War sat in a metal chair in the hallway, smoking a blunt. He looked strung out, blowing gear-shaped smoke rings, jaw clenched like he was ready to snap.
“What you doing, bro? You sending them out or keeping them here?” Grim asked, eyeing War.
“Just send them back to their room. Unless they got somewhere else to be,” War said.
Blair blinked, her words slurring. “Where are we?”
“Take her away from me!” War barked.
“I’ll be up there in a minute,” I told Jinx.
“You ain’t gotta worry about my lil’ crystal ball head. I got her,” Grim said, rubbing Jinx’s bloody scalp. She slapped his hand away.
“I got hair somewhere else though,” she shot back.
“I’m grown, baby. I don’t mind a forest. You’re a forest creature anyway, I’ll be swinging through that joint like Tarzan,” Grim grinned, and she waved him off.
“Ugh, I hate men,” Jinx muttered.
They started up the spiral stairs, Jinx and Grim arguing in that flirty, reckless way about who’d win a magic match.
“Would y’all please shut up! My head is killing me!” Blair groaned.
“Eboeniaaaaaa! Get me out of here!” Sin screamed from the dungeon, sounding more awake than before, even after Grim knocked him out.
“I don’t like this shit,” War grumbled.
“What’s wrong with you?” I asked.
He stood up, looking like he’d crawled out of a bloodbath, grime streaked across his face and his eyes sinister—still in kill mode.
“Usually when I bring people to my tower, it’s to send them to the other side. Now I got two extra fairies running their mouths, and that Blair broad almost got her brain rearranged. Only reason she’s still breathing is because of you. But I’m already regretting it. This isn’t what my clan expects from me. Grim and Crash Out are acting different too. That soft shit isgetting out of hand. You and your friends are changing how we operate,” he said, pacing.
“Maybe that’s what you all need. You can still be who you are, follow your traditions. But acknowledging your feelings? That takes courage. That’s real strength,” I told him.
War shook his head. “Nah. I ain’t going out like Azarion. He let his guard down, didn’t see Hoax and his people plotting. I’m not making that mistake,” he said, pacing harder. “I’m saving lives instead of taking them, spending hours with you and inside you—” He stopped, frustration pouring off him.
“Help me understand,” I said.
He spun on me. “I don’t know what I’m fighting for anymore!”
Suddenly, slashes appeared on his skin, hissing and burning, glowing like molten lava. “I don’t know what’s happening,” I gasped.
Grim came down the stairs, eyes wide as War’s body lit up with fire. “Oh, shit!” he said, rushing forward. War vanished into a cloud of black smoke before Grim could reach him.
“What the hell was that?” I asked Grim.
He shook his head. “He’s punishing himself for not playing by the old rules. War hasn’t been the same. I tried to warn him, but he threatened to rip my spine out if I didn’t stay out of it. On top of that, bro is pussy whipped.”
“He’s doing everything he’s supposed to do. I don’t get it.”
“You’re still alive, firefly. Your friends are alive, the women and kids in Charmden are alive. Sin’s still breathing, Crane gotspared twice, Sin also spared twice. We were supposed to wipe out everyone from Charmden, the whole realm, the night of your ceremony. War never half-steps a mission,” Grim said.
“I don’t know what to do,” I admitted.
Grim shrugged. “Ain’t nothing you can do. That’s just who he is. When he stepped into Charmden, I think his soul remembered who he used to be—protecting his people. But then the darkness creeps back in, reminding him of the betrayal. He’s like a machine, being pulled by three different souls.”
“I figured that out. Cashaun, War, and Azarion.”
