Titan's Bloodshed (The Great Insurrection Book 8) by David Beers & Michael Anderle

Author:David Beers & Michael Anderle [Beers, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: LMBPN Publishing
Published: 2022-01-10T16:00:00+00:00

Alistair exited the chamber, expecting to see Thoreaux.

The room was empty.

A confused look came over his face. “Jeeves, where’s Thoreaux?”

The AI’s voice came from the speakers in the ceiling. “The council is waiting for you in the makeshift war room.”

“Why?”

“No one gave me a reason,” Jeeves answered, “though I think they wanted to watch the conversation as a group.”

“You’re fucking kidding me.” Alistair didn’t wait for a response. He left the room at a clip that was nearly a jog. He’d had no idea the conversation would be broadcast. He’d thought it was private, and they all had just watched him nearly trade them for a woman. They’d heard every true thing the Ascendant had said and heard him admit to it all. They’d seen him consider the godsdamn offer.

Alistair didn’t know who’d authorized the conversation to be shared, but there wasn’t a thing he could do about it now.

What were they going to say to him?

He walked into the war room and stopped just inside the door.

They were all there, staring at him: the AllMother, Thoreaux, Servia, Relm, Faitrin, Caesar. Obs lay in front of the table.

Alistair didn’t know what to say. He felt shame and embarrassment. He felt unworthy. For a moment, he’d almost given them all up during the silence that had followed the Ascendant’s offer, and they had to know it.

“I…” Alistair couldn’t find any words.

Thoreaux stood. His face was solemn as he approached Alistair. As they stood before each other, Alistair was sure his second-in-command was going to spit in his face.

Thoreaux wrapped both arms around him and pulled him into a tight hug. “Thank you,” he whispered. “Thank you.”

It lasted for only a moment, but Alistair felt Thoreaux’s tears on his cheek. Alistair stood there dumbly, not comprehending what was happening. His arms hung at his sides, and he peered at the others sitting at the table.

They were smiling, even Caesar. Faitrin was wiping her eyes.

Thoreaux pulled away and stepped back, turning sideways so Alistair could see the rest of them.

“I’m sorry,” Alistair said. “I’m sorry it took so long for me to decide.”

Servia raised an eyebrow. “Huh? How long do you think it took?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe a minute?”

She laughed in response, and when it ended, she said, “It was maybe ten seconds, Pro. What are you sorry for? That you love your wife?”

“I considered it. I considered taking Luna and leaving.”

“Ya know,” Servia said, “back on Pluto, when you first got there, Thoreaux said you couldn’t be trusted. He said if you joined us, it’d only be to get your wife back, that you’d never care about us or what the AllMother had built. You know what I said? To have a little faith in the AllMother, and I thought you were the one. You just made me right and him wrong, Pro.”

Alistair looked at the floor, unable to hold their eyes.

Relm spoke up. “What did you think? That we didn’t know you loved her?” He chuckled. “Broth, sometimes I think I’d trade all this for a week on a beach somewhere, let alone for my wife.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.