ravaged hearts

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE,

  'Then the main problems would be Voronin, Seo and Bassanio." They were the leaders and the heavy hitters—the Falcons favoured the strong. They'd managed to beat Voronin and Seo in a three-against-two, but they'd had the advantage of surprise on their side. And some of the other Falcons there, like Janna Kane and Rivon Ji, could also do serious damage if not properly dealt with.

  Io frowned. It was a bit difficult to come up with a proper tactic, especially knowing that all their planning would probably go into the trash the moment the attack began. She murmured, "We really need the number advantage. They'd be expecting it, I think, to some extent, so we'll have to rely on overpowering them in sheer combat."

  "That," he said, "is not an advantage we have. We have two wiccai. Some of the strongest Falcons could decimate a small squadron of soldiers."

  "We're not a small squadron of soldiers, Louis," Io deadpanned. "I assume your superiors in Vayante have brains and will send people with sufficient experience fighting against them instead of some random, young, inexperienced agents. If we outnumber them we'll have a chance."

  "I hope so," he murmured, clearly troubled. "Your father's moving back inside."

  "He finally made a good choice. This sun is killing me."

  Louis said, "I'll never understand how your skin is so bloody pale."

  Io rubbed her cheek. "Genetics. And antisocial, reclusive behaviour, clearly."

  "That makes no sense whatsoever."

  "Focus, Louis."

  They turned their attention back to the pretty picture hidden through the foliages. The prince—her father had vanished back into the base, leaving Seo and Bassanio outside, discussing something in what seemed like a hushed tone, not that Io could actually tell, being so far away. Louis said he could pick up a few words if everything was quiet, but he'd given up after a few minutes and sent a bird over instead. It would return eventually and probably give him some half-complete summary of the conversation, and they'll have to make do with that.

Let's hope what they get is actually relevant. Call her biased, but Io had some inherent doubt regarding the eavesdropping ability of birds. Maybe it was the fact she couldn't understand them, maybe that was it. If Louis had used them before, they were probably at least slightly useful and reliable. She had that much faith in him.

  "Any chance you could get the bird to come back now?" Io whispered.

  Louis said, "Be patient, Io. If they do it too frequently it'll look suspicious."

  "No it wouldn't. I'd just seem like there's a nest here."

  "What if one of them sees the bird and watches the direction it flies in and then accidentally spots us, huh?" he questioned, shifting slightly in the bush. "That would be a disaster. Me, maybe I can get away. You? You may be able to fight against wiccai, Io, but you aren't one."

  Io said, "They used to make me race against Ronan."

  "And you lost."

  "And I lost."

  Louis just sighed. "Is that supposed to be... surprising?"

  Io pretended to give it some thought, then finally grudgingly admitted, "No. No, it's not. It's not surprising at all."

  "Precisely." He smiled. She hated when he was right, especially when she argued her own way into a wall, and she realised she did that a lot.

  That was something else about her she needed to work on.