Hunter rubbed the back of his neck, granting them the courtesy of pretending to think about it. “Fifteen percent. Maybe.”
“Fifteen percent,” I echoed, letting the number hang in the air, then clucked my tongue. “That’s a death sentence for anyone who marches with you. Unacceptable. Harper—you seem to think you’re the smartest guy in the room—what exactly would you suggest instead of my ‘reckless and wasteful tactics?’”
Harper finally looked up, his gray eyes narrowed. “I’d suggest training them on practical scenarios. Real situations they’ll face. Not this abstract crap you’re pulling from whatever history book you worship.”
I raised an eyebrow. “It’s Napoleon’s, but I digress. Practical scenarios? Like what? Taking the same three positions over and over again while the enemy picks us off because we’re predictable? Or better yet, splitting into smaller groups like in the last war and let them overwhelm us one by one?”
His silence was answer enough.
“That’s what I thought,” I said flatly. “What you don’t seem to grasp, Harper, is that our enemy isn’t playing by any rules. They’re unpredictable, and if you can’t learn to think on your feet, you’re already dead.”
Alexiares leaned back in his chair, legs spread and arms crossed, a faint smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. “Let me put it in terms you’ll understand, Harper. Amaia’s tactics aren’t reckless—they’re adaptive.”
Finley’s laugh rang out again, sharp and cutting. “God, this is better than the soap operas my mother used to watch. You should’ve stayed quiet, Harper.”
Hunter shot her a warning glare. She mimed zipping her lips, though the grin never left her face.
“This isn’t about you or your shitty little settlement, General,” I said, leaning forward again to recapture theirattention. “This is about survival. You don’t have to like me, or my methods, but you will respect me. That’s a nonnegotiable, I’m afraid—or I’ll find someone else who can lead your people into battle.”
The tension in the room was palpable. Hunter stepped forward, his hands settling on his belt buckle. “You’re sitting here with your feathers all ruffled like this is optional. Hate to break it to ya, but it ain’t. If you’re not ready to adapt, you might as well lay down and quit now. This war won’t stop to let you catch your breath. So, saddle the hell up or step aside, ‘cause we’ve got work to do.”
“Now,” I continued, now that the room had sucked into his little speech. “Lucky for you all, our battle plans are built on hitting with our strong points. We don’t hit hard once or twice, we keep applying pressure and we don’t let them up for air.”
“There will be heavy losses across the board,” Hunter said, pushing from his seat and standing at my side, arms crossed. “It’s important to prepare ourselves for that.”
When he spoke, everyone listened. Their eyes homed in on his mouth, waiting patiently to see what would come out next, like he was their messiah or something.Whatever.
As long as they were willing to answer to someone who was wholeheartedly on my side—it wasn’t a competition. With Adelaide safely tucked away at Monterey Compound, he would never be a danger to my people, to the cause.
“With our technological advances, the extraordinary gifts we’re now aware of and prepared to utilize, plus the support of St. Cloud,” I added reluctantly, much to my dismay and Finley’s overexaggerated joy. “There is the potential that once we clear Covert’s borders and see the other side, that we may have the advantage.”
“That’s on the account that we have what it takes to make it that far,” Hunter stated. Not to me, but to others. He’d been thoroughly unimpressed by what he’d seen.
The three of us had gone through the drills with them. In my opinion, theproperway to lead was from the front. If I wasn’t capable of performing at the same levels as the soldiers beneath me, then who the hell was I to hold such expectations? No. We had to be stronger, faster,smarter. An example for them all, a symbol they aspired to live up to.
“And that only works if we train,” I added, now on my feet right next to him, a unified front. “Together. As one. One unit, one compound. We can go face Ronan now. That seems to be the response you’re all itching to hear, which makes sense toyou, but I’m telling you now, if we do that, we will lose.”
“What happens once we’re in?” Millie asked, curiosity lining tan features. “Keep going till we reach the capitol?”
A quiet curse slipped out. The hope was that no one would bring this up, at least not yet. I hadn’t had the chance to tell the people I loved about my plans. They wouldn’t be happy about them and I wouldn’t blame them. If it was them in my shoes, I’d riot.
“We distract Ronan while evacuating as many innocent civilians as we can to The Outskirts,” I said, answering Millie’s question without saying too much. This would have to be enough for now.
“Evacuate?” Claes, the mayor of Casper, questioned, leaning forward, hands folded in front of him as he rested against the wobbling table. “For what reason?”
I gave a tight-lipped, awkward half-smile, more grimace than grin, “We’re hitting the capitol. Hard.”
“You’re staging a coup,” Finley exclaimed, not alarmed, but merely putting the pieces together.
“I am.”
“With who to replace his stead? You?” General Harper released a laugh that old me would have lunged across the room and slapped the shit out of him for. Unfortunately, I no longer had the leeway to get away with such actions. But damn, did I wish I could let old me at him.
“Is there something humorous about the statement?” I arched my brow, forcing myself to hold a steady, calm voice.
“The only thing humorous here is the amount of men in the room still questioning your authority while taking orders from you within the same breath.” Serenity said, in an odd moment of support. It silenced him, if only temporarily, still felt like a small win.
“We can discuss who is best suited to accommodate the needs of the many when we’re closer to winning this thing, yes?” I surmised.
