Knowledge was ammunition, and now, we had a stockpile.
“You guys followed me into hell once before,” I said. “Some of you are still recovering from that night at the crypt—and others never will. You put everything on the line that night, and now, I’m going to ask you to do it all over again.”
“You don’t have to ask usshit,” McKenna said from the back of the room. “We’ve got your back, girl. No question.”
The others quickly voiced their agreement, and I smiled, grateful for the boost.
“The same caveat we established before still applies,” I said anyway, just in case. “And this goes for new friends, too. Anyone who wants to tap out can do so, no questions asked. You will always have a home here, so long as the rest of us are able to provide and protect it. But I have to be honest with you, guys. This is a balls-to-the-wall, all-hands-on-deck kind of situation. If ever we needed the numbers, it’s now.”
“We’re here for you, Gray.” This from the yellow-eyed witch who’d been imprisoned in the caves with Haley and McKenna. “We’re here for each other. I know I speak for everyone in this room when I say that. This is family now.You’refamily.”
“Here, here,” came another call, and a few witches let out a whistle, showing their support.
“I… I feel the same,” I said, emotion threatening to cut off my words. I swallowed past the tightness in my throat, then continued. “The fight at the cemetery was hard-won—for those on the front lines as well as for the brave souls who’d been imprisoned there. But from the enemy’s perspective, the cemetery was just a minor outpost. Blackmoon Bay is ground zero for their entire operation, and it’s no longer simply the home we’re trying to take back. It’s the spark that will eventually set the whole world on fire.
“I know we talked about this last time, but it bears repeating: this is not just about our own lives, but the lives of everyone we’ve ever loved. If we fail, we willalldie. Witches, shifters, vampires, demons, fae,andhumankind. None will be left standing. Not one soul but the few who’ve masterminded the entire collapse.”
Haley and Addie joined me at the front of the room, and together we passed along all of the pertinent intelligence we’d gathered from the blood spell vision. Emilio, Elena, and detectives Lansky and Hobb shared their thoughts on the likely scenarios we’d face once we got past the fae’s magical borders and into the city proper, assuming we could get in at all. And those who’d been imprisoned shed more light on the types of hybrids they’d encountered inside, along with details about the fucked-up weaponry both Jonathan and his father had been working on.
“Well,” I finally said, certain the picture we’d painted couldn’t get any bleaker, “I’m afraid that’s all the good news we’ve got for you tonight.”
Everyone laughed, breaking the tension just a fraction.
“If that’s the good news, what’s the bad?” Detective Hobb asked.
“We’re outta booze and the roads are fucked,” Asher said, inspiring a chorus of groans and more laughter from the crowd. “That’s about as bad as it gets in my book.”
Taking advantage of the levity, I closed my eyes and took a moment to reset. Again, I thought about all of the people gathered here before me, all the people counting on me. I thought of my two sisters standing beside me, strong and beautiful women who I’d only just found again after two decades of separation. I thought of Georgie, trapped by a delusional, dangerous psychopath. I thought of the men that I loved, the men that I wanted to build a life with.
My heart expanded in my chest.
When the noise died down again, I opened my eyes to find the entire room looking at me, their smiles encouraging, their gazes serious but hopeful. No doubt they were thinking about their own loved ones, their own dreams of the future, their own reasons for fighting against these nearly impossible odds.
They were counting on me—each and every one of them. In that moment, amidst the laughter and the tears, the darkness and the light, I felt the weight of their collective hope settle firmly on my shoulders. It was, I realized now, mine to carry.
But it wasn’t a burden.
It was an honor. I would die for them. Not just the men I loved, not just my sisters. But every one of the witches and allies gathered in this room.
And I suspected they felt the same way. Darkness had brought us together, but through that togetherness, we would fight our way back to the light.
I blinked away tears before anyone saw them fall. When it came to translating messages from the heart, words were a limited medium.
But I had to try.
“Despite what the Silversbane prophecy says about leadership and uniting covens and all that stuff…” I shook my head, those limited words crashing into each other and getting stuck on the way out. “Guys, I'm not really one for big speeches. I just want you to know that I appreciate each and everyone of you so much. I know what we’re facing, and I know it won’t be easy. I don’t really have any big inspirational words or battle cries, but I can tell you what always helps me keep the monsters at bay. It’s pretty simple, really.” I looked at each of my men in turn and smiled. “You just remember the ones you love, and know that everything you’re doing is for them. And if you’re on your own right now, then I want you to look in the mirror tonight before you go to bed. Take a good look. Trulyseethat woman looking back at you. Memorize the color of her eyes, the shape of her face, the sound of her laughter. When things get dark out there, when things are at their most hopeless and bleak, know that whatever demons we face, whatever bombs are dropped at our feet, whatever evil befalls us tonight or tomorrow or ten years from now, that woman isalwaysworth fighting for.”
Twenty-One
GRAY
From that moment forward, we went hard and fast on all fronts, pushing each other and ourselves to our absolute limits.
Potions and poisons. Protective amulets and charms. Darkwinter lore. Combat training. Mental acuity and shielding. Cardio. Strength-training. Weapons—God, so many weapons—all of them lethal, and not just to our enemies. Asher’s fae swords would do a lot of damage against the Darkwinter Knights—the right hit would kill them on contact. But they would also decimate the shifters, as Emilio could attest to first hand. I’d grown particularly fond of a fae staff Ronan had taken from the crypts, but using the staff meant giving up the sword. Ash was immune to devil’s traps, but Ronan could easily fall prey; we had no idea whether Jon’s original devil’s trap nanotech was just a prototype or if it’d been replicated on a larger scale. Darius and I, along with the other vampires we’d liberated from the crypts, could only fight at night, and we had to be particularly careful around fire and sharp swords. On the most basic physical level, the witches and Liam—the humans among us—were at the greatest risk, but all of us had weak points.
It was a lot to account for, and we had very little time to plan. If the intel we’d gathered was accurate, and the enemy’s plans were still on track, we had about two weeks before all hell broke loose. The only way we were going to survive this, reclaim our home, and save the rest of—well, existence—was by working together, sticking together through the shit of it, and seeing it through to the very end.
Despite the risks, there was excitement in the air, a crackling charge I could feel everywhere I went. Though we'd only just learned about Trinity’s plans, this battle has been a long time coming, and there was something to be said for knowing the end was on the horizon.
