So all around the dining table and spilling into the living room, we raised our glasses of whiskey and wine—and chocolate milk for Reva—and for the span of one incredible meal, we allowed ourselves to relax. To drink. To laugh. To just be.
But by the time the dinner dishes were cleared and the coffee andtres lechescake appeared, the mood had shifted. It was like we all sensed it at the same time—an invisible threat, still hanging over our heads, still lurking just outside the door.
“I feel like we’re still missing a lot of pieces to this puzzle,” Gray began, sneaking something under the table to one of her hounds. “But we can’t sit around waiting for answers that may never come. Especially not after what happened to you guys on the road tonight. We need to make a plan of attack.”
“Attack?” Reva set down the bite of cake she’d been about to take, the color draining from her face. She looked up at Gray, who was seated next to her. “I thought you guys were done fighting. Everyone’s here. Everyone got out. Even Emilio is better.”
Gray ran a hand over Reva’s fuzzy head. “We didn’t geteveryoneout, sweets. Jonathan had been keeping and tormenting other supernaturals besides witches. We can’t just turn our backs on them.”
“I know, but… What about their own people? Why does it have to be you guys?” The poor kid looked terrified, and I couldn’t blame her. These witches had become her family. We all had, in a very short time at that. She didn’t want to lose a single one of us.
“Because we know about the situation,” Gray said, “and together, we have the power to do something about it.” She took Reva’s hand in hers and smiled, her whole face lighting up with pride. “It’s kind of like when you guys were stuck in the caves. You were the only one who knew another way out, and even though it was a huge personal risk, you took it. You slipped away from the guards and snuck out right under their noses. Right?”
“I guess.”
“Look around, Reva. All these amazing witches sitting here tonight? That smart-ass demon over there snarfing down his fourth piece of cake, even though everyone else hasn’t even had one yet?” Gray grinned at Asher, who laughed with his damn mouth full, then shrugged and shoved in another bite. “They’re all here because of you. Because they were in trouble, and you had the power to do something about it, and you did it. No questions or second-guessing.”
“I’ll drink to that.” McKenna raised her glass again, nodding at Reva, and the rest of the witches and Ash followed suit.
Reva’s cheeks glowed pink once again, and she nodded and took another big gulp of her chocolate milk, looking about six years old instead of sixteen. Damn, sometimes it was easy to forget shewasjust a kid—one whose sense of security and normalcy had been stolen from her, time and again. By Norah. By whoever shit-ass adults abused or just plain lost track of her in the first place.
We’re not gonna let that happen again, kiddo…
“One thing’s for sure,” Ash said now. “The whole lure-them-out plan is shot to shit. From what you said about those mountain lion shifters, they’ve definitely got eyes on us. No way they’re taking the bait.”
“Agreed,” Beaumont said. “So that’s where our plan of attack comes in. It seems we’ll have to take the fight to them after all.”
“You talking about the Bay?” Emilio asked. He gestured for Elena to pass him the cake, and cut himself a hefty slice. I still couldn’t believe how good he looked—even better than before the fight at the warehouse. The fact that he was even sitting here with us was a damn miracle. But smiling? Happy?
“You still thinking about our roll in the snow?” he asked, and it took me a half-second to realize he was talking about me. The whole table erupted in laughter. “You’re looking at me like you want to make out or something.”
“There’s not enough whiskey in this whole town to make that happen.” I lifted my coffee mug, which was half full of the stuff anyway, and grinned, taking a big gulp. “I was just thinking that the whole coming-back-from-the-brink-of-death thing is a good look on you.”
“And I’ll drink tothat.” He lifted his mug and stretched across the table to clink it against mine.
“We’re all drinking to that.” Elena laughed and reached for the bottle of whiskey at the center of the table, topping off her own coffee, then passing the bottle to Gray. Around the table it went.
When we’d all settled down again, McKenna said, “Okay, so how can we bring the fight to the Bay? Jael said there’s no way in, not even by a sneak attack. We can’t even get close.”
“Anyone got any ideas?” I asked. “Any magic we haven’t thought of, spells we could use, weapons, something…”
Reva raised her hand. “Oh! I have an idea.”
I bit back a laugh, totally picturing her in school, squirming out of her chair to answer the teacher’s question.Pick me! Pick me!
“If it’s your idea, it’s bound to be good,” Gray said, and Reva grinned. “Let’s hear it.”
“What if I did something with my shadow traveling? I don’t know anything about disabling fae magic, but I might be able to get into the city astrally and snoop around. Maybe I could, like, spy? Find out what kind of spell they’re using or what else is happening over there? Anything could help.”
“It’s… possible.” Jael tapped an elegant finger against his coffee mug as he considered it. “Since she wouldn’t be physically trying to get into the Bay, the magic wouldn’t necessarily register her presence. She may be able to slip through.”
“Wouldn’t they have accounted for something like that though?” Haley asked. “Seems like a pretty big flaw in their security.”
“But they don’t even know about her,” Ash said. “You saw this little badass in the caves, Hay. She snuck out right under their noses, and they never gave it a second thought.”
“Shadow travelingisquite rare,” Jael said. “I don’t believe we’ve come across a witch with that power in decades. It’s unlikely that Orendiel and the hunters would’ve concerned themselves with something like that—they can’t possibly account for all variables. They’re more focused on Gray and the other supernaturals sitting around this table. Honestly, they may not even realize how strong the rest of the witches are. They may believe they’re still in a weakened state after the prison ordeal.”
“Yeah, underestimating us is kind of a hunter specialty,” McKenna said. “Dicks.”
