Elena reached for the coffee carafe, topping off a few of our mugs. “Okay, in theory, I like Reva’s idea. We can protect her physically, and she can sneak into the city with her shadow mojo. But she still has to get close to the Bay, and I’m not sure how to do that. Between the storm, the road closures, and the risk of exposure to Darkwinter spies, it’d be a pretty big gamble.”
“Well, it’s not so much the distance that’s a problem,” Reva said. “I was able to get to Gray in that fireplace, right? And that was while I was here in the cave prison, and she was staying at the safe house near the Bay. So, it’s the same distance, basically.”
“So you think you can do it from here?” Elena asked her.
“Not at the moment. I mean, I couldgetthere, sure. But I don’t think I could hold a clear connection for very long. Like that time with Gray, I was only able to get a few words out. Same with Emilio the first time I traveled to see him in the woods.”
“Right,” Emilio said. “It’d felt like a bad connection. It was easier for me to pick up on it in my wolf form, but even then, it was spotty and didn’t last very long.”
“And for this to work,” Elena said, “you’d need more time in there. Not just to spy, but to be sure you weren’t seen in the process. If they spotted you, even astrally, they’d know about our secret weapon, and you’d be on their radar in a big way. I won’t take that risk.”
“I can do it,” Reva said. “I know I can. I just need to practice. I need to work on sustaining the connection and keeping it clear.”
“We can all help her with that,” McKenna said, and the other witches nodded. “It’s not like we’re going anywhere with this storm, anyway.”
Elena finally agreed. “Let’s see how the practices go. We’ll check in a couple of days and figure out next steps.”
“Okay, so that’s a good start,” Gray said, passing Asher yet another piece of cake. I didn’t know how that bastard wasn’t four hundred pounds by now. “Hopefully Reva’s insights can help us track down Orendiel and pinpoint his base of operations. That way, if we can figure out how to break the magical security, we’ll know the primary target in the city.”
“I still feel like there’s someone higher up pulling the strings,” Emilio said. “Not just the council, but someone else. Someone with much bigger aspirations.”
“Bigger than wiping out supernaturals from the inside out, and stealing witches’ power?” Gray asked.
“I mean, those are major things,” Emilio said. “But hunters have always wanted that. And no offense, Jael, but you can’t tell me the fae are totally cool with witches and other supers having magic. That’s always been a sore point with the council.”
“Snobs,” Asher fake-coughed into his hand.
“No, you’re right,” Jael said. “I’m afraid my kind has always held a bit of an elitist attitude toward magic. But most of us have made peace with the fact that we have to share it. Most of us have no interest in subjugating witches or anyone else for that matter.”
“Still,” Emilio said, “some of you do. Darkwinter, specifically. So this is really nothing new for them, it’s just happening on a much bigger scale. But at the end of the day, Orendiel is still just a soldier. And so are Talia and Fenlos. I’m telling you guys, my gut says there’s more to this than just a coup.”
The house fell silent, all of us sipping our spiked coffee, nibbling on the last crumbs of cake. I sensed the mood shift again, the hope we’d built up slipping dangerously close to despair once again.
Not tonight. No fucking way.
“Look, guys,” I said. “The other night, Beaumont said we can’t let fear and speculation sidetrack us, and he’s right. We need to stick with the known quantities, and right now, that’s Orendiel and the Bay.”
The vampire nodded at me across the table. “Thank you, hellspawn. I didn’t know you’d been listening.”
I grinned at him. “What can I say, bloodsucker? I’m full of surprises.” Then, to the rest of the group, “So we’re in agreement? Gather intel on Orendiel and the Bay, figure out a way to get in there and neutralize the Darkwinter Knights, and take it from there. With enough witches on our side, I’m pretty sure we can show those huntersandthe dark fae straight to the fucking door.”
“With enough witches?” At this, Gray’s eyes suddenly lit up. “Wait. I might have an idea on how we can get in.”
“Don’t keep us in suspense, Cupcake,” Asher said.
“We all know that witches help keep the power balance in check,” she said. “That’s why it was so easy for Orendiel’s Knights to destabilize the Bay and lock it up with fae mojo. Most of the witches had been imprisoned, murdered, or chased out, leaving the city wide open for a new power to slip in.”
“Yes,” Emilio said. “By the time we left the Bay to come here, the power structure was already crumbling. That’s when we started seeing a rise in supernatural-related crimes. The Bay was essentially falling apart before our eyes, and there wasn’t a damn thing we could do about it.”
“So… What if we could counteract Darkwinter by restoring some of the power balance in the city?” she asked.
“What do you mean?” McKenna asked. “How?”
“We’ve got about two dozen witches in this house alone.” Gray rose from her chair, her excitement building. “I’m sure we could bring even more into the fold if we put the word out in the Cape and some of the neighboring towns.”
“You know, that’s not a bad idea,” Elena said. “We can check in with Verona Braden—she owns the metaphysical shop where Delilah was last seen. If anyone would know how to get in touch with the witches of Raven’s Cape, it’d be her.”
“Here’s what I’m thinking,” Gray continued. “We start putting the word out. Get everyone together. Bide our time a bit, train, figure out when it’s right for Reva to slip in there and poke around. Using her intel, we’ll narrow down our main targets and anything else we need to know. Then, assuming we get a large enough contingent of witches, we ride out to the Bay, see if we can break that spell with our own collective magic.”
