Silversbane blood had allowed my mother—a witch—to survive the change and become a vampire.
And it would do the same for me.
Forty-Seven
GRAY
“Out of the question.” Darius folded his arms over his chest, his mouth pressed into a grim line.
Lined up inside the mausoleum, Asher, Ronan, and Emilio stood at his side, the fire in their eyes smoldering, the stiffness in their muscles telling me exactly where they stood on the matter.
Only Liam stood at my back. Only Liam understood.
“I’m asking you to give me the strength to protect myself,” I said. “The power. The freedom of choice.”
“You’re asking me to condemn you to a life of blood and death,” he snarled. “You will lose your soul, Gray. I cannot—Iwillnot facilitate that.”
“I won’t lose my soul.” I placed my hand over his heart, offering a tender smile. “My soul is here. With you. All of you. As long as we’re together in this world, it—”
“No, Gray.” He grabbed my wrist, his grip almost painful. Anger coursed through his blood, making his skin hot. “That’s not enough. As far as I’m concerned, this world doesn’t even exist without you.Youare the beating heart of it, love.Ourbeating heart. If we lose you, none of it is worth it. There’s no more fight. No more reason.”
“My soul is promised to Sebastian!” I shouted.
How many more times would we have to go over this? Why couldn’t they understand?
“There are two outcomes here, guys. Only two. Either we lose this war, and I die fighting, because I’m not immortal like Darius and Ronan and Ash. Or by some miracle, we win, and after all the dust settles, Sebastian shows up to collect on my contract. I’ll never see any of you again. Don’t you get that?”
“You don’t need immortality,” Darius said. “You’ve got magic, and—”
“My magic isn’t enough. You saw what happened in there tonight. If it wasn’t for Liam, I’d already be gone. I need strength. Speed. Predatory instincts. There’s a full-on war coming to our doorstep, Darius—”
“One you don’t have to fight alone.” He gestured beyond the flagstone path to the spot where the rest of the group had gathered, waiting for us to take them back to camp. “All those witches out there—”
“They’re depending on me to lead them! To rise up and claim my legacy.”
“And youwill. You’ll rise up like the witch you are. That power is already inside you, Gray.”
“It sounds nice, doesn’t it?” I asked. “Like something you could print on a T-shirt or make into an internet meme, right? But the reality is… We don’t stand a chance. Not a real one, not for the long haul. How many more nights like this can we take? Jael is dead. Everyone else is beat up and exhausted. And we haven’t even scratched the surface of what’s coming. We’re lucky we survived the night. How do you think Blackmoon Bay is going to roll out? And that’s assuming we can even get there in time.”
I clutched my head in my hands, drawing a deep breath, trying to dial down the anger. I didn’t want to fight them on this. I just wanted to make them understand. To feel the rightness of this. To grant me my choice.
“I know what I’m asking you to do,” I said. “I know the risks. But for the first time since I was a little kid, I have real faith in my magic. In my intuition. And most importantly, in my blood. My mother survived the change because she’s Silversbane, just like me.”
“You don’t know that’s what allowed her to survive,” Darius said. “There could be any number of reasons—”
“Therecouldbe, but there aren’t.” I pressed my hands to my chest, the magic rising to the surface, pulsing against my palms. “I canfeelthe rightness in this.Thisis my path. Please, Darius. I want this, but I won’t do it without your support.” I turned to look at each of them, imploring them. “That goes for all of you. I’m asking you to back me up on this. I’m asking you to trust that I know what’s right for myself, for my body. I’m asking you to trustme.”
“Youwilllose your soul,” Darius said again, but his resolve was finally weakening, and I smiled, shining a light through the tiny crack he’d left behind.
“Actually, my soul might have another option.” I looked at Liam as a new idea dawned and rose inside me like the sun, fresh hope filling my chest, bolstering my plan.
Liam understood my intention immediately, but his eyes dimmed, and he shook his head. “I would do anything for you, Gray. But I’m fully human now. I no longer possess the power to create moonglass or to guide your soul into its orb.”
“Perhaps not,” a voice echoed from beyond the shadows of the mausoleum, and we all turned toward the sound. Weak and bloodied, burned and weary, but alive, Jael stepped through the doorway at the top of the stairs, his yellow eyes glittering in the darkness. “But I do.”
Forty-Eight
GRAY
