Emerge: The Captive: (Book 3)(46)
“Tell me why you make this so difficult,” Livia said as she flew into a high kick.
That was the thing about Livia. When she got frustrated, she didn’t immediately lash out in anger like Michael did. She backed away and dropped the facade, carefully considering her next move, always trying to understand their point of view. Like now. In moments like this, he almost liked her. The Livia he first met was the type to do something extreme to get their attention. To remind them who was in charge. But as the weeks went by and they continued their “training,” she was becoming less of a monster and more of a person with a very demanding job. Her job just happened to be bringing them to heel, and neither Santi nor Quinn were making it easy on her.
Did I just feel bad for her?
Livia launched into a complicated sequence of kicks and strikes, taking her frustrations out on the bag.
“The momentary comfort of food and rest just isn’t worth putting him through that,” Santi said. “But that’s the point, isn’t it? We’re not supposed to enjoy those things. It’s a double-edged sword. I screw over my friend, I get food and sleep, but I don’t enjoy it because I screwed over my friend. Put yourself in my place, Liv.”
“I’m trying to.”
“Then put your mother in Quinn’s place and ask yourself if you wouldn’t race up and down that mountain even harder than we do if that was all it took to keep her away from Michael … or your father.”
“I see,” Livia said, her brow furrowed in concentration. “But she’s my mother. You two aren’t anything to each other.”
“Haven’t you ever had a friend you cared about?” Quinn asked.
“Sure, but I wouldn’t give up a good meal for them.” Livia landed another kick.
“Then you don’t understand people at all.” He winced at her punch. He cared more for Santi than he was ready to admit, even to himself, but there was no way he was going to be responsible for allowing Michael to lay one hand on her. Not as long as it was in his power to stop.
“Love?” Livia sneered. “Love only causes problems. Look what it’s doing to you two.”
“That’s not what’s happening here.” Quinn flushed. “And it’s none of your business.”
“I’d say we’re more in the heavy like phase at the moment, but it works the same for helping you understand, Liv.” Santi shot Quinn a wink. “When you care about someone, you don’t put your own needs before theirs.”
“Even if it’s pointless? You guys think you're holding out––that you'll manage to gain your freedom from this place. But it's a pipedream. It's time you both accept it and start looking out for your own interests. Soma is your life. My father will never let you leave."
"Your father. You talk about your father like that's supposed to scare us when it doesn’t mean anything. We don’t know anything about him.” Quinn was sick of her empty threats and punishments one moment and then in the next, she really seemed to be trying to understand them. Livia was an impossible woman.
“Quinn, you remember the night I took you from your family?” She jabbed a right hook, landing her punch and whirling a round house kick a little too close to his face for comfort.
“Uh, yeah, that kind of thing stays with you, Liv.”
“Then you remember how I told you if you proved to be loyal and useful, that life with the Coalition didn’t have to be the atrocity you’ve been raised to believe.”
“Well, this isn’t the Coalition, is it?” Quinn snorted in disgust.
“Isn’t it?” Livia cocked her head.
“What are you saying?” Santi asked. Her chain rattled across the floor as she reached for a bottle of water from the fridge. Not for herself or for Quinn, but for Livia, because it was her job to anticipate everything Livia ever needed before she needed it.
“Soma is the Coalition, my little darlings.” She waved the water away, turning instead to throw another round of punches and kicks.
“It’s obvious you have some kind of deal with them. You have Coalition agents running in and out of this place,” Santi said. “But they still act independently. They couldn’t possibly be under complete Immortal control.”
“My father—my Immortal father—is Marcus Servius. Also known as the reigning mortal Marches, Marius Von Essen IV, among his many other aliases. Head of the Coalition. Leader of the Margrave council. The fools haven't realized they practically worship the very thing they profess to hate. They follow him like blind sheep––the same man who has led them for nearly three hundred years. Marcus infiltrated the Coalition in the fifteenth century. He established himself and our family as a Coalition dynasty, making himself his own heir generation after generation. Eventually he created the Margrave and turned the Coalition into what it is today. Without him, they would still be the same mindless, unorganized zealots they were when he found them." Livia kicked the bag, sending Quinn staggering across the room to land on his back.
"Immortals have controlled every aspect of the Coalition as you know it. When I said it doesn’t have to be the terrible thing you heard horror stories about growing up, I meant it. You are on the right side of things. You two are strong. You have useful abilities. I will break you if I must, but it would be so much easier if you’d join me as allies. Surrender your unconditional loyalty to me, to Soma and the Coalition, and I can protect you as part of my personal team and household. This exhausting game we’re playing, it could all end right now.” She turned to gauge their reactions.