Page 60 of Of Flame and Fury
I jump when Gemini punches his hand. “All right,” he says. “We know who and what we’re facing. Let’s form teams and search the ground for Fate. This ends now.”
“No,” Destiny says. She yawns and stretches, having woken apparently from one hell of a nap.
We wait for her to say more. She doesn’t, returning to her quirky demeanor now that she’s had some rest. She bats at a bloodstain on her googly eye dot monstrosity as if it will magically wipe off.
I exchange glances with Gemini and about half of the supernaturals around us.
“Da fuck?” a vampire asks through his still exposed fangs.
His disrespect earns him a slap upside the head from Misha. Shayna steps toward Destiny and over the vamp’s unconscious body. “I’m sorry, dude,” Shayna says. “Did you just say no?”
“Mm-hmm.” Destiny fluffs her hair. As if that’s going fix all the lopsided plumage.
We wait for her to say more. We wait some more. When she doesn’t, Tye gives his beloved a small nudge. “Hey, Des. Maybe you might want share why we shouldn’t hunt and kill Fate.”
Destiny drops her hands away, appearing sad. “Fuzzy Toes, I never said Johnny mustn’t be obliterated. My brother’s time has come. I only mean searching the grounds will do us no good.”
“Why?” I ask.
Destiny shrugs. “Because he’s in the house.”
My jaw drops as uproar ensues. Gemini bends into a crouch, his hands out. Like the rest of us, he scans the area, expecting Johnny to pop on out and kill us all.
That’s when Uri loses what remains of his mind. “He’s in the house?”
Destiny’s feathers bounce as she nods. “Oh, yes. I feel him everywhere and with everything.”
Emme gasps, her hands shaking as she prepares to strike. “This can’t be happening,” she says.
I feel her fear and understand what’s happening long before Destiny explains. “He must be here in order to use the spells against us.”
“Which is another reason he’s using the disorientation spell,” I add. “We can’t kill him if we can’t find him.”
“And are you prepared to do as much?” Uri asks me. “We would not be here if you did your job last time.”
He’s right, not that I’m about to admit it. I smile. “I know my job, and I do it well.” Mostly. “Unlike you, who only fights when others are watching.”
A wave of ire consumes him, despite how low he keeps his voice. “You dare insult me?”
I poke my head around Gemini’s back since he jumped in front of me, ready to take on Uri and whatever shit he was ready to do to me. “I do, and I’m not done,” I say.
Uri may have helped kill a few beings that attacked, but only because he was challenged, and others were watching. From time to time, the elite have to prove their excellence or risk losing everything. Yes, he’s upset about the loss of his dates. Yet under other circumstances, he would have taken his dates and edged away, watching others fight for him and, if it came down to it, used his precious boy toys as human shields if it meant getting away.
I walk around Gemini. “You usually let those you think are lesser than you do the dirty work.” I step forward, so does Gemini, so do my sisters, until only feet separate us, and more vamps who appear to defend their Grandmaster. “Are you ready to fight for real, Uri? Or will you hang back and spare your pompous and saggy ass?”
In truth, I could fling a rock against Uri’s ass and it would bounce back and knock me out. But Uri is a petty little diva, and that diva doesn’t appreciate shade directed at his looks.
Uri smiles with all the sunshine of Great White shark and laughs, that’s right, laughs at me and all the awesome insults I flung his way. “My ass will remain as safe as always. Good luck with what will remain of yours.”
He walks away. A small army of vamps marches after him without hesitation, except for Misha and his keep. The Catholic schoolgirls wring their hands, scared yet staying put. As the master of their master, Uri can claim them as his and force them to abandon Misha.
Uri stops beneath what remains of the exit. “My son,” he tells Misha. “Make a choice and make the right one.”
“I do, Master,” Misha replies. “It’s why I choose to stay with Celia.”
What resembles any sense of calm abandons the room. Oh, shit.
I’m not surprised Misha is choosing to stay with Celia. What does shock the hell out of me is his highly public pledge to side with Celia and theweres.