After quickly and thoroughly fucking my mate, we cleaned up and went to find our friends.
Much to our surprise, they weren’t waiting for us. The last few days had taken a toll on everyone, Declan had allowed today to rest and retreat before we returned to battle tomorrow.
Lennox and I gathered everyone, promising them we’d feed them lunch while we gave updates and made a new plan. The promise of food made them much more willing participants to join us.
The weather was starting to warm as spring crept in. Only a few piles of snow remained in the camp. We took advantage of the warmth, letting the sun shine on us as we sat on the large logs surrounding the fire as we feasted on warm bowls of soup and soft bread.
“So Luka, how does it feel to be risen from the dead?” Nico smiled as he chewed.
“I wouldn’t say I rose from the dead.”
“But you died, your heart stopped,” Kara countered.
“I had to bring you back to life,remember.” Lennox knocked her shoulder against mine. “Or did you forget that already?”
“I could never forget that, Sweetheart.” I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and placed a kiss on her temple.
“I feel fine, the same as usual.”
“Nothing feels different?”
I met Luce’s stare as I shook my head. “No.”
“What happened?” There was an edge to Lennox’s voice. “I saw everything, but I couldn’t hear anything. Why did I have to bring him back? Why didn’t you?”
“Hecate’s magic—it wouldn’t go into me anymore. I—I don’t know what happened.”
Lennox opened her mouth, I could see the fire igniting in her eyes. I gave her shoulder a squeeze. “It’s okay,” I whispered. “You brought me back, that’s all that matters. I’m here.”
Lennox pressed her lips into a thin line.
“Do we know for certain Keziq and Luka are no longer connected?” Keto asked.
“When we were in the clearing, something was happening to her—when I could feel Luka dying.” Lennox looked to Declan.
“I saw it too, she was acting similarly to how Lennox was, but I didn’t pay her too much attention. I was too focused on Lennox. By the time I left with Lennox after she collapsed, Keziq was already gone.”
“We won’t know it worked until we try and kill her and Adreona.”
“From here on out this is nothing but a straightforward war, as straightforward as it can be. There is nothing holding us back now from ending this.”
“So what’s our next move, Captain?” Alon asked as he leaned forward in his chair.
“Tomorrow we all push forward, the entire camp packsup. We push forward until the war is over. Until we are victorious or?—”
“Or we’re all dead,” Luce finished.
“Now who’s the negative one,” Lennox chided and Luce rolled her eyes. “As I see it, we’ve made it past the worst.” Lennox looked over at me. “Everything else should be easy compared to what we’ve already accomplished.”
“Oh yeah, defeating an army as well as killing its leader, the witch aiding her, and destroying the Vanir and the Panateia while trying to ensure Keziq doesn’t kill any more vampires with the spell—sounds easy enough.”
“Hava a little faith, Dec. We can do this.”
“I hope you’re right.”
For a week, we pushed the army east, it took us three days of marching to come across Adreona’s army again after they retreated. Since then, we had fought day after day, sometimes into the night. Soldiers took shifts to sleep as others continued to fight.
We wore ourselves nearly ragged the first few days, it was then Declan came up with the schedule, forcing everyone to take their scheduled breaks to rest.
