The Swarm Trilogy by Megg Jensen Page B

Think about it.”
    I placed my hands on my lap and stared at my fingernails. I didn’t know where else to look. My heart was filled with love for Mags and the boys, but the newfound fire within me burned for the destruction of the Fithian king. I wanted revenge. I wanted Rotlar to pay for what they did to my people.
    “I know you need time to think about all of this, but I have only one thing to ask of you,” he said. I looked up into his eyes, the same blue eyes as mine. “Please don’t tell Kellan about me. I don’t know why the men who visited us didn’t tell him, but maybe they had their reasons.”
    “The men?” I asked, remembering that the king had just captured and killed them. “They were coming to see me, weren’t they?”
    Bryden nodded. “I would assume so. They visited me and Kellan, it only makes sense they were coming to see you as well.”
    They died because of me. The king killed them and it was all my fault. Guilt gnawed at my belly, only making the fires dance higher.
    I’d all but forgotten about finding Kellan when he walked up to Bryden and me on the bench. He stared at us, looking at one face and then another. His eyebrows arched and his head tilted to one side.
    “What’s going on here?” he asked.
    “We were just chatting,” I said. Bryden sat silently beside me.
    “Chatting? Really? I was under the impression you and I were together and here I find you with another guy.” Kellan smiled, his attempt at a joke, but it fell flat. We both knew he wanted information and that he wasn’t questioning my feelings for him. He didn’t trust me.
    “I guess I shouldn’t be worried.” Kellan’s eyes narrowed. He stared at Bryden. “With that leg, a warrior like Lianne would never have any interest in you anyway.”
    He turned back to me, a smile on his face just like the twelve-year-old boy who’d spent his free time torturing Bryden. I sat in stunned silence. He hadn’t been that overtly rude to Bryden since we were children. We were practically adults, dealing with adult problems, and he had to pull out a childish remark like that. What was wrong with him?
    “Are you coming?” Kellan held out his hand to me.
    I glanced over at Bryden. He still looked down, not willing to meet either of our eyes. If it had been me, I would have been shaking with anger. Instead Bryden sat there, taking Kellan’s insults without responding. Why didn’t he fight back?
    “You don’t need his permission,” Kellan said.
    Now Bryden looked up, his eyes meeting mine. I noticed they were a lighter blue than Kellan’s eyes. Subtler. Kinder. The anger resurfaced. I tried pushing it down, remembering how I’d felt not long ago after meditating, but I couldn’t.
    Heat rose into my cheeks. I could barely control myself. Kellan was trying to take over. Bryden sat there like a child, unwilling to do anything to help himself. Both of them were pissing me off.
    “I don’t need your permission, either,” I spat back at Kellan. It wasn’t his place to tell me who I could or couldn’t talk to. I expected him to explode back at me, but instead he threw his head back and laughed.
    Bryden rolled his eyes and I clenched my fists. I had to control myself or I’d go insane. For the moment I hated both of them, instead of just the Fithians.
    “I’m leaving,” I announced. Let Kellan be alone with his cockiness and Bryden with his timidity.
    I stood up and walked away. I didn’t want to be around either of them right now. Bryden wanted me to be able to control my anger enough to find a peaceful solution and Kellan wanted me to channel it into a death plot. I wasn’t ready for either.
    Worst of all, I couldn’t control myself around either of them.
     

CHAPTER NINE
    Footsteps pounded behind me and I knew it was Kellan. Not because Bryden couldn’t run, but because I knew every sound Kellan made. Training with him for years gave me intimate knowledge of his movements. I’d learned which way he’d attack