elleryjackson:
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They’re more methodical in carrying out the order than he likes, too calm and collected. His finger twitches on the trigger, wanting to just end it but not before he sees them both suffer at the hands of one another. When Presley finishes, he nods, “Again. Paint me a pretty picture on her arms. Don’t stop until I tell you to.” His gaze finds Ellery, a sneer playing on ‘Codie’s’ lips. Anger flashes over her features as the words hit him. This level of anger doesn’t belong there, and maybe neither does he. But Elias doesn’t fucking care about playing by their rules, not anymore. “It’ll get me hard, beta bitch.” Metaphorically, at least. And it’s spat out in much of the same tone that Ellery bit at him. The rifle inches closer, his stance betraying his itch to just end them. End her. “What you’re not fucking getting–” And his tone is almost teasing. “Is that this is just about you right now. I’ve stewed and stewed for months and it all boils down to.. you and the witches. All those wolves who blindly followed, they’ll get their due. They’ll suffer when the witches turn their back. After all, we’re not exactly wanted here, are we? And you? You’re just the first in line.” He begins to pace now, gun always at the ready, but unable to keep the restless, angry energy bottled for too long. “At the end of the day– we’re just pets, collared and leashed and we’re supposed to die for a cause that none of us even had a say in in the first place. At least I died for something I believed in.”
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She doesn’t move her arm, not an inch, only gives Presley a side eye as an okay for her to proceed. She’ll heal. The scar will fade in a week, the pain she can handle; she’s had worse, nothing like the pain of feeling Noah die twice. Everything else would never even come close to it. Ellery watches Codie – or Codie’s body – pace back and forth in the room, still keeping her gaze trained on the gun. But she gives him nothing, not a flinch, not a hint of fear in her eyes. She won’t give him what he wants, so instead, there’s a laugh that gets caught in her throat; maybe she’s trying to provoke him, rile him up, the more damage he does the more likely it is he’ll alert one of their witches, or the more he’ll stall by monologuing his way through. “Goddess, you’ve really got it all twisted, even in the afterlife don’t you? I knew you’ve always been a little pathetic, but you’ve really outdone yourself this time. You could’ve walked out the door any day, Elias. Took your ‘boys’ with you, but you didn’t, because it was never about you thinking we’re some kind of thing to any of them, it was always about your ego. You couldn’t make alpha, because everyone knew even when you were a little boy that you were fucked up in the head. Even when Derrick made you beta to compromise because he knew your’d spiral out of control. Its always been about you, because you’ve always been a selfish, reckless, tunnel visioned sociopath. All of the hurt and the pain you left behind? You spit on the memory of your father, your mother, all of the Irvings. What is it that they say? One bad apple spoils it for the rest? You died for nothing. You died alone and for nothing. Nobody remembers you as nothing but a wolf who went off the fucking rails. Nobody even brings you up anymore. Nobody cares”.
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Presley doesn’t push Elias the way that Eden does. Now that she’s knows it’s him in Codie’s body, her whole focus is on the situation. If Ellery’s going to keep his attention and keep him busy, give him an outlet for all of those monologues he was so good at, then she’s going to do what’s being asked of her, no matter how much it flips her stomach, dragging the dagger in her hand along Ellery’s palms and arms in even slices. They’re deep enough to hopefully satisfying what Elias is looking for but not so deep that blood loss would become some kind of problem. For now. She’s sure this won’t be the end of this. But Ellery’s good at buying time her way, and Presley buys it this way, quiet, pensive. She can’t tell if one of their witches interrupting is the right solution or the wrong one. With Elias standing there holding a gun. They have vampires in the house but vampire can’t heal an exploded head. She’s not sure how many bullets are in the gun and wishes they had Isa. Because Isa would know. Presley regrets not having the foresight to ask. The list in her head of ways to be a better soldier always growing.









