"What the fuck is wrong with these people?" Charles's deep blue eyes flared, the lazy mask slipping for half a second to show teeth. "I thought they wanted power."
"They do," Theo said, voice flat. "They just want it without consequences. They want Gabriel ornamental. They want him smiling beside Damian like a trophy while they keep doing what they've always done."
Charles's jaw clenched. "And because he's not…"
"Because he isn't," Theo finished. "Because he reads everything. Because he asks questions they don't like. Because he verifies. Because he remembers what was said last month, last year, and ten years ago, and doesn't let people rewrite their promises with a pretty tone."
Charles dragged a hand down his face like he was trying to wipe the stupidity out of the air. "He spent years under Claymore. They think that didn't sharpen him?"
