Torn Sky (Rebel Wing Trilogy, Book 3) (Rebel Wing Series) by Tracy Banghart

the bigger concern, Wards, is how.” Commander Freni’s face twisted into angry lines. “As with Spiro, a bomb blew
within
Feln’s walls. Before the attack began.”
    “Was it a spy?” Pyralis rolled a stylus between his fingers, a nervous habit. “I thought we’d concluded the man died by his own bomb in the Spiro attack.”
    Commander Quin cleared his throat. “Truthfully, we don’t know. We thought the leak was isolated to Spiro, but now—”
    “Now we’re back to square one.” Galena moved away from the wall of glass, pausing behind a high-backed velvet chair a few steps away. Her frustration spilled out. “And we’re facing an enemy who has no respect for human life or the rules of war. Ward Balias has entrapped his own people, abused his dominion’s children. He’s abducted a foreign leader, used spies to weaken our defenses, and is developing a weapon that will destroy us all. And how have we responded?” She pounded her fist on the back of the chair. “With weakness! We need
more
. We need to use his methods against him.”
    Pyralis twisted to stare at her. “What do you mean?”
    Galena clutched the chair with white-knuckled hands. A wellspring of righteous fury bubbled from deep within her, overshadowing everything else. “I mean ending trade with Castalia until Ward Rosum agrees to send troops to our aid. I mean bombing Safara’s power grid. I mean assassinating Balias.” She stared at Atalanta’s commanders, both of whom were turned toward Pyralis, gauging his reaction. “Safara is winning because Balias is ruthless. That’s what we need to be.”
    “The Peace Accords—” Pyralis began.
    “I don’t care. We don’t have the
luxury
of honor anymore.” Galena’s jaw snapped shut. Maybe she’d been spending too much time in Elom’s cell after all. But she was tired of being on the defensive. Tired of constantly being one step behind. “We’ve already killed some of the Balias doubles. Let’s kill the real man. We know where he is now.”
    Pyralis’s shock unsettled her, but she hardened herself to it. This was war. One they
had
to win.
    “Where is Alistar?” Galena asked, turning her gaze from Pyralis to Lieutenant Latza. “Has he made any progress?”
    Latza’s expression remained impassive. “He’s reached the palace and requested an audience with Ward Balias. The meeting is set for tomorrow.”
    “Good,” Galena stated. “Have him do it.”
    Pyralis stood up abruptly. “That’s not your call. You may be an ally, but this war is Atalanta’s.”
    For a long minute they stared each other down, as much adversaries as they were ever allies.
    With a dangerous edge to her voice, she began, “If we take him out—”
    “We’ll ensure retaliation. Against Alistar
and
Atalanta.” Pyralis made his way to her, ignoring everyone else in the room. He stopped on the other side of the chair. “We need to find the bomb
first.
Killing Balias won’t stop the invasion while they still hold all the cards. You know this.”
    Galena’s wave of frustration and anger began to wane. He was right. This wasn’t her dominion. She’d made it Ruslana’s fight, yes, but Pyralis would choose how far to go.
    “What if Alistar can’t get the location of the weapon?” she asked, her voice softer. “What reason does Balias have to trust ‘Elom’ now, after his fall out of favor? If Alistar kills him, at least we’ll have struck a major blow. Their military will be in disarray. Perhaps the Safarans opposed to the war will rise up. Our ‘Elom’ could take over the leadership and broker peace.”
    Pyralis shook his head, but he no longer stared at her as if she were a stranger. “It’s a pleasing thought. But it’s a risk we can’t take until we have the bomb.”
    She opened her mouth to tell him what she thought of the risk of not acting, but he held up a hand. “We have to give our operative the chance to get the intel.” Pyralis stepped closer, never breaking eye contact, as