"It's not possible," Pallas hissed in a rare loss of control.
That was the thing about Pallas. As psychotic as he was, he never reacted from an emotional level. Everything he did came from cold, hard reason. And piss poor impulse management.
"He looks awful real to me," Kira observed as Graydon prowled toward her.
He looked her over, his gaze lingering on her split lip. The bruises already forming on her cheek and under her eye from the blows Pallas managed to land.
"You didn't actually think after that stunt in the palace that we wouldn't come up with countermeasures, did you?" Graydon taunted, his expression slightly murderous as he glanced at Pallas. "Naive."
Kira released a puff of air. Finally. Someone crazier than Pallas.
Jin would have loved this.
She aimed a resentful look at the J1N puttering around the ceiling. He'd been circling since their arrival, his 'eye' aimed at the ground.
Graydon glanced at Selene. "We meet again, Lady. It's good to see your condition has improved."
Selene dipped her chin in a respectful nod. "Thank you."
They each looked up at the man who'd appeared on the stair landing at some point during the chaos.
He was tall and lean with wire frame glasses that made him seem more harmless than he actually was. He looked like a scholar. Maybe a professor of some kind. The cut of his clothes did a good job of hiding the muscular physique that would have called that illusion into question.
"How is it that you both have more brawns than brains?" Alexander asked Pallas and Kira in a crisp voice.
"Fuck off," Pallas informed him, echoing Kira's sentiments exactly.
Alexander's expression tightened, his shoulders rising and falling as he fought for control.
"If you wouldn't mind releasing this," Graydon said to Selene, tapping the shield that held Kira captive.
Pallas sneered. "What's the matter? You can't handle something this simple?"
In a movement almost too fast for the eye to follow, he slashed a hand across Selene's ki shield. It collapsed, dissipating as Pallas stepped out of the cage.
"I could, but I didn’t want to be rude." Graydon bowed an inch in Selene's direction, his manner respectful but not subservient.
"You're acting childish," Selene informed Pallas.
He rolled his eyes, not responding as he stalked up the stairs. His path intersected with Alexander.
"Move," Pallas growled when the other didn't shift to allow him passage.
"There's plenty of room. Go around."
The two men faced off. Pallas on the step below. Alexander looking down at him with a superiority that would have made Kira want to smack him if she'd been in Pallas's place.
"Pallas," Selene rebuked.
Kira watched in fascination as the men stared each other down, their hostility thick enough to strangle. Admittedly, she and Jin hadn't spent much time around the forty three since becoming adults so she didn’t know if this level of antagonism was normal for them.
A boom from the chamber beyond the door ended the face off.
"Next time." Pallas shoved his shoulder into Alexander's as he moved past the other.
"Charming bunch," Graydon observed.
"You have no idea," Kira muttered, stepping out of the cage as soon as Selene dropped the walls.
Graydon probed the wound on Kira's cheek. "He got you good."
She winced, avoiding his touch. "He has a habit of doing that."
The skin over Graydon's features went tight.
Kira caught his hand before he could do anything unwise. As dangerous as he was, the forty three were united. Any threat against one was a threat against all. Even Graydon would have a hard time against such odds.
"Explain what's going on, Selene," Kira ordered as her sister came up to stand beside them.
"I can't," Selene confessed. "Pallas's orders were to check on your condition and facilitate an extraction in the event you were being held against your will. He was never supposed to kidnap you."
"Looks like someone didn't get the memo," Kira muttered.
Typical Pallas. The man was a loose cannon, way worse than Kira had ever hoped to be.
At least she'd never kidnapped anyone.
Except that one time with Odin. But those were extenuating circumstances.
"There's something else going on," Selene said with a shake of her head.
Kira's gaze caught on her, finally registering the uncertainty that Selene was trying to hide. There was apprehension on Selene's face.
"What do you mean?" Kira asked.
Selene wet her lips, her gaze darting up to find Alexander before she looked back at Kira. "They're here."
Kira's forehead creased. "How many?"
"All of them."
Kira rubbed her eyebrow in confusion. That was different. The forty three rarely gathered in force. They considered it too dangerous.
No wonder Selene was on edge.
"Does Alexander know what they want?" Kira asked.
Selene shook her head. "No."
The forty three didn't follow a strict hierarchy in the same way the Tuann or even certain factions of the Consortium, like the military, did. It was probably a consequence of their upbringing. Their ability to follow orders from anyone not themselves as poor as Kira's own.
While there were no technical leaders, there were those whose opinions and voice carried more weight.
Alexander was one of them. His role more like that of an elder than a leader. Selene would be too if she hadn't turned herself into a practical hermit to keep the children’s existence a secret from the forty three.
Except for Selene, Elise, and Alexander, Kira didn't have much cause to meet with the rest of the forty three. Pallas was more of an enemy than a friend. The others she'd encountered every now and then, but most gave her a wide berth when they came across her. The only things she really knew about them were what she remembered of them as children.
For them to exclude one of the few people Kira had significant contact with from their decision making process was a concerning development. Particularly when she was about to walk into a room with them.
"They're forming factions," Kira noted softly.
She never thought she'd see the day. They'd always been so united.
Selene seemed as troubled by that prospect as Kira.
"What do they want?"
"I don't know," Selene confessed.
Kira looked up to find Alexander watching them closely. If she didn't know better, she'd say she and Selene weren't the only ones worried.
"Kira," Selene called, the soft ache in her voice making Kira still.
She could see the guilt that haunted Selene. The question of 'what if' likely keeping her up at night. Maybe she could have prevented this, she'd tell herself. If only she'd been there.
That was the thing, though. The past didn't change just because you wanted it to. The only thing guilt accomplished was wearing you down and destroying your soul.
"I want to go with you," Selene confessed.
Of course, she did. She'd raised Elena when it was too dangerous for Kira to do so. Her protective nature and sense of responsibility were why Kira had entrusted her with Elena in the first place.