Will’s hand finds my arm. His voice is flat when he says, “Don’t bother.”
“What’s going on?” Karl demands. But he knows. I can tell by the look on his face he already knows what has me pissed off.
I don’t care what Will thinks. How they’re acting, what they’re saying—it’s wrong. “This is the team you guys picked for me?” I’m practically seething as Karl and Flip fully enter the body of the plane. “These are the people you think I can trust?”
“Who does this little girl think she is?” snarls the Elemental I don’t know.
Before Karl can say anything, I stand up, pressing a hand against the side of the plane. “I’m the person who will get your sorry ass demoted to some desolate city to work on thunderstorms for the rest of your life if you don’t watch your mouth.”
She stands up, too, clearly pissed off. “I don’t answer to you.”
“Lola, sit down.” Karl’s tone leaves no room for bargaining on her end.
It’s at that moment that Kellan boards the plane, his hair messy from the wind and dark circles ringing his eyes from what was no doubt precious little sleep in his effort to make it here on time. “Sorry I’m—” The tug between us is sharp and sudden. His focus lands on me, those gorgeous blue eyes of his widening in surprise. And then they narrow as they turn to Karl. “What is Chloe doing here?”
“This is my question,” Lola snarls. She’s got full-on bitch face going. “Because this Council princess thinks she can—”
Kellan’s eyes flash with anger. “Don’t even think of finishing that sentence, Lola.”
Shocked, Lola finally does as Karl says and sits down.
But I’m done with this. How is this going to play if they’re going to be fighting me and Will the whole way? “If this is how it’s going to be,” I say to Karl, “then get me Zthane on the phone right now so I can tell him to send this group of jackasses straight back to Annar. I don’t need them.” A quick glance at Will has me correcting that. “We don’t need them.”
Karl rubs at his hair. I know he’s in a difficult position, but my nerves, so freshly raw from the return to Annar, won’t let this go. “You know having a team gives us our best shot.”
“Really?” I let out an ugly laugh. “That’s funny, because Will and I did just fine on our own.”
Will groans in frustration, but before he can say anything, Kellan steps in between us. “Can we all just calm down a minute so we can figure out what’s going on here? Chloe, what are you talking about?”
The Electric sitting next to Lola—Vance, I think—says in this awful, condescending tone, “Dude. She brought a non on the mission.”
Will’s finally had enough, because he finally wades in. “Wow. Karl, I’m going to concur with Chloe. Bigoted prats will not help us no matter how good you say they are.”
“Not. Another. Word,” Karl snaps at Vance. And then, to the rest of the team, “The next person who speaks out of turn will be physically removed from this plane, mission, and most likely the Guard. Councilwoman Lilywhite was absolutely right in her statement that she can have any of your sorry asses demoted at any point. I’m sorry that we did not make it clear prior, due to security reasons, but Councilwoman Lilywhite runs this mission. What she says, goes. You have a problem? There’s the door.”
That gets their attention.
“You were informed that this was an Elders mission—that much is true,” Karl continues. “Four hostiles were spotted in the region as early as twelve hours prior by Lee Acacia. However, you were not given the true mission specs. This is not merely recon.” Flip slips out from behind him and sits down on the other side of Will, which is relief. If he shows he has no problem with Will being here, then maybe the rest of the team will take pause.
Karl crosses his arms, his tone completely no-nonsense now. “Before we discuss them, there’s something that needs to be made clear. This is a top-secret assignment. No details of any part of what transpires today may be revealed to any person outside of this aircraft.” He lifts his chin briefly toward Kellan, tapping his forehead. “No one else is cleared for this. No one. Understood?”
Kellan’s eyes widen again in surprise. Karl’s ordering him to not even tell Jonah, not even their way, in their heads. But he nods and offers his assent, just as every other person on the plane does, but it’s me he chooses to focus on.