pushing their power to the limits in private, trying to strain out that extra blast.
I keep straying from the path, so it’s hard to be upset at everyone else doing the same thing. I’m still pissed at everyone who strays, obviously, but now I just feel more responsible for it. And clearly that pisses me off even more.
At least I don’t feel the urge to read my journal for the first time in hours. Just a little bit of space from Ella has helped wrestle my own beasts to be just under the surface.
“Holy shit, is she crazy?” I hear Hank whispering to someone.
My eyes dart to him and narrow, and he pales when he sees me, cutting his eyes away as he stares at the ground. I look over my shoulder, curious what Ella is doing to draw—
It takes me less than a split second to realize he wasn’t talking about Ella.
A growl rumbles in my chest when my eyes land on Ella battling Simone.
Ella’s lycan claws are out, and her eyes are flickering silver as she launches out power, sending Simone sailing backwards with a yelp. The suicidal female snorts and shakes her head, then lets out a battle roar before charging Ella.
I dematerialize to be right in front of her, starting to shift and finally end her the way I should have done when—
My breath is knocked out of me when I’m shoved from behind, but Simone has already dropped to the ground to her belly, her throat exposed like she’s showing submission.
Swinging my legs up, I jump to my feet. Ella shoves at my chest this time instead of slamming into me.
“What the hell are you doing? It was working,” she snaps.
My eyes narrow on her, then dart to the broken girl on the ground who is shivering in terror, then back to Ella.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” I snap, causing Ella to roll her eyes.
“You said to provoke my instincts, and what better way to do that than with Simone?” she snaps, then looks down at Simone, and her eyes soften when she sees her still trembling uncontrollably. “What the hell have you done to her?” Ella adds softly, then turns her glare back on me.
“Less than I should have,” I bite out, giving Simone a look she would understand, but she misses it, because she’s busy staring at the ground.
“Whatever you’ve done, undo it now,” Ella snaps, eyes back on me and furious.
“You don’t get to dominate me, Princess,” I remind her coolly as I step into her, staring directly into her eyes as she starts to growl.
Simone’s fucking shivering triples.
It seems to only piss Ella off at me even more. I’m entirely unsure how I became the bad guy in this particular scenario. Usually it isn’t lost on me.
“In case you’ve forgotten, she left you to become enslaved by a Type A incubus.”
“And she just apologized,” Ella says like that’s some sort of defense. “Then I realized how to bring my instincts forward, since they were immediately present in her presence, since you’ve slept with her. She offered to let me use her like a punching bag just to get help bring them all the way to the surface. I’d say she’s earning forgiveness.”
“It doesn’t really matter what you’d say. She’s simply lucky to be breathing at all,” I growl.
She gives me a pitying look. “She was a prisoner too, Slade. However cruel and misguided her actions might have been, it’s nothing compared to the cruel and cold things you’ve done to my people. And I forgave you.”
I point at my chest. “I haven’t asked for forgiveness, because I regret nothing,” I snap, my chest vibrating with a growl.
Her eyes narrow, and she looks at me like she’s trying to figure me out. “How did we walk out here and you turn back into the enormous asshole you are to everyone else? I thought things had taken a turn.”
“No, you think you can still dominate me. You don’t get to judge this, Ella. This is my army.”