Wild and Free (The Three #3)(122)

And last, the golem attack was to commence as planned.

This being the shit I did not like.

“They’re gonna attack us!” I snapped.

“They are and they’re gonna lose since we know they’re comin’,” Abel replied calmly.

“You hope,” I returned.

“I know,” he stated firmly.

“Neither Bjorn nor Patricio knew how many were coming,” I pointed out.

“Won’t matter. They had the element of surprise. Now they don’t.”

I shook my head. “I don’t have a good feeling about this.”

Then again, who would? My man was fighting golem tomorrow. Hell, he’d never even seen one!

And my friends were too.

Abel took the two strides that separated us and curved his arms loosely around me, tipping his head to keep hold of my eyes.

“It’s a solid plan, Lilah,” he said quietly. “We can defeat them and do it with them not knowing we had the knowledge in order to do that soundly.”

“What if they send a shitload of golem?”

“We’ll defeat them.”

“What if people get hurt?”

His arms got a lot less loose when he replied, “We’re at war, *cat.”

I shut my mouth.

“You, Sonia, and Leah will be safe,” he declared.

“And you, Cal, and Lucien?” I asked.

“Nothing will happen to us.”

God, I hoped he was right.

“And you’re down with those who might fall tomorrow night?” I pressed.

“No,” he clipped, his voice suddenly curt. “I’m not down with that. I’ll never be down with it. I’m not down with Snake bein’ dead. Chen and Jabber are gettin’ better, but I’m not down with them havin’ that need. I’m not down with any of this shit,” he said, squeezing his arms on the any. “But I got no choice. You heard that guy. Overlords of humanity? That shit is whacked. And that shit can’t come about. Not a single person on this compound disagrees and they all know what’s at stake, including their lives.”

I looked to his throat, hating that he was right.

Abel kept speaking. “We got inside men, Lilah. Men who don’t know they’re inside men, but we got ’em. Today was good. Tomorrow will suck, but we’ll come out all right. Good shit happened today. Good shit that might help us make everything come out all right in the end. We should rejoice, then prepare for the next thing that will suck until we get past all the shit that will suck so we can get to a life that will not suck.”

He was again right.

I sighed.

Abel read my sigh and gathered me closer. When he did, I gave him my eyes.

“Your talk go okay with your dad?” he asked.

He’d been busy mind-controlling traitors while I had a word with Dad.

“He’s pissed at himself. I tried to explain no one blames him and nothing bad happened so he shouldn’t be so hard on himself, but I’m not sure how much of that he took in.”

“Gregor told me that Ursula has requested her room be soundproofed.”

At that, I finally smiled.

“Thinkin’ she likes the taste of my old man,” I muttered.

Abel made a face that clearly said we should stop talking about this just as there was a knock on the door.

He turned his head to look at it while I leaned to the side to look at it.

“Abel, Lilah, I’m sorry to interrupt, but can I have a moment?” Gregor called through the door.

“Part of the life that’s not gonna suck is not havin’ that guy up in our shit day in and day out,” Abel muttered as he let me go and moved to the door.

I walked to one of the chairs and leaned against it.

Abel opened the door and there were murmurs as Gregor came in.

His eyes came me. “Lilah, my apologies for the intrusion. I know it’s been a long day.”

I threw out a hand and gave him a small smile to tell him it was all right.

Abel shut the door, saying, “Whatever this is, can we make it fast, seein’ as it actually has been a long day?”

Gregor’s gaze was to Abel when he nodded, then announced, “Yuri phoned. He found the witch who scarred you.”

I felt my body go solid as I watched Abel’s do the same.

It took a few seconds but finally Abel demanded, “Say again?”

“He found the witch who scarred you,” Gregor repeated. “Her name is Sula. She lives in a hovel in rural Texas and is completely insane. This might be a layman’s diagnosis, but from how Yuri described her, it’s not incorrect.”

I stared.

Gregor went on, “He was quite prepared to exact retribution for you or detain her so that you could enjoy that opportunity. However, he explained that she’s already been punished by the witches who sent her after you. Punished because she failed in her mission, that being, we believe, to bring about your end. Therefore, even if retribution were to occur, she wouldn’t process it.”

“Wouldn’t process it?” Abel asked.

“According to Yuri, she’s entirely lost her mind. There’s nothing you or anyone could do to harm her. The harm has been done. She’s been living an agony for twenty years.”