GATHER ALLIES

IVAN POV

For a minute, no one said anything, no one spoke. The only sound I could hear was the sound of blood rushing to my head. It felt like a raging storm was building within me, each pulse hammering against my temples. 

"The fuck did you just say?" Harald growled out, the tone low and menacing. 

Langmore shifted uneasily, but didn't back down, his eyes darting between us as he spoke again. "We fear that is the only option we have now!" He was trying to sound resolute, but the crack in his voice betrayed him. He agreed with what Remington had said, no doubt. They all did. But the coward still couldn't bring himself to look me directly in the eye.

Kiran, standing just behind me, chuckled darkly, the sound like the rumble of an approaching storm. "And you still chose to say that?" he asked, his voice smooth, but sharp as a blade. "Out of all the words you could say, you chose that?"