Page 134 of Commanding Scythe and Sky

“War crimes?” I scoffed. Alec and August exchanged a loaded glance, and then Alec’s eyes dropped to his hands, slowly turning over… a tin box?

“Hanging the bodies from the outposts is a bit excessive, don’t you think?”

Before August could respond, Freya cut in. “Those were lures for a trap—brilliant, if you ask me. Claimed at least one of those motherfuckers in Austin.”

“The desecration of corpses is satanic.”

I didn’t bother hiding my eye roll. “Please. These are the Renown, Reyna.”

“Unlike the Paladins, my convictions don’t waver because the victim does.”

“Victim?” Ajéí nearly choked on her tea. “Let’s be serious. These beasts are demon puppets. Far worse atrocities are being carried out by their hands.”

“Or have you not scraped their victims off the ground as we have?” Kai added seamlessly. “Every city they claim, they ransack. They rape women and children, break their spirits, take them as slaves. The few souls we’ve recovered will never be the same.”

“As is the way of war. None of us will be the same,” Reyna countered.

“Exactly,” I growled, fiercely defensive of Freya’s blood.

August’s tone went flat. Lethal. “You of all people know what it is to exact justice for those too weak to do it themselves. Tell me you never snapped when you walked into those brothels and found children bent to the will of evil.”

“My strikes were calculated, not executed in a man-tantrum.”

“Then why don’t we all bow at your feet, since clearly you are a better soul than I?” August snarled. Purple split the sky beyond the windows, thunder rolling hard enough to tremble the walls. “Because no, I cannot stay my hand when I find a monster raping a teenage girl or whipping a mortal man to death. I will not apologize for acting swiftly and without remorse.”

Freya grimaced beside me, but Reyna was faster. “I’m not talking about defending the defenseless. I’m talking about the trail of mutilated bodies you leave behind. If we resort to torturing our enemy’s soldiers, we become as corrupt as they are in the process.”

“And you believe them to be random soldiers?” he growled, one brow rising.

Fuck, I’d carried out my share of interrogations under Reagan’s rule—and for crimes a hell of a lot milder than the ones August now played judge and jury over.

“I’m sure you’ve justified the means in your own mind, Mr. Porter.”

“Commander,” Marcus rumbled, clearly displeased. Sire’s dark eyes flicked between his friend and the pissed-off blonde across the table as Marcus emphasized, “Commander Porter.”

“That has yet to be seen.”

“What the hell does that mean?” I ground out through my teeth. I was so fucking sick of her shit. Freya and I might not see eye to eye on every damn thing, but her dedication—and August’s—to this cause was unparalleled.

“In order to bear the title of leader, one must lead. A rogue agent answering to no one, bypassing our votes, acting alone doesn’t exactly fit the bill. Does it?”

“They have his mate,” Kingsley deadpanned, surprising the hell out of me. The man usually stayed silent until someone called for a vote. “Count yourself lucky he hasn’t torched the realm in the process.”

“He’s torched plenty. The collateral in his wake is unheard of. Where are the humans supposed to go if he incinerates their cities?”

“And their captors along with them?” Sire demanded. “Commander Gwyn, I see where you’re coming from, but I’ve yet to meet a mortal who holds this man in anything less than the esteem of a god.”

“There is one God.”

“Then perhaps you should consider that the humans believe him to be on that level. They fucking pray to him—for him to save them. I say let the soul carry on.”

“We cannot debase ourselves to the cruelty of the enemy.”

“And how many cities have you reclaimed, oh magnanimous one?” Freya asked, her voice so lethally low that goosebumps rippled down my spine. “There’s more power in this room than in most mortal pantheons, and yet our greatest victories have come on my brother’s back. As Sire said, I don’t hear the mortals complaining.”

“Before the siege, Alvara and Aren built the framework for a plan. In their absence, I will do everything in my power to enact it,” August said calmly—either unbothered or even better at shielding than I’d thought.

“Dark magic?!” Reyna spat, every syllable a challenge. “Their plan entailed unleashin’ dark magic?”